Month: January 2017

Is Brook Ducking Spence ?

“Dodge, duck ,dip ,dive and dodge”these famous words of dodgeball Guru Patches O’Houlihan seems to have been adopted by IBF welterweight world champion Kel Brook when it comes to facing his manditory Errol Spence Jnr  .

For well over a year now, I’ve been shouting to anyone who would listen that this fight needs to be made. It did look like it was going to happen when Spence beat Chris Aligieri (very convincingly with a 5th  round stoppage) then called out Brook.  Now with Brook having a long lay off with injury, then coming back to defend his strap against Kevin Bizier, this looked like a great a fight and at the right time for both. As loud as Spence shouted, the silence from Brook was deafening . Then we had Eddie Hearn say in an interview “No matter how loud Spence shouts for the fight behind closed doors him and his people don’t want it, we would have no problem making the fight otherwise.”

Now anyone who has watched Spence over the years knows this is a down right lie, the kid has always looked to challenge himself and move up as fast as possible. As for Kel Brook, he has one world level win against Shawn Porter to his name, which was in August 2014, and although that was great win for Brook it was a close fight, in fact I know a few people who scored it the other way. Now Brook was supposed to fight Jessie Vargas which would have been fine with me but then we find out Brook never actually signed to fight Vargas in a unification fight, instead he elected to fight P4P superstar GGG at middleweight. Now this was ballsy, as he didn’t really have a chance in the fight or was it? Brook went into that fight knowing no matter what, he had a pass and not only that but his IBF title was safe at home where he likes it .

Now onto this week, we finally see Errol Spence Jnr brought up in an interview with Brook as the IBF have ordered him to fight the Spence fight next. As it turns out Brook only wants big paydays if he’s to bother making the weight but I can’t imagine he got paid big cash to fight Bizier. The massive stadium fight with Amir Khan is on for the end of the year, but Khan says “only if he fight Spence first.”

I was once a big Kel Brook fan, right the way up to the Porter fight. I thought Brook might just be in top 3 welterweights in the division but as it turns out Brook getting his hands on that IBF title was the worst thing that could have happened for the division, and for his fans . He didn’t want to go on the road to get the big names like Garcia or Thurman, he would rather stay in UK and hold the title hostage becoming an irrelivence . If I am being honest, I cannot see this Brook/Spence fight happening now which is a real shame as it would be a great fight. I can however, see Brook going up to 154lbs to try his luck .

Steven Donnell

Twitter-@dinobhoy86 @Djayboxingblog

 

The Weeknds Review ,Davis/Pedraza + DeGale/Jack 

well what a way to kick off the year,we where promised a big night by Floyd Mayweather and Eddie Hearn and we weren’t disappointed .

As a starter before the main course we had Jose Pedraza v Gervonta Davis for the IBF  super-featherweight title , a fight i had been intrigued by as it was my first time seeing Davis after hearing he was a top prospect but against Pedraza he was testing himself at a whole new level, refreshing for a lad of just 22 . Right from round one Davis looked to settle quickly, also sending a warning shot to Pedraza with a beautiful upper cut that he had came to win. As the early rounds went by anytime Pedraza tried to get his jab working he would be caught with by Davis ,backing him up ,Pedraza just couldn’t read these awkward shots from Davis .It looked as if Pedraza was trying to let Davis gas himself , which for me was crazy and letting the youngster build up an early lead, whilst landing some big shots . By round four Davis was still unloading and obviously trying to finish this one early but now Pedraza was having his success landing on Davis body also postuturing at every opportunity trying to get under Davis skin .At the halfway mark it looked as if Pedraza had sussed he could get to Davis on the inside and had some success there, but it didnt take this talented youngster long to work it out and he really shook Pedraza up with a beautiful left hook to the body then another to the head , by now Pedraza must have known this was slipping away. The victory came for Davis in the seventh,by this point there was very little coming back from Pedraza . Davis was ruthless with his bodyshots then switching to the head with unbelievable accuracy and it all eventually became to much as Davis sent Pedraza to the canvas thru the ropes and altho he made it to his feet the ref has seen enough . What a performance from this lad and what a way to announce yourself to the world, on this evidence there is plenty to come from Gervonta Davis and i can’t wait to see him in action again .

