Category: Fight Previews

Dave Allen. Good fighter.

First published at BigFightWeekend.com

Inside Dave Allen, he of the self-deprecation and tales of humility, regret and over hand right, lives a capable heavyweight. One of much greater boxing acumen than his lack of preparation invariably exposes to the watching public. Much of his enduring box-office appeal is founded on whimsical charisma, improbable durability and, well, man-child Yorkshireness. An area of England known for its grit, community and truculence.  

The son of a professional fighter, Allen has grown up in the shadows of a punch bag. He has seen all that the sport can offer and steal away; the broken promises, the sweat, tears, success, the failures, the damage and the indifference of everything in between. 

This weekend a refined, more physically prepared incarnation of Dave Allen the fighter, tackles the man mountain Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Sheffield Arena over 12 rounds. It won’t be the first time the Doncaster born slugger has been presented with an opportunity to catapult himself from the comedy fringes toward more significant opponents, but it may be the first time he’s appropriately prepared. 

Continue reading “Dave Allen. Good fighter.” →
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Conway faces upstart Liddard – British title fight

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

In the unrehearsed punk opera of boxing, beguiling and bewildering such as it is, lurching from the sublimity of Terence Crawford’s victory over Saul Alvarez to the absurdity of Tank Davis versus Jake Paul, there is much to be said for listening to an old standard or two to nurture the soul. 

A British and Commonwealth Middleweight title fight at the York Hall, Bethnal Green is just such a song. Northampton’s Kieron Conway, 23-3-1 (7) enters as the champion with much at stake. Across the ring will be the ‘Billericay Bomber’, George Liddard, he of the Olly Murs grin and the urgency of youth. 

Continue reading “Conway faces upstart Liddard – British title fight” →
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Money. Lewis, Usyk and Jeremy Bates

Article first published at BigFightWeekend.com.

Usually, it comes down to money. That is the ‘why’ of every fighter’s inability to retire at the zenith of their respective careers, with their personal peaks, however modest, conquered. Pugs and champions in their thirties and forties have always scrambled to resist the slope that waits beyond that crescendo since first they donned gloves.  

Lennox Lewis spoke to Sky Sports this week about his hope that Oleksander Usyk would follow his own rare example and depart the sport at the very top.  

“When a guy retires, it’s really down to him. He’s got to feel that push that he wants to retire.” Adding, “I would say to him to retire at your own time but retire on top. Like I did.” 

Continue reading “Money. Lewis, Usyk and Jeremy Bates” →
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Crawford and the golden footsteps of Sugar Ray

Terence Crawford clubs Errol Spence

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

Pitching fighters of the moment versus icons of the past was once the lifeblood of boxing debate. A cynical observer, viewing the inertia which strangles careers and divisions in the present day, could suggest the stars of the modern era should fight their own contemporaries before fans contemplate their prospects versus the heroes of yesteryear. 

Terence Crawford moving up from Welterweight to box Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at 168 pounds is a refreshing example of a fighter daring to take a risk to pursue greatness. A sentiment not ignorant of the irrefutable truth that both men would be considered antiquities in any other era. 

Nevertheless, Canelo versus Crawford is a fight which draws to mind the golden era of the Welterweight and Middleweight fights between the Four Kings, Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns.

Continue reading “Crawford and the golden footsteps of Sugar Ray” →
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Canelo to eek out the win?

Article first appeared at AndysBetClub

On Saturday night at the Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, 63-2-2, will box Terence Crawford, 41-0, in a contest rich in both potential and purse. Netflix will broadcast the whole event.  

Bookmakers are offering markets on the matchup between these two future Hall of Famers and unsurprisingly, given the quality of the pairing, margins and certainty are hard to find. Study of the under card will offer opportunity to improve returns. 

Continue reading “Canelo to eek out the win?” →
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Can Crawford succeed where De La Hoya failed?

Terence Crawford seeking to succeed where Oscar failed against Bernard Hopkins

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

This Saturday in Las Vegas, alas no longer the singular mecca of boxing that once it was, Terence Crawford reaches the final scenes of his decorated career on the grandest stage of all. A 17-year voyage in which he has become undisputed champion in the Lightweight, Junior Welterweight and Welterweight divisions. It is a compelling assembly of titles in an era more famous for the obstacles the sanctioning bodies impose on those pursuant of transcendent glory than the fights won to overcome them.  

