Author: Steven Donnell

Views on upcoming fights in UK and world scene

Super Welterweight Has Come To Life

Last year Terrance Crawford became the undisputed champion at 140lbs and as a massive Crawford fan it was bitter sweet for me as i had long known Crawford was the best in the 140lbs division and although this verified what i had known i couldn’t help but think this was just prolonging Crawford moving up to welterweight (147lbs). Since unifying Crawford has now moved to the welterweight division and will fight Jeff Horn this summer for the WBO title , but more excitingly with Crawford out of the picture at the Super lightweight division has burst into life with the lime light now turning on emerging talents like Josh Taylor , Mikey Garcia , Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez all looking to fill the void left by Crawford .

Now at Super Welterweight (154lbs) we are seeing something similar happen since the departure of Canelo Alverez from the division   . Now i know you will be saying to yourself right now ” He’s talking shit as Canelo wasn’t the unified champion at 154lbs ” and you might right , but with the massive superstar that is Canelo out of the division he is no longer eclipsing guys like Jermell Charlo , Jerrett Hurd, Lara or Julian Williams they can now get the attention there skill’s deserve .  On Saturday night we were treated to one of the best boxing cards you will see this year which featured two great fights in relevance to the 154lbs division  , which will be attached at the bottom of the page . We seen Jroc Williams vs Nathaniel Gallimore fight in what became an entertaining fight  with loads of inside action , but in the end Jroc just had to much in the tank for Gallimore and beat him convincingly on the cards  .

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Lara taking the fight to Hurd (pic from boxing news )

Then we had our main event when WBA Super Champion Erislandy Lara took on the giant IBF Champion Jerrett Hurd in a unification in what turned out to be a contender for fight of the year . It has always be aimed at Lara that he is a boring fighter but on Saturday he needed every bit of his skill if he was to stand any chance against Hurd . Jarrett Hurd stands at 6ft 2inch which is massive for this weight and as much as Lara showed just how good a boxer he was , he just couldn’t escape , Hurd walked him down and then broke him down , putting the Cuban on the canvas in the last round which was so decisive when it came to the cards . Hurd won a very close split decision by one point on two cards in a great fight against a top level opponent , infact an opponent a lot of people thought beat Canelo and all the credit must go to Hurd as he has become unified champion at 154lbs within a year of winning his title .

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Lara hits the deck (Pic From USA today )

Sitting ring side was Errol Spence Jnr who thinks he might have a part to play 154lbs and beside him was stablemate Jermell Charlo who for me is the best in the division . After the fight we seen Hurd call out Charlo and i have no doubt that this one will be made soon as i don’t know how Hurd makes the weight but i don’t think he can do it for much longer . Whats next for Jroc ? well i think he will have a close eye on the WBO title fight between Saddam Ali vs Liam Smith , if he can get that WBO title i think he will be in there amongst the big boys . Britain’s Kel Brook will also have an eye on Ali/Smith as Spence Jnr has promise Brook a rematch if he can pick up a title at 154lbs .

I just wanted to write this peice to say that i had never been that big a fan of the 154lbs division but after that watching Charlo Ko Lubin last year and then be treated to two really good fights at the weekend the division has new fan .

DeGale vs Truax ~ Preview + Prediction

DeGale vs Truax ~ Preview + Prediction

Every so often boxing will throw up a big upset and last year’s biggest upset was when Caleb Truax beat IBF Super Middleweight Champion James DeGale in a very convincing victory in what was supposed to be a relatively easy fight for DeGale . That night the 21st century got it’s very own Cindarella Man …..Well to an extent . This weekend we will see DeGale look to avenge his defeat in Las Vegas on the Lara vs Hurd undercard which will be shown live on Boxnation and BT Sport .