Time for the Main event, Badou Jack v James DeGale for the IBF and WBC super middleweight titles . In my preview i had picked DeGale saying he would have to much skill for Jack , and as the fight started thats how i looked like it would turn out . DeGale start quick and was moving well in the opening round against a cautious looking Jack . going into the last 30 seconds of the round DeGale sent Jack to the ground with a well timed over hand left which caught Jack off guard , even tho Jack was up quickly and didnt look hurt, it was a wake up call that he was going to have to slow DeGale down . Regaining his composure in the second round, Jack started to turn the screw by the third, landing some nice bodyshots which would pay back in dividends towards the end of the . Going into the middle rounds it was Jack who was really establishing himself , his bodyshops landing with great power and accuracy which was noticeably  taking the wind out of DeGale . When DeGale was landing most of his work seemed to be coming off Jacks gloves and arms , DeGale seemed to be taking a lot shots flush which was snapping his head back whilst only landing tapping jabs . Before this fight i had said i think DeGale could get to Jack on the inside , but it was Jack who looked the better and landing big on the inside . At round nine DeGale had to try and stop this onslaught from Jack and DeGale did show his class with a big round but altho he was landing more ,the quality of Jacks work was far superior. This late rally from DeGale set us up  for a nail biting finish,even tho Jack had dominated most of the fight that knock down in the first round could prove to be the difference . As both came out there corners it was clear that DeGale was a spent force , his face was in a hell of a mess and his legs looked heavy , in contrast Jack as ever was there showing no signs of slowing .After trading some early blows you could see Jack had lost respect for any power DeGale had and was ready to lay it on him hard . Jacks Hard work paid off sending DeGale to the canvas, as DeGale got up you could see he needed the bell, he had nothing left to give and was in survival mode as the relentless Jack went looking for the KO , the end came with both going toe to toe in the middle of the ring , what a fight this was from start to finish . For me there was only one winner, the tempo,quality and accuracy of Jacks work was far better than DeGales and when the judges scored it a majority draw i couldn’t help but feel for Badou Jack ,it was a close fight but Jack for me was the clear winner .

Steven Donnell

DeGale v Jack Preview and Prediction

Well folks its nearly time to kick off a great start to to 2017 with a mouthwatering unification fight between IBF Super middleweight champion James DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack, in Brooklyn .

For me, James DeGale is the most underated boxer in the UK today. Not only  did DeGale pick his IBF title up on the road against Andre Dirrell, this will also be his third time defending it away from home, following tough tests against Lucian Bute and Porky Medina. On his day, DeGale is brilliant to watch. There are few that can switch from southpaw to orthodox as naturally as he can and these switches open up angles for DeGale to land his lightening quick combinations, and when it comes off, it really is a joy to watch. DeGale lacks power but after sending Dirrell to the canvas twice, he did prove that his timing can make up for that. However on DeGale’s last outing against Porky Medina he had a howler for his high standards. Medina’s high volume punching and constant pressure seemed to throw DeGale, resulting in him eating some big shots and spending most of the night fighting off the ropes, as well as long periods covering and tying up. Although his skills got him the victory on the cards, it was far too close for comfort.     Badou Jack has a totally different style to DeGale. Jack is really one of those guys with limited ability but what he can do, he does very well. When Jack fought Groves, he bossed Groves from start to finish also sending Groves to the canvas in stand out perfromance from Jack . His judgement of distance really was superb in that fight, he completely nulified Groves attacks before he could get inside (to expose what I suspect is his achilles heel). It really was a great performance against a George Groves that has given James DeGale his only loss to date. In Jack’s last fight against Lucian Bute, he was dragged into a fight that i didn’t think he had in him. Bute (as he did with DeGale), came for a war but in fairness to Jack, he stood up and showed heart and grit that I’ve never seen from him before in a very entertaining  fight that finished a fair draw .

Prediction: For this fight i just can’t see past James DeGale. I have a feeling Jack might just be taylor made for him. I think the way DeGale works his way inside will see him take this fight on the cards if not by a late stoppage. DeGale does have flaws that Jack has to exploit and Jack can’t let DeGale dictate the pace at which he fights. One big critisim of DeGale is he takes to much time off during the fight and as Medina showed , he can be got at and put off his stride . this should be good, intruiging fight .

Steven Donnell

@Dinobhoy86   @DJayBoxingBlog