Despite the myriad belts he has accumulated, Crawford still needs to beat Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez if he is to claim a place alongside the pantheon of greats who have conquered multiple divisions in the generations before him. The names of Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran writ large among them. 

Continue reading “Can Crawford succeed where De La Hoya failed?” →
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Come in 37, your time is up – Whyte and Itauma at a familiar crossroads

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

Every match made in a boxing career is, essentially, a crossroads fight.  

Terminology widely applied to bouts between fighters on an upward trajectory and an opponent trying to arrest decline or prove it to be a false narrative. Crossroads fights tend to have something at stake for both parties subject to the grasp the veteran has on the remnants of his ambition and the potential that pulses beneath the novice’s bravado. The advantages of youth versus the assurance of battle hardiness. 

Moses Itauma, aged 20, versus Dillian Whyte, 37 years young, possesses all the elements required to earn the crossroads moniker and is the latest in a long line of prospects facing off against an established name.

Continue reading “Come in 37, your time is up – Whyte and Itauma at a familiar crossroads” →
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Itauma. Speed bumps

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

In a division populated with fighters born in the late 1980s, Moses Itauma is an anomaly. A heavyweight aged just 20 and blessed with hand speed largely unrivalled in the current landscape.  

Already a contender by virtue of knockout victories over the always available Marius Wach and Kiwi Dempsey McKean, albeit the latter made famous for once being proposed as a Tyson Fury opponent and having an echo of a former great audible in his first name.  

Informed scrutiny would diminish both. Nevertheless, it remains a valid pair of victories for a novice professional given the decisiveness of the finishes and the risk they were intended to present. It was easy. It was eye-catching. Memorable. 

Continue reading “Itauma. Speed bumps” →
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On the shoulders of giants. Moses Itauma

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

A biblical name. Laden with promotional opportunity. A southpaw with dynamite in both hands, Moses Itauma could be the next special heavyweight.   

It is a familiar path, a familiar sales pitch. Young, powerful, fast. Crashing through the professional losers, the part-timers and then the vaguely known, to the peripheral, the stout, the sturdy and the once were. Busyness is the business. Accumulating highlight reel knockouts, interviews and brand recognition. 

Building a heavyweight from a youthful prospect to contender to challenger to champion is usually done from this tattered but trusted blueprint. Evolved, such as it is, for these times of reduced activity and our deficit of attention, it remains rooted in a century or more of match making. 

Continue reading “On the shoulders of giants. Moses Itauma” →
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Battle for the Ages. Usyk and Dubois meet again

Article first appeared at AndysBetClub  

Saturday, Wembley Stadium. A fight for the undisputed Heavyweight title. Is there a more tantalising prospect in sport? 

On the night, the brilliant Ukrainian Oleksander Usyk, 23-0 (14ko) will seek to confirm his status as the King of the division and the master of his generation by defying the hard-charging Brit, Daniel Dubois, 22-2 (21ko). 

An intriguing battle of styles is promised; the guile and precision of Usyk versus the brawn and aggression of the revitalised Dubois.  

At 38-years-old, Usyk can no longer be regarded as being in his physical prime. However, his efficient style and life-long dedication to the sport coupled with faultless technical prowess are extending his currency and his reign. 

For Dubois, once troubled by inertia, nerves and an apparent lack of certainty in how best to deploy his obvious gifts, he has now matured into an exciting, aggressive puncher – trading shots with opponents with the confidence of a man suddenly aware of his own power. 

Continue reading “Battle for the Ages. Usyk and Dubois meet again” →
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Taylor and Serrano. The inevitable trilogy

Article first appeared at AndysBetClub

On Friday night, in one of boxing’s oldest and most storied colosseums, Madison Square Gardens, New York, Katie Taylor will meet Amanda Serrano for the third and probably final time. It is a venue dripping in history – from LaMotta versus Robinson, Louis and Marciano to Lewis and Holyfield and the fight of the century, Ali versus Frazier in 1971 – ‘The Garden’ has seen it all.  

The trilogy bout between the two veterans is likely to confirm their own place alongside those illustrious pairings. Taylor and Serrano first boxed in 2022 in a fight widely considered one of the greatest contests in women’s boxing history at this same venue and their rematch in late 2024 was equally compelling and ferociously fought. A ferocity that made this trilogy bout inevitable and hotly anticipated. 

