Smichet is the guy who almost beat John Duddy at MSG not too long ago. This is gonna be a war. Also some other pretty good fights that might be going under the radar are Cassius Baloyi vs Malcolm Klassen and Silence Mabuza vs Jonny Perez in South Africa.
glad you called attention to these fights...none of the three have gotten much play in the u.s. media or internationally. manfredo's losses over the last few years have finally pushed him beyond the range of the contender series spotlight. manfredo, in my opinion, is a medium talent--like alfonso gomez from his contender class--who ended up in title fights he should never have seen against real, world class opposition he couldn't meet. manfredo is a capable fighter, i think...at 154-pounds, where he belongs, if not at welterweight. i've met the guy and he is not nearly big enough, tall enough, wide enough to be at or above 160-pounds. not to mention his poor conditioning and dragging around all that extra weight kills his stamina and handspeed. smichet fought a good fight against john duddy...duddy made every mistake he could, fought the wrong fight and still got the decision. but, whatever the outcome, i was somewhat impressed by walid smichet's performance and i think, though smichet looks to be competing at a higher weightclass than he ought to as well, he will look the more natural, less bloated and weighed-down of the two tomorrow. this manfredo v. smichet fight ought to be closer in the early going, but i expect manfredo to tire quickly after the fourth as he so often does and see his output drop off sharply. at this point, i expect smichet to pick up the pace, sensing a dragging opponent, like he did against duddy and coast to a clear decision victory.
what are you all thinking about cassius baloyi v. malcolm klassen? i am unsure about this one. i was once really watching baloyi, thinking he was going to turn his big reach and excellent variety of punches to the world table. then that trio of defeats over a few years to philip n'dou, isaac hlatshwayo and gary st. clair--all about the same caliber of low b-level fighter--had me rethinking my enthusiasm. klassen is no big puncher and will be facing a huge height and reach disadvantage, but i am always nervous calling one for baloyi anymore.
Manfredo sucks, I hope Smichet crushes him and ends his sorry career, cause I've seen Walid and he throws hard and often so hopefully can land the KTFO punch.