James DeGale 23-2-1 14Ko’s

There are some guys in boxing who go out and make things happen for themselves and James DeGale is one of those fighters . Since winning Gold at the 2008 Olympic Games DeGale was earmarked for big things in the sport whilst building a fanbase here in the UK , but that all came to a shuddering halt in 2011 when he fought George Groves and Groves beat him . After that loss though DeGale done well to rebuild himself and in 2015 he won the IBF super middleweight title on the road in Boston against Andre Dirrell . DeGale successfully defended his title against Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina on the road again , in fights he was expected to win but we seen DeGale form a bad habit in these fights , a habit of taking a one sided fight and turning them into battles which has seen DeGale really start to slip in recent times . DeGale also fought Badu Jack in what became a classic battle in which he took some heavy and sustained punishment and if you go back and check DeGales post fight antics ( bottom of the page )  its clear to see he was acting out of character , almost insane like which suggested me he must have had a concussion , and after these previous fights where DeGale has took punishment i really think it has started to deteriorate DeGales reflexes which really showed in the first fight with Truax .

DeGale also has a poor gas tank which can cause him to take a rest on the ropes which leaves him so vulnerable . It’s not all doom and gloom for James DeGale though as i have always thought he was superbly talented fighter who looks fantastic when throwing quick combinations to the head and body and then pivoting back out of range . DeGale knows going into this fight that he is the better boxer of the two so if he boxes properly he should win .

Caleb Truax 29-3-2 18Ko’s

Now i have to admit i have seen Caleb Truax a grand total of one time , but in that one performance he did really impress me . Truax is very basic in his style but is also quite smart in how he uses the talent he does have . In the first fight Truax made DeGale look very ordinary trapping him on the ropes and going to work , even showing a bit of class when destroying DeGale with a left hook then a spin out of range which DeGale couldn’t answer the full night . I am also a big believer that once a fighter becomes a champion something changes in there mentality and they start training like a champion , they now have something to protect and that will make Caleb Truax more dangerous .

Prediction

This fight has really flown under the radar up to now , not getting any coverage which is a shame as this should be a good fight on a good card . In the last fight DeGale looked to be really struggling for most of it which some put down to DeGale rushing back from injury , but i think it is something deeper than that , i really think James DeGale is showing signs of being a shot fighter , the big question is can he muster enough up to to avenge his defeat to Truax ? . I have went back and fourth with this in my mind but the more i think about it i have a feeling Truax will retain his title . I don’t think James DeGale’s heart is still in boxing and when going to America he will be fighting a man full confidence in Truax .

I think the American will take this fight on the cards but I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if Caleb Truax stopped DeGale .

Joshua vs Parker – I Review Sky Commentary , AJ/Wilder …Oh and we Discuss the Fight

Joshua vs Parker – I Review Sky Commentary , AJ/Wilder …Oh and we Discuss the Fight

Well I’ve took a few days before sitting down to write this review of the AJ vs Parker fight thinking once i had digested it i would be able to find some positives , i thought that I would have put some sort of spin on it by now , but no matter what the sky company men have been saying or even AJ himself since the fight , it was still a very poor fight . I will struggle to keep you entertained talking about it , so i will keep the review of the fight short and sweet and maybe divulge into other aspects of what we seen like one of the worst commentary performances I’ve ever heard and maybe even take some time to clear up this whole Deontay Wilder stuff and hopefully that’s enough to keep you a reader .

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Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but another win for AJ (pic from daily mail)

