LOS ANGELES – Juan Macias Montiel has never won a professional prizefight on points.

The Mexican middleweight contender has only recorded victories by knockout or technical knockout since he made his pro debut in November 2009. Montiel’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, doesn’t think that trend will change when Montiel meets Carlos Adames on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The Dominican Republic’s Adames (21-1, 16 KOs) has not been knocked out as a pro, but Lewkowicz predicted that he won’t be able to take Montiel’s power when they fight for the WBC interim 160-pound championship.

“Montiel will win because Adames, he never fought anyone with such power,” Lewkowicz told BoxingScene.com following a press conference Thursday at The Westin Los Angeles Airport. “He will hurt him.”

Caesars Sportsbook listed Adames as more than a 5-1 favorite over Montiel (23-5-2, 23 KOs) on Saturday. The former junior middleweight contender was impressive in his debut as a full-fledged middleweight last December 5, when he beat Ukrainian contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) by majority decision in a 10-rounder at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

In his only other world title fight, however, Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira knocked Adames to the canvas in the seventh round. Teixeira (31-4, 22 KOs) won their 12-round fight for the WBO interim 154-pound crown by unanimous decision in November 2019 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

The aforementioned knockdown was the difference on two scorecards (116-111, 114-113, 114-113) and kept Adames from fighting Teixeira to a majority draw. Lewkowicz thinks Adames’ inability to squeeze down to the junior middleweight limit comfortably cost him more than anything that night.

“He couldn’t make the weight,” Lewkowicz said. “In the fight that he lost, he sacrificed too much. But I believe he has never fought a puncher, in his whole career, like this kid, Montiel. We will see that on Saturday night.”

Whereas Adames has never lost inside the distance, Montiel suffered a second-round knockout defeat to countryman Jaime Munguia in February 2017. Montiel admits that he didn’t take training seriously for his fight against Munguia, which was contested at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, a weight class below where Montiel consistently competed.

“When he fought Munguia, he took the fight on short notice,” Lewkowicz said. “And he was forced to fight at 147, when he was really at 154. Those are reasons he lost that fight. But now, he’s at 160 and he wants a rematch [with Munguia]. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Showtime will broadcast Adames-Montiel as its co-feature before Sebastian Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs), a southpaw from Coachella, California, defends his WBC interim super welterweight title against Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (34-1, 22 KOs) in the 12-round main event.

The Philippines’ Jerwin Ancajas (33-2-2, 22 KOs) will attempt to win back the IBF junior bantamweight championship from Argentina’s Fernando Martinez (14-0, 8 KOs) in the opener of this tripleheader, which will begin at 10 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT. Martinez upset Ancajas by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight February 26 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, but the newly crowned champion was contractually tied to an immediate rematch.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.