Ok there's plenty of threads on this weekend's boxing already but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there and if any of you guys wanna comment then that's cool. This will probably be a pretty long read but hopefully I can provide some good analysis and insight which you may find interesting. I make it that we have a minimum of 12 live fights this Saturday evening so I've decided that I'm gonna spend the night, from 6pm-6am, with nothing but boxing! (and a beer or two.. maybe chuck in a pizza and some doritos!) To me that's a pretty good night! Right so let's get started with my fight previews/predictions for the Magnificent Seven: James DeGale v Carl Dilks - Prediction: DeGale to win by KO/TKO (4/7) Attitude aside, DeGale is a very good boxer. I don't like him struggling with the weight but don't see this a big enough factor to affect the fight. Whilst James has the flashy, smooth boxing skills, Carl Dilks is a tough guy and could comfortably last 10 rounds. I think he can take DeGale's punches although my fear is that he'll get too caught up in the fight and eventually expose himself, resulting in him getting stopped. Fancy DeGale to get the stoppage in the middle rounds. Matthew Hall v Lukas Konecny - Konecny to win by stoppage (5/2) Cracking fight this one. Both have very similar styles but there's an interesting twist, Hall has slightly more power but a worse chin whereas Konecny has a great chin but a less consistent bang. Konecny has fought and held his own at a higher level than Hall. I think this is a war as long as it lasts but Hall's lack of punch resistance is likely to be a problem and Konecny gets the TKO. Nathan Cleverly v Karo Murat - Cleverly to win by UD (9/4) Cleverly has been getting better with every fight in the past 2 years or so. But, and there is a pretty big but for me, how good has the opposition been that he's fighting? Oakey, Boyle, McIntosh and Fry are all decent domestic competition and Clev's been banging them out of there with style but were any of them able to test him enough? Probably not but Nathan would've gained a hell of a lot of confidence from these wins. Brancalion wasn't that good and was well shot after the Braehmer loss but again Cleverly got rid of him and looked good doing so. On the other hand, Murat has boxed at a better level but looks less impressive. The key factors in this matchup for me are height, reach and pace. Cleverly beats Murat in every one of these departments and for me that's why Nathan (especially being at home) takes nearly every round and gets the decision. Kell Brook v Michael Jennings - Brook to win by stoppage (8/15) Ah this fight's been a while coming now. Both have been pretty inactive but I don't see this affecting the fight. I don't think Jennings has anything, bar experience, that gives him the edge in this one. He's got good footwork and could frustrate Brook. The Sheffield star is more skillful, quicker and importantly fresher. If he uses them, body shots will do damage to Jennings. It'll slow him down and Brook will start to tee-off on him. I think Jennings gets stopped but wouldn't be too surprised if he lasted the 12. Derek Chisora v Sam Sexton - Sexton to win by decision (11/2) A genuine 50/50 and the closest fight of the night in my view. I've constantly changed my mind going about this one. One day I think Sexton's the more improved boxer and can keep range to get the decision. Other times I feel Chisora has something about him and will be able to either overwhelm him to possibly get another stoppage. Having studied their styles, their form and their focus going into this fight I have a feeling it's going the distance. Both will sap the others' energy and the fight will likely get sloppier as it progresses (like most heavyweight fights I guess). I have a feeling the decision will be disputed and debated for a while after. The draw at 33/1 is a decent value bet. I'm gonna jump off this fence though and land on Sexton's side.. just. May well change my mind again though.. several times! Enzo Maccarinelli v Alexander Frenkel - Enzo to win outright (4/6) Enzo has everything in his favour going into this fight. He's a better boxer, has more power, is the home fighter and has confidence again. Frenkel can punch though and with Maccarinelli's lack of punch resistance this could easily go either way. The German boxer is a typically slow-paced, methodical, European, counter puncher with pop and this style has caught the Welshman out in the past. But I have faith that Enzo won't leave his chin exposed and will box tight and his experience will prevail. Matthew Macklin v Shalva Jomardashvili - Macklin to win by TKO (5/6) OK so it's not what was (for me) the best fight on the bill in Macklin v Barker and everything points to Macklin having far too much for Jomardashvili but complacency could be a problem. The Georgian (I'm not writing his name again!) put up a decent fight in the 6 rounder against Martin Murray earlier this year but he has nothing else to his career so far. Still he's young, pretty active and will be looking to cause a massive upset here to finish off the night in Birmingham. But Macklin is the better boxer and I can't see him failing here. The question is whether he can get the stoppage. With it being a twelve round fight I do think Macklin will win inside the distance. However, Mack has a recent history of not getting the knockout when fighting late replacements like this. It could be that this will have thrown him and with this being the last fight on the TV bill, he may have had a long time to wait which may factor into this. That said, I think he'll be too up for this and will finish it inside the 12. So that's the 'Magnificent Seven' fights then for those of us that have taken the Premier Sports gamble, and can stay up long enough, we move onto the bill from the states, headlining with Mosley-Mora. I won't do a write up for these 4 fights but they are: Shane Mosley v Sergio Mora Daniel Ponce de Leon v Antonio Escalante Saul Alvarez v Carlos Baldomir Victor Ortiz v Vivian Harris They're all decent but none of these fights really stand out for me. I think the best fight on the card is Ponce de Leon v Escalante. That should be a belter and I fancy Ponce de Leon to get the win inside the distance. Alvarez's and Ortiz's fights should be pretty one sided but it's still interesting to see how both develop and perform at this level. Saul Alvarez can't be too far away from a top class fight against one of the big names at 154 lbs and I'm keen to see Ortiz in again soon with another of the top contenders in the red hot light welterweight division. The future could be bright for these two. As for their main event in Mosley v Mora, I suppose it's all about whether Sugar Shane Mosley is still a world class boxer and a few levels above Sergio Mora. As a fan of Mosley, I certainly hope so as I'd hate to see him carry on fighting when there's no need. An impressive win here and he deserves a shot at one of the top guys again, I'm thinking Pacquiao, Cotto or (sadly) Margarito. Anyway that's probably more than enough and I can't see too many reading all this but wanted to get my thoughts out there. Like I say it's at least 12 fights, including the Carl Frampton card, and promises to be a great night of boxing. They're all interesting, exciting fights for their own reasons. I'll do a post fight night write up either Sunday or Monday assessing each of the fights and I'll likely be trying to explain why I was probably so wrong with my predictions! I'll finish with my 'Big Fight Questions' for this weekend: Who's going to be the next light heavyweight world class contender; Nathan Cleverly or Karo Murat? Will Shane Mosley show enough to prove he can still compete with the best in and around 147-154 lbs? What will be the fight of the night? Over to you guys now..
There's a difference between method of victory and EXACT method of victory. The odds should be much better :thumbsup Good write up :yep
