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Saturday 20 April 2019

Boxing Picks 2019- Terence Crawford vs Amir Khan (April 20th)

There are a couple of cards taking place on Saturday evening which have live coverage attached to them in the United Kingdom.

The main one of interest in the one from New York whose main event in Terence Crawford vs Amir Khan, while we also have the return of Danny Garcia on a separate card.

In the United Kingdom it is something of a tick along show for Eddie Hearn's Matchroom promotion as Dereck Chisora is back following his Knock Out defeat to Dillian Whyte at the back end of 2018. The main event features David Allen and Lucas Browne and while the former is a very popular fighter, neither is really expected to be involved in the title picture any time soon.

You can see my selections from all three of those fights below.


Dereck Chisora vs Senad Gashi
The brutal ending to the fight with Dillian Whyte may have masked the fact that Dereck Chisora looked to be winning the rematch with his rival last December. Some may have though it was time for Chisora to call time on his career, but he had only recently hooked up with David Haye promoting him and Chisora is willing to have one more crack at trying to become a World Champion.

It is a long path back to the top, but more changes have been made as Chisora now employs Dave Caldwell as his trainer and he will be looking to show what he has learned under the new team.

Senad Gashi has been given another chance by Eddie Hearn after lasting Seven Rounds with Carlos Takam on the same card as the Whyte-Chisora rematch last December. To be honest it wasn't a great fight and I do wonder if Takam had put his foot on the pedal earlier whether he would have got the German out of there a bit quicker than he did.

A fast start is what I will be expecting from Chisora to put a statement win on the board and stopping Gashi quicker than Takam has to be the target. While Gashi showed enough heart to have another chance, he is a Boxer someway below Chisora's level even at this stage of the latter's career.

Some will point out Gashi is having a proper camp for this one unlike what he had for the Takam bout, but I think it is going to take a poor performance from Chisora to keep him in this one. Having a small interest in Chisora winning this fight in the first half of the contest is the selection as I look for him to put some pressure on Gashi and begin to break him down much earlier than Takam did.


David Allen vs Lucas Browne
I don't want to be a 'hater' but these two have no real right to be headlining the O2 Arena as both David Allen and Lucas Browne look to be at least one and possibly two levels below the contenders of the Heavyweight Division, never mind the elite fighters.

It is a crossroads fight for both as I really don't think the losing fighter will have anywhere to go.

A little over twelve months ago Lucas Browne was being Knocked Out cold by Dillian Whyte in this Arena and I would have thought the former Heavyweight Champion was at the end of his time back then. He has since won three fights, but he was Knocked Down by a journeyman in a warm up for this bout and Browne is very much a faded force.

David Allen is far from an elite Heavyweight, but he has a decent chin and I think the long camp preparing for this fight has seen him get in decent shape. I am not sure he is has the power to finish Browne off early in this one, but the faded Australian is probably a Four Round fighter these days and he is likely going to be running out of gas at that point of the bout.

A small interest in Allen getting the job done between the Fourth and Eighth Round looks to be worth an interest in this one. I think by then Allen will be showing the superior fitness and he has managed to stop his last two opponents between those Rounds.

I can see a fatigued Browne beginning to take too much punishment once he has tried his best to finish the fight very early and Allen can wear him down and get the referee to jump in when Browne takes one too many punches without reply.


Terence Crawford vs Amir Khan
I really think there may have been some intrigue about this Welterweight fight if the Amir Khan of even two years ago was going to be turning up, but it is going to be an upset of huge magnitude for him to beat Terence Crawford now.

Terence Crawford is a pound for pound king and the last time we saw Amir Khan he looked like a shot fighter who was taking too many shots from an average Samuel Vargas.

At the beginning of this one I can see Khan's speed being an issue as Crawford just takes a look at his opponent, but by the Third Round I would expect the American begins to find a bit more success. Some will point out Crawford is coming up to a Division where Khan is unbeaten, but Crawford has stopped his two opponents he has faced at 147 and this Khan is not the same fighter he was.

Crawford broke down Jeff Horn and David Benavidez and I would suggest both are stronger than Khan these days. It took until the Ninth Round to get Horn out of there, but I have a feeling Crawford is going to time Khan onto something a bit earlier than that and can get the former World Champion out of there.

Danny Garcia stopped Khan in the Fourth Round, Canelo Alvarez worked him out in the Sixth Round and I would not be surprised if Crawford find something similar. It might be slightly longer than Garcia, but I will recommend a small interest in Crawford finding the finishing touches at somewhere between the Fifth and Eighth Round.

MY PICKS: Dereck Chisora to Win Between 1-5 @ 3.75 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
David Allen to Win Between 5-8 @ 4.00 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Terence Crawford to Win Between 5-8 @ 3.30 Paddy Power (1 Unit)

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