I think Max has put on weight the proper way knowing he won't be going back to 145, could see a bit more power in his shots.
Both obviously highly motivated, I think I like Dustin as a dog though. 2-0 against Max (first fight is obviously irrelevant at this point though), hometown fighter and was able to win fairly comfortably by decision in the last fight scorecards wise. Most of Dustin's failures have come due to better grapplers which will be an irrelevance here since Max won't be taking Dustin down and Dustin is the better grappler. I'd generally be happy playing either as an underdog because I think you can make arguments for both, they're great fighters with no real weaknesses that are relevant here.
It'll be interesting to see how Max bounces back after getting KOed for the first time. He is hittable but generally takes punishment well and recovers quickly. He's still fairly young (or at least not old) in terms of years but he's been doing this for a long time and those that start young tend to drop off quicker due to how gruelling a sport it is. I don't think that'll play too much of a factor because I think Max still has a few years left at the top level, but it's worth considering.
Max is obviously a great boxer but Dustin is too. Dustin has more power, Max better movement but Dustin better kicks - I don't think he'll be able to destroy the calf like he did Conor but it'll be an element that Max has to think about rather than just pure boxing that Dustin will be concerned about.
It's a great fight really, I think we likely get a full 5 rounds out of it, both landing clean and often. A close-ish fight, I'll be really interested to see if Max has gained power on his punches with adding muscle mass with the permanent move. I think if he hasn't Dustin won't respect the power too much which will help him settle into his shots and be willing to step into the pocket confident he can take the best that Max can offer, although I think he'll likely do that regardless - he was happy enough to walk down Conor who we know has a lot more power than Max. Again, the Ilia KO will make things interesting. Will Max be less confident or alter how he fights coming off his first KO loss? I doubt it, but Dustin can hit hard.
Just a fun fight. Again would likely take either as an underdog, I'm perhaps a touch surprised that given the KO, Dustin at home, Max moving up and Dustin being 2-0 against Max, Dustin isn't the favourite here. I think by walk out the line might move a bit and it ends up being a pick em.