The Fight

Since Saturday there has been a spin attached to this fight which started ten minutes after the fight ended and has mothballed into something amusing but so inaccurate at the same time . Just after the fight we had Sky pundits describe how well Joshua boxed then even AJ himself called his performance a “A introduction to the sweet science ” . Now anybody that seen the fight will know this is just pure make believe and I’ve seen enough on social media the past couple of days to know that even the biggest casual fans know what they saw . There is credit to be given to AJ i had him winning 9 – 3 or 8-4 in rounds which is a clear victory against a good opponent but this suggestion of “Sweet Science” is way over the top , and even though the gameplan was the right one by McCracken to get the job done , for the most part i don’t think AJ boxed that well . AJ was happy to keep Parker at the end of his long jab which Parker didn’t have the head movement or ring craft to get past , so for that you have to give Joshua credit but there was little in the way of creativity from Joshua and even tho his jab won him the fight it got progressively worse as the fight went on as two one dimensional fighter plodded away in what was a poor mans game of chess . Another major issue in this turning out a stinker was the referee who was shocking and totally overwhelmed by the occasion . The key to the fight for Parker was him being able to get inside and work on AJ but the ref was far to eager to get in between both guys killing any chance of this one catching fire which you could see was frustrating both fighters as AJ is very good on the inside also  . Then I must comment on the poor judging with two judges only giving Parker one round and the other giving him two rounds which is so disrespectful to Parker who for me won a minimum of three rounds clearly and you could add another couple of swing rounds on to that so yet again a big fight is partly killed by officials . In the end Joshua this was a clear winner but Parker can take positives from this fight , he stayed in there and fought for the full twelve rounds against AJ , something no other person has achieved so far and the  AJ Hype Train keeps rolling on with now with just one more title to collect to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world .

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Carl Froch trying his very best to ruin my night

Sky BoxOffice Show (commentary)

This is not something i usually comment on but i feel obliged to say something on how bad Carl Froch was as part of the Sky commentary team on Saturday night . Now usually i just turn the sound down enough that you can barely hear what’s being said but loud enough to still hear the crowd , after all what you want at home is to still capture the atmosphere and i think that is something that is being lost by most shows shown on the TV as they continually speak all the way though the show but on this occasion i watched it in a friends house so we had to listen to the ramblings of cliche driven mad man  . It is obvious that TV commentary teams nowadays have been instructed to have no free air , no prolonged periods of silence , no time to let fans sit and enjoy the fight  , which would be fine but it encourages complete drivel to be spoken which if anything distracts you from the fight . Froch was a world class boxer but he is not a fan of boxing and his knowledge of fighters and division is little to none and egged on by Adam Smith , Froch continually makes a fool of himself and it really does make for painful listening . This week we will be putting another classic fight on Casual’s Corner so listen out for how less is more when it comes to boxing commentary .       Casual’s Corner

AJ/Wilder 

To top off Saturday’s show we finished up with Eddie Hearn pushing this narrative that because Wilder didn’t come over to the UK for the fight he doesn’t want to fight AJ ….What a load of nonsense . Deontay Wilder was booked to come over right up to ten days before the fight when Hearn announced that Wilder would NOT be allowed in the ring to call out AJ , a tried and tested stunt which is proven to drum up interest in a fight   After hearing he wasn’t allowed to enter the ring Wilder read what was on the wall , he was going to be hijacked by Dillian Whyte who Hearn is now selling as a gatekeeper to AJ . Hearn jumped in the ring and started insulting Wilder right away about ticket sales etc , he’s spent the past four weeks insulting Wilder’s manager because they dared to expose the emails between both camps showing that Eddie doesn’t want to make AJ vs Wilder . Whilst Eddie Hearn was was mid rant post fight i couldn’t help but think , I’ve watched Wilder/Ortiz five times i don’t think i will ever rematch AJ’s last two fights . Lou Di Bella says it best in a fantastic interview with FightTalk.Net  .

( Follow the fight talk guys on twitter @Sam_OReilly1 @craigscott209 @Fight_Talk1 )

Joshua vs Parker – Preview + Prediction

Joshua vs Parker – Preview + Prediction

Five years ago i predicted that the heavyweight division was coming into another Golden Era after years of mediocrity , and i predicted this due to the likes of Tyson Fury , Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker all coming of age and with the likes of Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin already around the top of the division the future looked bright , but it hasn’t panned out that way . Tyson Fury had a brief stint at the the top of the division when he beat Wladimir Klitschko but then served a ban due to drugs and had retired from the sport , Povetkin is another who had failed a drug test and since his return to the ring hasn’t looked the same fighter so now there are three and this weekend we will see two of them go toe to toe on Saturday night when Anthony Joshua takes Joseph Parker of New Zealand .

