A 'Monster' is going to head out to the ring in the early hours of the morning in the United Kingdom, but before that we get Dereck Chisora trying to give new Heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk a scare.
The biggest fight of the night may actually be the Gervonta Davis vs Leo Santa Cruz bout scheduled in the United States, but this looks a good night of Boxing and one in which I am planning to do nothing but grab a few beers and enjoy all of the action.
Lee Selby vs George Kambosos Jr
This may be on a PPV show, but the undercard for the Oleksandr Usyk-Dereck Chisora fight is perhaps not the most appealing.
I would love to see the Women start moving into three minute Rounds to add to the excitement, but the Savannah Marshall-Hannah Rankin bout should be a decent one. Ultimately the two minute Rounds feel like they end the action just as things are warming up and effectively these combat spots grow by showcasing power and precision and I am sure the extra twelve minutes in the Championship fights would grow the sport.
It should be a decent if unspectacular undercard, but the main support bout looks a good one.
Both Lee Selby and George Kambosos Jr will be looking to take on the new king Teofimo Lopez as the winner will move into a mandatory spot to take on the American next year. I am not sure the winner will ever get that shot against Lopez, but what I do know is that they will be on the brink of a World Title shot and that is going to be a huge motivation for both.
Lee Selby has been there and done that before at a lower weight level, but George Kambosos Jr as made it clear he is desperate to reach that level. The unbeaten Australian is quite tough and rough and I do think that is going to pose problems for Selby who is the superior Boxer.
A couple of years ago I do think Lee Selby would have won this fight and fairly comfortably on the scorecards, but at 33 years old you do have to wonder how much is left in the tank. Ricky Burns pushed Selby all the way when those two veterans met a little over twelve months ago and I do wonder if the Welshman has the same kind of resolve left in him these days.
He was looking a little fatigued and allowed Burns to come on strong in that fight, but George Kambosos Jr is younger and fresher and I don't think the Aussie is going to lose heart even if he is outclassed in the early Rounds. Eventually he will force Selby to stand down and fight and that is where Kambosos Jr can begin to break down a fighter that may have seen his best days.
I am not going to read too much into the sparring stories which seem to be giving George Kambosos Jr a little more belief in his ability to 'retire' Lee Selby. However I do think his all action style is one that may be too much for Selby at this stage of his career and I am not sure he has the punching power to keep Kambosos Jr off and make him feel like he can't take chances to land his own hits.
This is clearly a step up from his previous opponents, but George Kambosos Jr looks ready to make the next step here. Lee Selby will be tested and I think his resolve is going to be pushed as he struggles to keep Kambosos Jr off him and it may see some late punches force a stoppage.
The most likely scenario is that we hear the final bell, but I do think there is enough here to look at the possibility of George Kambosos Jr finding the stoppage as he breaks Lee Selby down through the second half of the fight. The Australian has shown his punching power and ability to grind down opponents is still live very late and I do think Selby might be on his way out rather than having realistic ambitions of winning another World Title.
I could be wrong, but a small interest on the late stoppage is the call.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Dereck Chisora
This fight is going to tell us everything we have wanted to know about Oleksandr Usyk ever since he collected all of the Cruiserweight World Titles and then decided he would move up to Heavyweight to try and become a World Champion in the glamour Division of Boxing.
It has been just under two years since Usyk fought on these shores and stopped Tony Bellew in his final bout at Cruiserweight, but injuries and the global pandemic crisis have meant he has only been in the ring once since then. That came in a comfortable win over Chazz Witherspoon twelve months ago in his Heavyweight debut, but most expect this to be a much tougher test for the Ukrainian.
Dereck Chisora has once again rebuilt his career and he claims he is in the form of his life having won three in a row since his stoppage defeat to rival Dillian Whyte. Even in that fight Chisora was ahead on the cards when caught with a peach of a punch in the Eleventh Round and this is a fighter who will muscle through the opposition fists to land his own.
He has been stopped three times before, but Chisora has been hit with a monster punch in two of those and the question for Oleksandr Usyk is does he have the punching power to at least give the biggest men something to think about. The Ukrainian is taller and has a longer reach and there is no doubting his skills in the ring, but his compatriot and friend Vasyl Lomachenko was reminded of what happens when you bite off too much and move up to a weight where a good/great bigger man is too much to overcome.
There has been one or two moments when Oleksandr Usyk has been rocked by a massive punch at Cruiserweight, and that may be a concern, but I also don't believe Chisora is this monster puncher that his team may think he is. Every Heavyweight hits very big, but I am not sure Usyk is going to be where Chisora thinks and I feel this is going to be a frustrating evening for the home fighter who will really miss the presence of fans to push him forward.
