So, this Saturday night at the 02 Arena in London we get to see the best boxer on the planet and potentially of all time come to fight in the UK. For all the hate and boo’s that Eddie Hearn gets, he is without a doubt the only man who could make this happen and I for one can not wait.
James Tennyson vs Atif Shafiq
The vacant WBO Lightweight international title left behind by American sensation Devin Haney is on the line when these two men go head to head this Saturday.
James Tennyson is coming off the back of a couple of relatively routine knockout wins since getting stopped in the 5th round in his attempt to capture the IBF super featherweight title from the brilliant Tevin Farmer. Prior to this Tennyson picked himself up a very good 5th round victory over the then unbeaten Martin J Ward.
Atif Shafiq has out scored the majority of the 21 boxers he has beaten, only stopping 5. Shafiq has 2 losses on his record and the biggest problem for him is that none of his 23 fights have been against fighters that are no where near the level of the Northern Irishman.
Prediction: I believe Tennyson will just be too good for Shafiq and will stop him in the early to mid rounds. No disrespect intended towards Shafiq, but Tennyson is a very good fighter, fought at a much higher level and can bang.
Joe Cordina vs Gavin Gwynne
The battle of the unbeaten Welshmen, the explosive slickster Joe Cordina will be taking on the rangy Gavin Gwynne for the British Lightweight title
Cordina, along with Buatsi is Britain’s most exciting prospect, he has every attribute to be world class in his locker. Joe Cordina is coming off the back of 3 convincing wins, against some good opponents. Cordina’s first of these 3 fights was a 3rd round stoppage of Hakim Ben Ali, a man who just took Yvan Mendy to the 8th round. He then went on to an absolute nightmare of fight against Masher Dodd, where he won practically every round, which not a lot of fighters can say they’ve done to Masher. Finally he took the British Title away from Andy Townend with a brilliant 6th round tko.
Gavin Gywnne boasts an 11-0 fight record, yet going relative unknown to most boxing fights outside of Wales, as all his previous encounters have been in small halls and leisure centres to date. Although I have been told he could be a nightmare for Cordina, due to him being a 6’ Lightweight. The worry is, he only has 1 win by stoppage in his 11 fights and if you want to keep a fighter like Cordina on the end of a jab, it has to be ramrod and he will have to respect the power, does Gywnne have this attribute? Only Saturday will tell us.
Prediction: Gwynne to try and fend off Cordina with the jab for the first round or 2, but Cordina to work him out and start slipping and landing by round 3 or 4, stoppage coming midway through the fight.
Joshua Buatsi vs Ryan Ford
Another Buatsi fight? Another Buatsi masterclass? We have the WBA International Light Heavyweight Title on the line in this one and a potential shot at the WBA World Title holder Dmitry Bivol could be next for the winner.
Buatsi… What more do I have to say, the guy has been an absolute sensation since turning pro, not only winning but looking very good doing it. In his very short career (11-0) he has already stopped the likes of Periban, Conroy and Quinlan. If he gets through the Canadian on Saturday night, I would love to see him face Anthony Yarde or Callum Johnson before having a pop at one of the champions, just so we can confirm what we think we know.
Ryan Ford is a big punching Canadian, who is very durable. Ford has won 16 (11 by ko) of his 20 fights but all of his 4 defeats have been by points, as he has never been stopped. All his losses have came against highly rated opponents, including Fedor Chudinov and Avnio Yildrim. He isn’t coming to just fall over, I can assure you that.
Prediction: Although Ford is tough and durable, I see Buatsi taking him out in the late rounds. Even though Ford has fought some very good fighters that couldn’t get him out of there I just believe that Buatsi is a very special talent.
Charlie Edwards vs Julio Cesar Martinez Aguillar
Two practically identical records go head to head for the WBC World Flyweight Title in this bout and if the Main Event wasn’t the greatest fighter on the planet against an Olympic gold medallist, this would potentially be fight of the night on any other card, and could main event most.
Charlie Edwards’ win over Cristofer Rosales to capture the WBC title was one of the most emotional fights I have watched, with his post-fight interview about his mother and the performance itself, every British boxing fan was most certainly proud of him. He has since boxed Angel Moreno around the ring in a convincing points win at the Copper Box Arena to retain his title.
Julio Cesar Martinez absolutely destroyed Andrew Selby last time out with a beauty of a body shot, although it must be said Selby was in control of the fight until fatigue set in and Julio Cesar Martinez took over the fight before landing that big shot. He has 11 ko wins in his 14 fights and just 1 loss.
Prediction: Martinez is very dangerous, but I believe Edwards will box smart on his way to a relatively wide points win.
Hughie Fury vs Alexander Povetkin
Heavyweight time, Hughie Fury will take on the very dangerous Alexander Povetkin in his first fight under Matchroom.
Hughie Fury had one of the most bizarre fights in his last outing against the old wily American Samuel Peters before Peters suffered a shoulder injury in the 7th round handing Fury the Tko victory on the Amir Khan undercard in Jeddah. It has to be said that although Peters appears to be a good name on the record, he was absolutely shot in this fight and I for one hope its his last because they both stink the place out.
Povetkin is coming in the bout off the back of a 7th round Tko loss to the for WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO World Heavyweight title holder Anthony Joshua. Prior to that he had a good old fashioned shoot out against David Price before a beautiful left hook ended the fight in the 5th round.
Prediction: Povetkin in my opinion is just a level above Fury in the same way that Parker and Pulev were. I think Povetkin will take Fury out relatively early but with the Fury style, he could potentially ride it out until the later rounds.
Luke Campbell vs Vasiliy Lomachenko
This is the type of fight that you expect to pay PPV for. P4P No. 1 against an Olympic Gold Medallist, No. 1 vs No. 2 in the Lightweight Division and Ring Magazine Title on the line. This has all the making to be an absolute classic and although many people are giving Luke Campbell no chance, I believe he could make Lomachenko work very hard to retain his WBO and WBA title and collect the vacant WBC World Title.
Luke Campbell has gone from strength to strength under Shane McGuigan and narrowly missed out on a World Title against Jorge Linares in a close points loss. Coolhand has since avenged his loss to Yvan Mendy and put in an unbelievably clinical performance against Adrien Yung to get him this opportunity and one thing we know is that Luke will do everything in his power to get the victory.
Vasiliy Lomachenko, the man, the myth, the legend. We are currently witnessing greatness right before our eyes and in my opinion is already the greatest fighter to ever grace this planet, I truly believe he is that good. He was already a 3-Weight World Champion after just 12 fights. He has the best footwork I have ever witnessed and he’s the best offensive, defence fighter I’ve seen, how he transitions between the two is nothing short of mind blowing.
Prediction: Unfortunately for Luke, I think Lomachenko is just unbeatable right now and the only way he loses is if he goes too high in weight divisions. Campbell will have to try and use his southpaw jab and his unbelievable talent to unsettle Lomachenko and try and draw him into shootout (which Lomachenko would potentially still win) and try and take him out of his comfort zone. Lomachenko late stoppage or points win.
Written by Bobby Gunn (SimBoxx).
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