Simpson v Bell

Greenock's gritty and talented John Simpson defends his Commonwealth featherweight title against Manchester's tall and capable Steve Bell on the Khan-Salita bill in Newcastle tomorrow night (December 5).
The 26-year-old Simpson, one of best domestic scrappers in British boxing and also one of the best 'away' scrappers, won the title from Middlesbrough's lanky and previously unbeaten Paul Truscott in Middlesbrough earlier this year and proved his right to the title with a 10-round stoppage of the same man a fight later, again in Middlesbrough (Truscott was down). Simpson gave Liverpool's Derry Matthews hell in Liverpool, was robbed in Hereford against Hereford's Dazzo Williams, hammered Londoner Ryan Barrett in London, and won the British featherweight title from "house" fighter Andy Morris in London in 2007 with a cuts stoppage (caused by a sharp combination), a title he lost on a close and controversial 12-round decision to fellow Scot Paul Appleby at Glasgow's historic Kelvin Hall last year. He came back against Truscott.
To me Simpson is cleverer and harder-hitting than Bell, who likes to think he is a puncher when he is not, although the challenger takes a good shot and can box.
A former double ABA featherweight champion and England boxing captain at the 2002 Commonwealth Games (where he lost 18-15 to Canada's Benoit Gaudet in the featherweight quarter-finals), Bell will need to stick to his boxing against the busy Simpson, who would love to drag Bell into a tear-up; Bell is no spring chicken at 34 and rather one-paced, in my opinion - he lacks the ability to change gears as he showed when he bossed and even floored Femi Fehintola early in a 10-rounder for the English super-featherweight title in 2007 but allowed the Yorkshireman to outhustle him from the later rounds and to nick the verdict. It is the furthest Bell has ever travelled, by the way; Simpson has completed the 12-round course five times.
In all fairness, Fehintola is the only man to beat Bell in 19 outings and the latter, who moonlights pretty successfully as an actor (he's appeared in Hollyoaks and Emmerdale), has reeled off six wins since to earn this shot. Despite Bell's recent form and amateur pedigree, it is Simpson who has boxed at a higher level as a pro, hits more sharply and boasts the greater stamina. He is also much more comfortable at the weight; Bell has never got down to featherweight as a six-year pro and stands 5ft 10ins (as tall as Rocky Marciano).
I can see Simpson outpunching his opponent on the way to a late stoppage.