You can't get in the water and not get wet so I don't think Usyk is not going to be hit, but I think his skills will wear on Chisora and I also think he hits hard enough. My feeling is that he is going to step on the gas after getting through the early Rounds and he is looking to make a statement here by stopping a fighter that only Tyson Fury, David Haye and Whyte have managed to do in the past.
It is the wear that is likely going to do for Chisora who may begin to ship enough punishment for either the referee or the corner to call this off. Without the adrenaline from the fans I do think this fight is going to begin to feel very hard for Chisora once we get into the second half and that is where the superior skills and enough pop out of the Usyk gloves will begin to take their toll.
This has the feeling of a last chance saloon for Chisora if he wants to fight for a World Title again and that may see him push through the moments to try and land the big shot. Even if he is well down on the cards Dereck Chisora will have to show mental strength to keep rising from the stool and take the punishment to try and dish his own, but eventually I expect either the referee or the corner to take pity on their man and pull him out when in a losing battle.
There is a steely determination in the Oleksandr Usyk eyes which makes me believe he is not going to want to coast down the stretch and I think he is going to land the combinations to force a halt to this one somewhere around the Tenth Round.
Naoya Inoue vs Jason Moloney
The Halloween movie usually ends with the main, big, bad monster being vanquished, but I think it would be a massive upset if the 'Monster' Naoya Inoue is beaten on the spookiest night.
Funny things could happen and the injuries suffered in the win over Nonito Donaire coupled with the Covid-19 crisis means it has been a long time since Inoue last entered the ring. Not many Boxers have been used to this kind of layoff between fights, but Inoue might benefit from being able to get fully healthy and he will continue on his path to superstardom in his second fight in the United States in his career.
Having won the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight tournament with some very impressive performances, Naoya Inoue looks to have been handed a good chance to impress those watching on this Saturday.
That is not taking anything away from Jason Moloney- the tough Australian suffered his sole career loss in the same Bantamweight tournament to Emmanuel Rodriguez, although Moloney was very unfortunate to be beaten having rallied in the second half of the fight.
Jason Moloney has won four in a row since that defeat and he was also in action in June so has to try and use that to his advantage. Pressing Inoue and hoping to find some ring rust is a risky strategy with the power that the Japanese fighter has in both hands and I do think it is going to be very difficult for Moloney to hold him at bay.
Much depends on the toughness of Jason Moloney, which is not of doubt, but also how quickly Naoya Inoue finds his range. Some will be looking for a blow out win for the pound for pound star, but I think Moloney does enough to at least keep Inoue at bay through the first half of the fight before the accumulation of big hits begin to wear him down and break him down.
It won't be a massive surprise to see Moloney on the floor relatively early, and Inoue is a top finisher, but I am going for the rugged Australian to get through a few Rounds before the referee is eventually forced to call time on the bout.
Monsters may not win in the movies, but on this Halloween night I believe a Monster will showcase his talent to the watching public with a big time performance and win.
Gervonta Davis vs Leo Santa Cruz
All credit to Channel Five in the United Kingdom for picking up the Showtime card from the United States as Gervonta Davis gets set to take on Leo Santa Cruz in a PPV outing in Texas.
Fans over here will know Leo Santa Cruz for two battles with Carl Frampton, but coming up in weight and at 32 years old is a tough spot for him. He is going up against a big puncher and one who has shown he carries power late into fights.
Match making is an important part of the Boxing business and this does feel like a good match up for Tank Davis who is looking to become the next big PPV star in the United States. He is exciting to watch, although there is always a fear of waiting for the next Floyd Mayweather when he begins to take the Adrian Broner approach to life.
So far Gervonta Davis has not been punished in the ring and I do think Santa Cruz has been picked for his name value but also little real threat to the favourite. The Boxing skills can't be ignored, but there have been signs that Leo Santa Cruz is not the fighter he once was and coming up in weight to take on a heavy hitter is not ideal.
The Mexican has spoken about his heart and making this a war, but I would be surprised if Santa Cruz decides to stand and trade with Davis. He has won five in a row which maintains his value, but Santa Cruz doesn't really have the power to trouble Gervonta Davis and I think that just sees the American begin to walk through fire to land his heavy shots.
I do think Leo Santa Cruz will want to show some resilience and he may be able to outwork Davis early, but eventually the pressure will tell and the home fighter can turn the screw. I think some late punishment is going to force someone to take Santa Cruz out of the fight, even if he won't want to stop it himself.
Leo Santa Cruz has not been down often in his career, but he has not really faced someone who possesses the power Gervonta Davis has either. The latter will be the bigger man on Saturday night and he should be able to power through in the second half of the fight and break down Leo Santa Cruz for a good looking win.
MY PICKS: George Kambosos Jr to Win Between 7-12 @ 10.00 William Hill (1 Unit)
Oleksandr Usyk to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.30 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Naoya Inoue to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.75 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Gervonta Davis to Win Between 7-12 @ 4.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
No comments:
Post a Comment