Markets are available for those looking to profit from the action and the fight, promoted by Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions, will be freely available to Netflix subscribers. 

Continue reading “Taylor and Serrano. The inevitable trilogy” →
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Can’t Fight Won’t Fight.

Jake Paul battles Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

 Article first appeared on AndysBetClub

Speculating on outcomes for fights involving Jake Paul can feel like a type of betrayal. First to the sport he subverts with these pseudo-exhibition bouts and secondly, because his opponents often appear inhibited, inept or both and uniformly unable to punch the self-styled ‘Problem Child’ in the face.

This weekend, the 28-year-old with the huge social profile will again employ that notoriety to headline as a boxing attraction in Anaheim, California versus the rotting carcass of the former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Like his predecessors as Paul fall guys, Mike Tyson luminous among a parade of otherwise unknown stuntmen, Chavez has the usual impediments required to secure the lucrative pay day.

Continue reading “Can’t Fight Won’t Fight.” →
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Fury and Five historic Heavyweight title rematches

Article first appeared at BigFightWeekend.com

Tyson Fury’s attempt to recapture the heavyweight crown from Oleksander Usyk on Saturday is the latest in a series of rematches that have illuminated the legend of the title the two will contest. 

He isn’t the first to seek redemption through a rematch but if he is successful, he will join an exclusive band of fighters.  

Applying metrics to determine the best of more than a century of heavyweight title rematches is a complex endeavour. Is it the entertainment value of the fight? The historic significance? Or the quality of the two fighters? An amalgam of all? 

In short, conjuring a top five is a merely opinion and the following selections could be largely interchanged and there were many worthy contenders not included too: 

Continue reading “Fury and Five historic Heavyweight title rematches” →
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Last Orders. Fury and Usyk rematch in Saudi

Article first appeared on AndysBetClub.com

At a time ironically close to ‘last orders’ on Saturday night, Tyson Fury will stride across the ring in Saudi Arabia looking to avenge his only career defeat in a hotly anticipated rematch with nemesis Oleksander Usyk.

The arena will be devoid of liquor, atmosphere and history and as such, is an entirely unbefitting back drop for a match as good as this one. Unquestionably, the two best heavyweights in the world will pit their remaining motivation, boxing acumen and the glowing embers of their physical primes against one another.

It is a fight likely to anoint the victor as the consensus king of a decade the pair have shared with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. An era that began when a youthful Tyson Fury befuddled a creaking Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015 and will either draw to a close on Saturday or, entirely conceivably, in the beguiling, if competitively spoiledfinancial feast of Fury v Joshua in 2025. Irrespective of the outcome this weekend.

Continue reading “Last Orders. Fury and Usyk rematch in Saudi” →
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Rusty Iron Mike faces Problem Child Jake Paul

Article first appeared at AndysBetClub.com

At the AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas on Saturday night, heavyweight legend Iron Mike Tyson will box Jake Paul in a fully sanctioned contest to determine who the bigger fool is; the 58-year-old Tyson clambering back between the ropes, the 27-year-old You Tube star Paul daring to tangle with even a decrepit husk of the once impervious former champion or we the viewing public simply for tuning in.

For those willing to indulge this circus as the boxing match it proports to be, finding value, form and the advantage one may hold over the other – in the way conventional fights are analysed and previewed – is further complicated by the unknowns of Tyson’s inevitable decline and Paul’s peculiar path to this bout.

Bookmakers are in consensus that Jake Paul is the favourite – widely available at around 4/9 for the OUTRIGHT WIN, with Mike Tyson therefore available as a 2/1 underdog.

This conclusion is broadly drawn on one single metric. Youth.

Continue reading “Rusty Iron Mike faces Problem Child Jake Paul” →
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BIVOL AND BETERBIEV CLASH FOR UNDISPUTED TITLE

Article first appeared on AndysBetClub.co.uk

On Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, the opening night of the new Riyadh season, two of boxing’s most gifted fighters are in pursuit of the first undisputed Light-Heavyweight title since 1999.  

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol also put on the line long unbeaten records in their quest to secure a career defining victory in a bout that is both hotly anticipated and the culmination of a decade as rivals. 

Beterbiev is EVENS with BetFair, Bivol a narrow 4/5 Favourite on Outright markets. Odds reflective of how closely matched the two men are. 

For those inclined to bet on boxing, the show features a raft of British interest on the under card. Here are four picks to consider. 