Anthony Joshua 20-0-0 20Ko’s

This weekend the AJ hype train will again roll up in Cardiff as Anthony Joshua looks to get his hands on another World Title to go along with his IBF and WBA straps when he fights Parker for his WBO title on his way to being king of the heavyweights . Over the years the hype that has been built up around Joshua has been like nothing ever seen before in this country which has even swept up the most cynical of us at times , and now building up to one of AJ’s biggest fights we must strip back the all hype and separate the man from the myth when trying to break this fight down . There is no doubt Joshua’s main asset is his power and shot selection , which even after all this time watching the big Englishman still has the ability to shock . We seen a great example of both assets when AJ took on Wladimir Klitschko last year when Joshua caught Wlad with a superb uppercut which nobody saw coming , not even the legendary Klitschko and although that wasn’t the Knockout punch it was the punch that won fight .

Countless times we have seen AJ pull a variety of power shots out of the bag to the expense of opponents like Dillian Whyte and Carlos Takam . For all AJ’s power and shot selection impress there is no getting away from Joshua’s biggest flaw ….his gas tank . We have seen AJ gas out after four rounds against 42 year old Klitschko who showed the world the blueprint to beating AJ is with movement and agility and had Wlad not been so old or inactive i firmly believe Joshua would have picked up his first loss . There has been a lot of talk coming out of AJ’s camp that they are looking to come in light for this fight which would suggest they have been working on his stamina , but is it enough to last twelve rounds ? …..I’m not so sure .

Joseph Parker 24-0-0 18Ko’s

Around 18 month’s ago i wrote a scathing review for the Boxing Asylum on Joseph Parker when he took on Andy Ruiz Jnr in a fight he won narrowly won on the cards . After being high on Parker for a while i had seen him gradually lose all the qualities that made him a top prospect not to mention he looked to be coming in far to heavy . Since then i have found out i may have been a bit harsh on Parker as he was struggling with injuries on his shoulders and elbows at the time , which has since been operated on and i have to admit Joseph Parker is coming into this weekends fight in the best shape i have ever seen him . The best tool in Parkers locker is his lightening quick hands which he will need to use to full affect this weekend . Seeing Parker coming in so light for this fight means he is coming to be mobile , which isn’t really his style but if he does it right he might just be able to pull it off . Joseph Parker can be very one dimensional and has a habit of getting lazy the longer a fight goes on which could be his undoing against AJ .

Prediction

If you would have asked me two months ago who was going to win this fight i would have told you AJ would win easily , but seeing Joseph Parker this week it really does look as if he means business . The talk from Team AJ is that they have been preparing for a twelve rounder and i really hope he has been as i can see Parker employing a hit and run tactic which would kill the engine of Joshua . So who is my pick for this weekend ? ….Well i am going to stick with my original pick of Anthony Joshua but rather than predict it will be a 4 round demolition , now i am going to say a 9th round KO in a game of chess type of fight . I think Parker will implement his gameplan early but he will get careless at some point and that’s when Joshua will pounce .

Anthony Joshua 9th round KO

Great Whyte Attack on Saturday Night

Great Whyte Attack on Saturday Night

Dillian Whyte has always been a boxer i felt was playing at boxing , someone who has been able to talk himself into big fights and make good money along the way , but on Saturday night we seen an in shape Dillian Whyte using good boxing skills and ring smarts to destroy Lucas Browne and record his best win to date . Before the fight i said Lucas Browne would need to bring his very best game to beat Whyte but after years of inactivity Browne looked far to heavy alongside the well toned Whyte as they squared up at the opening bell .

