Alexander Espinoza vs Mickey Bey Preview June 20th, 2026
Former IBF Lightweight Belt Holder Mickey Bey of Cleveland, Ohio is back in the ring this Saturday, June 20th to clash with Alexander Espinoza of Managua, Nicaragua. The 10-round junior lightweight bout takes place in Akron, Ohio. Bey last fought a year ago when he in May when he stopped Oscar Escandon in the third round. Espinoza last boxed in December when he was halted by Justin Viloria in the fourth round. this weekend’s fight can be seen on Millions PPV.
Espinoza vs Bey Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Alexander Espinoza +460
- Mickey Bey -900
My Pick
The 33-year-old Espinoza climbs through the ropes with a record of 24-9-3 with 8 Ko’s and has boxed 226 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 following his amateur career. He measures 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 67 inch reach. Espinoza lacks any real power as just 33.3 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. He last halted an opponent 17 fights ago when he stopped Bryan Perez in the second round in December of 2018. Also his record is a mediocre 8-8-1 over that 17-bout span.
Espinoza has been stopped four times in his nine defeats as Justin Viloria, Peter McGrail, Andrew Moloney and Dixon Flores all halted him. He lost decisions to Mikhail Aloyan, Ukashir Farooq (WBC International Bantamweight Title), Rene Moreno, Omar Trinidad (WBC Continental Americas Featherweight Title) and Nathan Rodriguez. Espinoza’s three draws came against Sergio Gonzalez, Aron Juarez and Carlos Gonzalez for the NABA Featherweight Title.
He did manage to win the vacant WBC International Bantamweight Belt by a 10-round unanimous decision over Aron Juarez in 2020 but lost it to Farooq in his first defence. Espinoza’s career got off to a pretty good start as he was unbeaten in his first 17 outings at 15-0-2. He lost his first fight in 2018 and is 9-9-1 since. In addition, he’s won just one of his past five fights with three losses and a draw and has won four of his last 12 contests.
As for the veteran Bey, he’s now 42 years old and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and makes the ring walk with a mark of 26-3-1 with 14 Ko’s. He’s boxed 168 rounds since making his pro debut in 2005 following a pretty good amateur career. Bey stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach for a three-inch height advantage on Espinoza as well as two inches in reach. He doesn’t really own one-punch knockout power either but has more power than Espinoza as 54 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s suffered some hand problems in the past but his last four wins have all come by KO.
Bey’s first pro loss came at the hands of John Molina in 2013 when he was stopped in the 10th and final round in a bout he was ahead on points in. He lost a 12-round split decision to Rances Barthelemy in 2016 in a shot at the IBF Lightweight Title even though he dropped Barthelemy in the second round. Bey had originally won the IBF Lightweight Title in 2014 via a split decision over Miguel Vasquez but had the title stripped from him after he failed to meet the mandatory challenger Denis Shafikov.
Bey’s last defeat came to George Kambosos in 2019 via a 10-round split decision and his lone draw was an eight-round majority affair with Jose Hernandez in 2011. Bey’s biggest wins have been over Vasquez, Hector Velazquez, Carlos Cardenas, Jose Herrera Garcia, Naim Nelson and Luis Valdivia Marin. Although Bey has been dropped and stopped before, he owns a pretty decent chin. He hasn’t been very active lately though as this is just his eight fight since 2015. He was also inactive for almost four years from 2019 to 2023.
Prediction……
Bey is a highly-skilled boxer who has enough power to gain respect but but hasn’t fought as much as he should have over the years as this is just his 31st pro fight at the age of 42. Espinoza has fought some decent fighters along the way but his career has more or less derailed a bit the longer it has gone on. He may be nine years younger than Bey but he doesn’t match the American in size, power and skill and I’m afraid he’s going to suffer his 10th pro defeat this weekend.
Bey has the edge in all departments other than youth.
Play: Bey -900 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Alexander Espinoza betting • Mickey Bey betting