Continue reading “BIVOL AND BETERBIEV CLASH FOR UNDISPUTED TITLE” →
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Beyond the wires. Dubois faces Hrgovic

As the four pre-eminent heavyweights of the past decade; Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Usyk, jostle in the departure lounge of their mid-thirties, a crop of aspiring heavyweights are eager to emerge as the preeminent contender beyond the long shadow cast by the ageing quartet. Among them, 26-year-old British heavyweight Daniel Dubois.

This weekend, on the latest instalment of the Saudi Arabian propaganda department’s sporting output, wedged beneath veteran Deontay Wilder’s last hurrah with Zilhei Zhang, the apparently awkward Londoner will seek to defy the doubters and overcome Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic. It is a contest with consequence, the winner will become the IBF’s successor to Oleksander Usyk. Yes, the IBF found a way.

Despite his brawn, a solid, if simplistic style and thunderous punching power, Daniel Dubois will once again be challenged to prove he has the mettle to compete for the titles on Saturday. It will require a career best-performance to catch and beat the craftier Hrgovic, 17-0 (14ko) and Dubois may need to demonstrate his ability to overcome adversity in order to do so.

As Dubois sits gulping air between the sentences of his answers to media questions ahead of Saturday, the innocence still lives in his face and the glances to left and right in search of the certainty the inquisitor pursues evokes a peculiar wish in this observer that he can summon that performance and quash the doubts about his resilience.

Continue reading “Beyond the wires. Dubois faces Hrgovic” →
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Chisora. Doomed to a banquet of consequences

It is almost twenty years since Evander Holyfield lost by Unanimous Decision to Larry Donald at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the vacant NABA Heavyweight title. A result and performance which left the wilting 42-year-old former Heavyweight Champion as a peripheral figure in the title picture and, to use the cinematic boxing vernacular, ‘all washed up.’

The announcement of Derek Chisora’s proposed fight with Joe Joyce on July 27th, two heavyweights of advancing years with little prospect of recapturing youth or relevance looks like a fight too far for Chisora. It brought to mind the New York State Athletic Commission’s (NYSAC) attempt to discourage Evander Holyfield from boxing on following his loss to perennial contender Larry Donald.

Frank Warren, the promoter of July’s London card, naturally feels entirely different about the match up: “Two top London heavies fighting it out for a place back at the top table promises to deliver a cracking scrap. The winner is right back in business, with no real place to go for the loser.”

At this stage, with concerns for how much of Chisora remains, Joyce could prove to be the most dangerous opponent he could face.

Continue reading “Chisora. Doomed to a banquet of consequences” →
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Thurman, the man no more.

The news Keith Thurman will not be boxing the surging Tim Tszyu for the Australian’s WBO belt and the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight title this weekend due to a bicep injury caused barely a ripple of surprise to those who have followed the Florida man’s catalogue of sabbaticals in recent years. It is cruel luck perhaps, but nevertheless an entirely predictable development for a 35-year-old fighter once of incredible gift, seeking to push his body through the rigours of training camp for only the second time in two years and the third in five.

Thurman’s career, if this marks the end of his significance, is increasingly defined by what he has been unable to do as that which once came naturally to him.

Evidence of declension, from the vitality of his twenties to the dwindling returns of his thirties, was writ large on his face long before he withdrew from the Tszyu fight. There was age in his eyes. The luster of youth lost from his skin.

The elongated Sebastian Fundora, also from Florida, and aged 26, steps forward in Thurman’s stead.

Continue reading “Thurman, the man no more.” →
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Old man Wilder will ‘find’ Parker, eventually

Eventually, boxing always returns to the big men. Heavyweights transcend the traditional boundaries of boxing in ways Middleweights and Welters never can. Enthralling the masses; from trailblazer Jack Johnson, to Jack Dempsey, from Joe Louis to Mike Tyson and of course the greatest of them all, Muhammad Ali too.

On Saturday, the boxing circus will pitch tents in the sand and insanity of Saudi Arabia as the nation continues its sponsorship of sporting events to distract from the sadism and impossible affluence of its ruling class.

All eyes will be on a pair of heavyweight attractions sitting proudly on top of the deep and intriguing Day of Reckoning bill. American Deontay Wilder faces New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in a battle of former belt holders that functions as a qualifier to box the winner of Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin.

There is much at stake here.