Right from the opening bell Whyte knew exactly how he was going to beat Browne , by breaking him down with the jab and choosing his times when to follow the jab with big left hands shots over the top . Browne finished the first round with a cut just above his left eye which Whyte used as the bull’s eye on a target and my god he couldn’t miss . Browne was just far to slow in the ring , every time he tried to land something Whyte was catching him a big counter and from as early as the second the writing was on the wall for Lucas Browne .IMG_8064.JPGIn our preview i pointed out Browne has a habit of throwing punches from the hip and it is a habit the big Australian hasn’t remedied and Whyte was punishing him for it time and time again . Whyte looked agile , quick handed and surprisingly light on his feet in stark contrast to Browne who looked slow ,heavy , laboured and after 3 rounds he was a bloodied mess . It was obvious that after 4 round Browne was fighting with one eye due to the amount blood pouring into his left eye and he was taking a beating and even this early in the fight i was starting to think that  Browne’s corner should be thinking of pulling there man out of there . Dillian Whyte could not miss Browne and in the fifth i think myself and most people watching were expecting that towel to fly in at any second but it never came , bravery or foolery from Browne’s corner but there man paid the price early in the sixth when Whyte landed a massive left hook which sent Browne’s lifeless body flat out on the canvas and it took around 5 minutes to get Browne up and away to Hospital but thankfully Lucas Browne is going home to his family in one peice .Image result for whyte vs browne

Dillian Whyte had fought a fantastic fight , easily a career best for the big Londoner and what a time to do it with HBO beaming the fight in the US . What’s next for Whyte ? The nosies coming from Eddie Hearn is that they want the Deontay Wilder fight which i don’t think Dillian Whyte is ready for . I personally would like to see Whyte fight Big Baby Miller and if he performs at the level he did against Browne on Saturday night i might even back him .

Whyte vs Browne – Preview + Prediction

Whyte vs Browne – Preview + Prediction

The heavyweight division at this moment in time is very fragmented . We have at the very top of the division Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder , the next tier is guys like Joseph Parker and Luis Ortiz who have it in there locker to pressure the top two but will just fall short . Then we have the best of the rest and that is what’s on show this weekend in London’s O2 Arena when Dillon Whyte takes on Australian Lucas Browne . This fight has the potential to go either way and could be a modern day classic , well i am using the term classic very loosely , but this fight also has the potential to be a stinker but I’m sure i speak for everyone when i say i am very intrigued by this one .

Dillan Whyte 22-1-0 16Ko’s

Dillian Whyte is one of the best characters in UK boxing due to his lack of media training , what you see with Dillian is what you get and the British public love that . When Whyte signed to fight Joshua it was widely regarded as another easy fight for AJ and even tho the build up brought us some fantastic TV moments , most expected a walkover for the Olympian , but that wasn’t the case . Whyte regrouped after poor start to rock AJ to his core for the first in his career but Whyte just didn’t have enough in his tank to take advantage and went on to be KO’d by Joshua , but i wonder if that missed opportunity still keeps Whyte awake at night . Since then Dillian Whyte has got a lot of TV coverage , i guess being the first man to land a punch on Joshua has it’s benefits . Dillian Whyte is a hard boxer to asses as he is not great at any one thing , he isn’t mobile , he doesn’t have a great jab , he doesn’t have quick hands , his feet look heavy at times , his power is decent but not game changing , but yet he would give most of the heavyweight division problems . Whyte is a big man and that is one thing he uses to his advantage when inside , he will lean , pull , push and grapple which doesn’t always make for the best viewing but can be effective . Whyte has proved he is very tough after taking some massive shots in a gruelling twelve rounds against Derek Chisora which Whyte just edged on the judges cards , not on mine though i thought he lost . Whyte is at his most dangerous when he is inside looping in hooks and is something Lucas Browne will need to be weary of .

Lucas Browne 25-0-0 22Ko’s

Lucas Browne is coming into this fight having only fought twice since 2015 and no matter which way you dress that up it isn’t great . Back in 2016 Browne put in a career best performance against Ruslan Chagaev where he Ko’d the Russian in the tenth round in what really was a great performance by Browne . Since then he has only fought journeyman Mathew Greer which isn’t the best preparations coming into this massive fight in London , that could lead to a world title shot for the winner , which in itself is ludicrous in Browne’s case . Back when Browne beat Chagaev i was very impressed with the big Australian’s footwork for a man his size . Browne also has a very good jab which he likes to work off but he is prone to throwing it from the waist which can leave him wide open . That performance in Russia will mean Browne know’s exactly what he is walking into at the O2 and more importantly that performance show he’s capable of handling it .

Prediction

This is such a hard fight to call as on one hand Lucas Browne has far better fundamentals than Whyte but then on the other hand now at 38 years old and being inactive Browne has got to have lost something , and that something maybe all Whyte needs to put the odds in his favour . If Browne can the bring a performance similar to that of the one in Russia he will wear Whyte down over the distance . If Whyte wants to win this he has to do what he does best and pressure Browne , keep on the inside and don’t give him a second If he can do that he should get the win .

So who am i picking for this one then ? ……… Well although i think Browne is the better boxer of the two i think his time has been and went . I don’t think he will be as mobile as he was back in 2016 when defeating Chagaev and for that reason i am going to pick Dillian Whyte to win by late stoppage .

Ramirez wins WBC Title , Now 140lbs Need’s A WBSS

Over the past few weeks the super lightweight division has jumped into action and we are a step closer to having a bit of clarity . Three weeks ago Josh Taylor kept his star rising with the KO of Winston Campos to retain his WBC Silver Title and that followed by Regis Prograis Ko victory over Julius Indongo for the WBC Interim Tilte , followed by Mikey Garcia’s points win over Sergy Lipiniets to claim the IBF title at the weight in a great fight . On Saturday night we were treated to another great fight for the WBC Vavant Super Lightweight title between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam . (YOU CAN WATCH RAMIREZ VS IMAM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

)Image result for jose ramirez iman boxing

There was a cry a few weeks ago that it should have been Indongo/Prograis that fought for the proper title but that fight turned out to be a damp squib which was over in two rounds , this fight on the other hand was packed with some superb action from both men . From the off Imam showed he was more than capable of making this a fight by working off his jab and using lateral movement to frustrate Ramirez but like all top class fighters Ramirez soon made the changes to take the initiative early on . After a fairly quiet  opening round Ramirez lifted the pace right from the start of the second round putting Imam under immense pressure .When Ramirez closes the gap he is superb to watch and no wonder he’s becoming a fan favourite with this high intensity style of his , which we can see over Ramirez last couple fights he is starting to look a bit more cultured throwing feints whilst inside to open up the body . Ramirez looked to be systematically breaking Imam down until about round eight when Imam made a change of his own when he decided to throw with Ramirez and had some success . In the end Ramirez survived the little comeback by Imam and ran out a deserved clear winner on the cards 117-111 , 115-113 and 120-108 in which was another brilliant performance by Ramirez , a man who impresses me everytime i watch him .Image result for jose ramirez title boxing

Ever since the undisputed champion Terrence Crawford vacated all the belts at 140lbs it has been a bit of a mess but now we are starting to see some clarity in the division . All of a sudden there seems to be so much talent in the 140lbs division with a top 5 all capable of being king of the division and a few more right on the fringes of top level and this has us fans now wanting a World Boxing Super Series format at the division to make all the best fight . Right now at 140lbs there is only one star which is Mikey Garcia (IBF Champion) so it should be within WBSS budget to get all the best in the division to sign , a lot more realistic than the idea of the Light Heavyweight tournament . The WBSS Cruiserweight Tournament has given fans a hunger and desire to see the best put it all on the line in a sink or swim format and if ever a division was ready for it , it is the super lightweight division .

Casual’s Corner – Pacquiao vs Marquez 4

Every so often in boxing you get an era defining rivalry and there are few better in the history of the sport  than Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez . Here we are going to look at the fourth and final meeting between the two men , after the previous three bouts ended in controversy with the first being called a draw and next two going the way of Pacquiao by the siltiest of margins , but no matter what the judges said there was nothing to split these two .