Continue reading “Old man Wilder will ‘find’ Parker, eventually” →
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Joshua can continue knockout form

Joshua and Wallin weigh in

Article first appeared at gambling.com

Joshua to WIN 2/7 BETFRED

Joshua to WIN by KO 13/2 William Hill

Much is written about whether Anthony Joshua, 26-3 (23ko) is the same fighter he was in 2016 when first exploding on to the world-scene as an aggressive, come forward puncher. Either by evolution, or as a result of the trauma of boxing at elite level with thunderous men like Wladimir Klitschko, the master craftsman Oleksander Usyk or the deceptively quick Andy Ruiz, he is much changed.

No other prizefighter, probably since the various reincarnations of Mike Tyson, is challenged on his own form, style or ability to recreate the past and whether he is as good as he once was like Joshua. Questions often posed alongside queries on his own ‘mentality’. The latter a response to the confused ramblings he offered in the aftermath of the Usyk losses.

In pre-fight media obligations for his weekend fixture with Sweden’s capable Otto Wallin, Joshua has bristled at even rudimentary questions. Responses that have fanned rather than extinguished the eternal debate; ‘where is Joshua’s head at?’

All the leading Bookmakers are keen to offer markets for this heavyweight feature.

Continue reading “Joshua can continue knockout form” →
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Dubois can expose the Miller myth

Twice suspended for failed PED tests, Jarell Miller has still received an invitation back to the big time with a match versus Daniel Dubois

Article first appeared on Gambling.com

Dubois to win by decision 15/8 with BETVICTOR

On Saturday in Riyhad, Saudi Arabia, amidst the huge Day or Reckoning card, Daniel Dubois arrives at a crossroads in his boxing career. Triumph, and some of the lustre lost in defeat to Joe Joyce and Oleksander Usyk will be restored, defeat, and the suggestion Dubois lacks the ability and resolve to succeed at world-level will be confirmed.

Now aged 26, Dubois, 19-2 (18ko), was long-marketed by Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren as the future of the division. The heir to the throne variously occupied by Fury, Joshua and Usyk.

The defeat to Joyce back in 2020, a knockout loss in which Dubois suffered a broken orbital bone around his eye and opted to kneel and take the 10-count when ahead on the cards, curbed excitement about his prospects. Warren too, seemed discouraged. It posed the question; is Dubois willing to risk, in the way the greats often must, to land the prize?

Continue reading “Dubois can expose the Miller myth” →
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Don’t call it a comeback. Garcia faces Duarte on return

Article first appeared on gambling.com

Describing the first fight after the loss of a pristine record as a ‘comeback’ is problematic but nevertheless commonplace. It is one of the many tenants of the modern cult of the unbeaten fighter. An ideology with far fewer followers in bygone eras when activity was king. 

Ryan Garcia, 23-1 (19ko), is the latest to find himself cast in role of the comeback kid. His matinee idol good looks, fast hands and a flair for social media launched the now 25-year-old into PPV level fights at an early age. His last fight, a loss to Gervonta Davis, LKO7, in which Garcia was knocked down twice, was a gargantuan feature bought by more than 1.2 million households in the US. The fight grossed in excess of $100 million in gate and broadcast revenue alone. 

The ‘star’ was the match-up, but Garcia proved his own box office potential. 

No surprise then that leading bookmakers all offer markets for his return against Oscar Duarte and favour Garcia strongly, 1/4 with UNIBET the best available on the Outright Win, but he isn’t quite the overwhelming favourite he would’ve been before that defeat. The inevitable question, how has Garcia digested defeat, is an intangible in predicting the outcome. Only the isolation of the ring in the Toyota Centre, Houston on Saturday night can now provide the answer.

Continue reading “Don’t call it a comeback. Garcia faces Duarte on return” →
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Andrade and the quest for respect

Article first appeared on gambling.com

Demetrius Andrade, the 35-year-old from Rhode Island with an unblemished 32 (19ko) – 0 record and an unrequited  longing for fulfilment, has finally secured the marquee match missing from his 15-year career. 

He will box the giant American Super-Middleweight David Benevidez, 27 (23ko) – 0, at the Michelob Arena, Las Vegas on Saturday night. A fight broadcast by Showtime. This will be the organisation’s final night in the boxing business and all the leading betting companies carry markets for this elite match up between two unbeaten fighters. 