Before this fight there was a lot of bad blood between the two fighters as Marquez thought he had won all three of the previous fights , and there are many who would agree  . Manny Pacquiao had claimed before this fourth meeting he was going to KO Marquez to remove any doubt who was the better fighter . Due to the controversy in all the previous fights Nevada Boxing commission brought in two neutral judges for this bought but they wouldn’t be needed due to one of the best KO’s you will ever see  . Both men were certainly past there best by the time this fourth fight came around but even these depleted older versions were still two of the best in the welterweight division .

Things to watch for 

Look at how Marquez looks to land powerful left hands on Pacquiao’s body from the opening bell to slow the Pacman down . Pacquiao looks very sharp attacking early with some fantastic feints but watch out for the body shot in the third round which throws Pacquiao off his rythm , great punch which changed the full round  .

12-08-2012 HBO PPV Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez 4 from music-world-tour.com on Vimeo.

Askin vs Simmons – Preview + Prediction

This weekend we will see two of the UK’s best cruiserweight’s go head to head when Matty Askin will defend his British Title against Edinburgh’s Stephen Simmons in York Hall this Saturday night which will be shown live on C5 . This fight has been in the making for a while and nearly happened last year but was called off due to an injury to Askin but now it is ready to go after David Haye’s Haymaker Promotions won the purse bids after paying big money for this one , infact i heard it was 4x’s what Frank Warren and his BT backers offered for the rights to the fight .

Matty Askin 22-3-1

I am a big fan of Matty Askin as he is a guy who has came thru the hard way , he’s a man who has took his losses and came back all the better for them . Matty Askin was close to retiring from boxing a couple of years ago as he was falling out of love with the sport but after teaming up with Micheal Jennings , Askin’s has found a new lease of life . Askin is now on a four fight winning streak and coming off a fantastic KO win against Craig Kennedy and he will be going into this fight as the bookies favourite aswell as a lot of fans favourite . Askin’s really does look a nightmare to box with his fantastic head movement and his use of his ring to get into position , then back out before the counter and although his gas tank has been called into question in the past he looks to have mastered how to pace himself by not wasting any work and looking to punish mistakes rather than force the fight  . I was really impressed with Askin in his last fight against the highly rated Craig Kennedy as he took Kennedy apart from the first round , but it does have to be said Kennedy did look well out of his depth against the experienced Askin from the opening round . I still think Matty Askin is hiding glass to the body and although he does cover up well to the body with his low stance he really is vulnerable down there , especially in the later rounds .

DSC00832.jpgStephen Simmons 18-2-0

Stephen Simmons is boxer who has represented Scotland and GB at every level which gives him great pedigree . With only the two losses on his record one against John Lewis Dickenson and the second of those was a poor split decision in Hamburg which Simmons said made him feel like quitting the sport . Now at 33 Simmons is back fit and with a bit momentum behind him after winning the IBF European Title against Simon Barclay last year in a very good and professional performance . Simmons biggest asset is his jab which he uses very well to nullify his opponents work and also lets him get in close where he can use his physical strength to back you up and go to work . There are some question marks over Simmons gas tank which he will need to manage well against Askin . Stephen also told DJayBoxing.com this will be his last year in the sport and he is looking to go out with a bang , but i always feel to announce your retirement 12 months in advance can be dangerous .

Prediction

This one could go either way and i know both guy are really looking forward to this fight . I think if Askin is allowed to box at range he will win the fight it is up to Simmons to use that physical strength and his jab to get inside and work the body . I think Simmons will need the stoppage in this fight because Askins style is one that wins rounds , and i think  Simmons can get the stoppage late but it will all depend on him getting inside early and putting money in the bank which he is more than capable of doing . I think if Askin can keep Simmons at distance he takes this fight on the cards and that’s exactly what he will try to do .

Simmons Stoppage rounds 10-12