Continue reading “Andrade and the quest for respect” →
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Ball and Dogboe face off in crossroads contest

First published on Gambling.com

In Manchester this Saturday, Liverpool’s ‘Popeye piranha’, Nick Ball will attempt to leap several spaces on boxing’s uniquely chaotic hierarchy of ladders and snakes when he boxes Isaac Dogboe in a WBC Featherweight eliminator.

The event is staged by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and will be broadcast live by TNT, formerly BT Sport, in the UK. For those inclined, leading betting companies offer markets on this fascinating and potentially thrilling crossroads bout.

Continue reading “Ball and Dogboe face off in crossroads contest” →
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Low hanging fruit. Cordina looks to higher branches

Joe Cordina will tip toe toward the potential riches of 2024 this weekend when he faces American Edward Vazquez in the  first defence of his IBF Super-Featherweight title. The fight takes place in Monte Carlo, a frequent sojourn for Matchroom, and is constructed to help Eddie Hearn further showcase the 31-year-old Welshman as one of British boxing’s most important attractions.

Cordina 16-0 (9ko), needs to be active to foster that type of interest and to gather the momentum required to fulfil his undoubted pedigree. Troubling for his promoter is Cordina’s desire for unification. Domestic profile opponents and unheralded contenders from the lower reaches of IBF’s top-15 will not suffice. Cordina is choosy, in a good way. Vazquez represents an uneasy compromise between the two agendas of legacy and financial return. 

The aim is for the two to converge in 2024.

Continue reading “Low hanging fruit. Cordina looks to higher branches” →
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Stay in your lane. Rademacher, Ngannou and the opportunity in turbulence.

First published on BigFightWeekend.com

In retirement, Pete Rademacher, a pioneering spirit who boxed for the heavyweight title in his first professional bout, helped to invent a divider for swimming pools that reduced turbulence between lanes. The idea being that each competitor could optimise their own performance unhindered by the wake created by a rival carving through the water in an adjacent lane.

Tyson Fury, boxing’s number one big man, fights Francis Ngannou, the once preeminent heavyweight in Mixed Martial Arts, on Saturday in Saudi Arabia. A curiosity solicited on the turbulence the latter’s ‘crossing of lanes’ proposes to create and reliant on the resulting voyeurism of the lucrative mainstream market.

Continue reading “Stay in your lane. Rademacher, Ngannou and the opportunity in turbulence.” →
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Wood and Warrington battle to stay in the game

Article first published on gambling.com

This weekend’s WBA World Featherweight title bout between current champion Leigh Wood, 27-3 (16ko) and former IBF title holder Josh Warrington 31-2 (8ko) at the Sheffield Arena is one rich in competitive promise.

Flawed and feisty, the pair share much but arrive in Sheffield in wildly divergent form.

Continue reading “Wood and Warrington battle to stay in the game” →
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No choice for Joyce in Zhang rematch

Article first appeared on gambling.com

This Saturday at London’s OVO Wembley Arena, lumbering Brit Joe Joyce, 16-1 (14ko), will seek to reclaim that which he lost in defeat to Zhilei Zhang, 25-1-1(20ko) earlier this year. The Chinese big man not only broke Joyce’s unbeaten record and claimed the WBO Interim title Joyce had held since beating Daniel Dubois, he also wrecked the promotional narrative of Joyce as the division’s boogeymen.

Repeat or revenge themes are common in boxing. Historically, the original victor triumphs again and often more definitively. Such was Zhang’s dominance in the first encounter that a clearer conclusion in Saturday’s rematch is hard to conjure but more troubling for Joyce’s advocates is; how does Joyce correct the conspicuous defensive deficiencies Zhang exposed?

Continue reading “No choice for Joyce in Zhang rematch” →
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Smith looks to dominate Eubank again

Article first published at gambling.com

Liverpool’s Liam Smith is seeking to confirm his superiority over Chris Eubank Jnr. this weekend at the Manchester Arena in a clash between two veterans in the Middleweight division. It will be a rematch of their fiery contest earlier this year in which Smith upset the odds to break Eubank down and stop the 33-year-old in the 4th round.

Bookmakers view their prospects differently in light of the surprise outcome and Smith, the former WBO Light-Middleweight belt holder, is now a 4/6 favourite to win again and Eubank 7/5 to reverse the result.

Continue reading “Smith looks to dominate Eubank again” →
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