Boxing Picks 2018- Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin (September 22nd)

The rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin wasn't mired in anything like the same level of controversy as the first fight, but I can understand why so many thought the former Middleweight King deserved to have his hand raised in the fight. I liked how Golovkin ended the fight but I felt he had started slowly and actually scored the fight 114-114 in the knowledge there were one or two Rounds that could easily have been scored the other way as to how I had it.

With that in mind I can make a case for either fighter winning and the 'A' side earning a narrow decision is not a big surprise when the Rounds were as subjective as some of them were.

I would be very surprised if we don't see a third fight between the pair, but Golovkin's best days are behind him and another seven/eight months out of the ring only add to the age factor which means I would favour Alvarez to do enough to perhaps even take a Unanimous Decision next time.


This weekend a big British Heavyweight will be defending his belt in a dangerous fight, but one that has not captured the imagination of the fans. Anthony Joshua's mood has been darker than usual from what I have seen and he won't be much happier on Saturday.

That is because the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight moved a step closer with all rumours that a Saturday 1st December date has been agreed and the press conferences will begin a week on Monday. Everyone is going to be talking about that rather than Joshua and I think Alexander Povetkin may take the punishment from the release of Joshua's frustrations in the main event.

It is an event that doesn't inspire much excitement on the undercard either and there won't be a lot of surprise that the Stadium is going to be nowhere near a sell out.

Sergey Kuzmin vs David Price

It was literally a day after I had read an article where David Price said he would not be taking this fight that I saw Matchroom had announced it for the undercard. I am sure Price is going to be well paid for the fight, but he had made it clear in that interview that it was too much of a risk and he wanted to rebuild a little more carefully after the defeat to Alexander Povetkin back in March.

I do think Price has misunderstood people's concern for him from the Povetkin Knock Out.

The shot he took was absolutely brutal and yet another highlight reel Knock Out Price has had against him in his career, but I do respect the way he tried to fight fire with fire and even put Povetkin down in the Third Round. However I respect most who get in the ring and are willing to go out on their shield to secure what they feel is a legacy for them.

In this case I think Price is taking an unnecessary risk against a power punching Russian who may be limited but who has shown he can Knock Out opponents. Sergey Kuzmin will know Price is a dangerous hitter for a Round or two, but Kuzmin will also believe he has the superior tank and he will have seen Povetkin beat Price and be given a chance to have a shot at Anthony Joshua.

It is very unlikely to be the exact same price for Kuzmin but he can announce himself to the UK fans and build towards that title shot he would want. I think in this one he is going to weather the initial Price storm and eventually get hold of the Liverpudlian when the tank runs out of gas as has been the case for Price throughout his career.

There have been a couple of early stoppages on the Price record, but he did last at least Five Rounds against Tony Thompson in the rematch, Christian Hammer in a Seventh Round defeat and against Povetkin in March when beaten in the Fifth Round.

Kuzmin has yet to have a fight of this magnitude in his professional career, but he has shown to be a hard hitter and also had shown his strength in the amateur ranks. I think he will have to be careful early, but eventually Price is going to start getting caught with heavy shots and I will look for Kuzmin to end this in either the Fifth or Sixth Round.

Matty Askin vs Lawrence Okolie

This looks like the best of the undercard fights with two boxers in very strong form meeting one another for the British Cruiserweight Title.

Both Matty Askin and Lawrence Okolie could find themselves moving onto World level with a victory so there is plenty on the line in the fight.

Okolie is the only unbeaten fighter, but that won't worry Askin who has beaten unbeaten fighters in recent bouts to build his own momentum. He has the size to at least match up with Okolie who is used to bullying his opponents in the ring, while Askin also has a lot of experience which may see him make the right adjustments to win this fight.

That makes it a fascinating one and I do think it is going to be very close and that makes the Askin price a big one. You have to believe the judges will favour Okolie if this goes to the cards and is a close fight, but Askin is capable of turning on the pressure and forcing a stoppage if he needs it and I expect him to give Okolie the sternest test of his career.

At the prices Askin is worth a small interest to upset Okolie who I am still not completely convinced by as a future world level star like some of the hype suggests. I could be wrong and a dominant win for Okolie would make me a believer, but I will look for experience to win the day.

Luke Campbell vs Yvan Mendy

This has been billed with a revenge or repeat tagline as Luke Campbell looks to avenge the first defeat of his career when facing Yvan Mendy again.

Mendy comes in with some confidence with the win over Campbell, but he has also won ten straight fights and the talk has been impressive.

However I have to say Campbell is much improved since the defeat to Mendy and he has been in with quality opponents like Jorge Linares and been far from disgraced. That is a step above the level of Mendy and I think Campbell will be able to box smarter and not suffer the Knock Down which effectively cost him the first fight with Mendy.

No will doubt the toughness of Mendy so seeing Campbell stop him would be a real statement from the British fighter as he moves back towards a World Title shot. It is that shot which makes me think Campbell won't take any unnecessary risks by chasing the stoppage and I believe he will show his improvement against the 33 year old Mendy.

Mendy has not really beaten anyone of note since the win over Campbell and I will back the latter to earn revenge with a points victory.

Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin

Everyone is suggesting Anthony Joshua doesn't care about what his Heavyweight rivals are doing, notably Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, but a darkening mood won't have lightened when he hears the news their fight is set to be announced.

Joshua will be trying to take back some of the headlines by becoming the second man to beat Alexander Povetkin and I would be surprised if he is not able to do that for at least a couple of days.

The Russian looks to have seen his better days and Povetkin was hurt quite badly in his last fight with David Price. No one is dismissing the power Price can hit with, but I do think Povetkin is on the way down in his career and I am not convinced there is a lot in the tank.

When he was beaten by Wladimir Klitschko it was a one-sided affair and I think Anthony Joshua is going to control the distance in the first half of the fight and look to take something from the Povetkin gas tank. It is in the second half of the fight when I expect Joshua will plant his feet and let his hands go a little more and that is when I am anticipating a stoppage for the British star.

Taking risks early may not be on the mind for Joshua knowing how hard Povetkin can hit, but I expect him to break down this opponent like Klitschko did. The difference will be that Povetkin is a lot closer to 40 years old now and I don't believe he will have the same resistance he did then as Anthony Joshua becomes the first man to stop Povetkin.

It may even be a slightly controversial one with the referee stepping in at some point in the second half of the fight, but I will back Anthony Joshua to win after weather any early storm Povetkin tries to bring.

MY PICKS: Sergey Kuzmin to Win Between 5-6 @ 6.00 Paddy Power (1 Unit)

Matty Askin @ 3.50 Paddy Power (1 Unit)

Luke Campbell to Win By Decision/Technical Decision @ 1.72 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Anthony Joshua to Win Between 7-12 @ 3.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Boxing 2018 Update: 25-45, + 9 Units (107 Units Staked, + 8.41% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2017- Chris Eubank Jr vs Ronald Quinlan (February 4th)

Last week was yet another brilliant night of boxing and it doesn't matter if you haven't called it perfectly. The Carl Frampton-Leo Santa Cruz second fight was just as intriguing as the first and there are obvious calls for the decider later this year, a fight that shouldn't be missed putting together.

The first month of 2017 has been really good with some top fights already in the books, but it should be said that this weekend is not exactly a PPV quality card. The Eubanks always seem to do what they want anyway, but I am not convinced ITV will be impressed with the main event, which was originally the only fight that was going to be on the PPV portion of the card.

The decision makers quickly realised that Ronald Quinlan is not really a name that is going to help attract the numbers and so the undercard has now been moved to the PPV section too. All in all I am not sure this is going to make ITV too impressed regardless of which names the Eubanks call out from the worlds of boxing or MMA.

This is no longer the time to call out the big names, but sign the big contracts although I do think a lot will depend on whether ITV get the big numbers for a card that isn't even worth a lot of time if it was on a free to view channel.

David Price vs Christian Hammer

Arguably the best fight of the night comes from the Heavyweight division in what is effectively a World Title Eliminator.

This should be David Price's last chance to get into a position to win a World Title although we have seen boxers like Audley Harrison just hang around the scene for long enough to talk themselves into a fight. A defeat for Price would remove him from the world scene, but he could always be looked as someone that could be rebuilt and fed to Anthony Joshua later down the line.

However, like I have said, this should be a final chance for a boxer who has underachieved in most people's eyes from where he should have been at this stage of his career. Price has been unfortunate that a couple of the defeats he has suffered have come against boxers who have later tested positively for drug use, but most will look at the Liverpudlian as someone who is perhaps a little fragile and not really a threat to the top names in the Division.

Price himself is obviously still full of belief and this is a good chance for him to see whether he is on the right path when he meets Christian Hammer. British fight fans should remember Hammer as the boxer who took on Tyson Fury in Fury's last fight before taking on Wladimir Klitschko for the World Heavyweight Title and the Romanian was retired in the eighth Round that day.

Hammer has rebuilt himself since that loss, which doesn't look so bad when you see where Fury went after that, and his Split Decision win over Erkan Teper is an interesting result. Teper beat Price in two brutal Rounds, although was later found to have failed a drugs test.

The oddsmakers do have Price as the favourite in this one, but he isn't an overwhelming one and Hammer has shown he can be tough and need to be worn down. I think Price has plenty of power, but Hammer managed to take what Teper was able to hand out and that will give him confidence in this one.

Hammer has usually found the world level beyond his capabilities but Price is yet to prove he is going to be able reach that level himself. I do think Price is likely to be the stronger fighter, but Hammer is durable enough to take this one into the second half of the fight as he showed against the likes of Teper and Fury.

A lot of Price's wins have come early in fights when is power is very evident, but I think he may have to bide his time. I do think Price can match the kind of win Fury had over Hammer and I will have a small interest on this fight being stopped in the second half.

Chris Eubank Jr vs Renold Quinlan

There will be some trying to indicate that this is a genuine contest between evenly matched opponents, but don't be fooled for a moment that Chris Eubank Jr isn't handpicking someone he should be taking out with some comfort.

As much as we want to point to Renold Quinlan's win over Daniel Geale as meaning something, the latter is a veteran on the slide and the Australian heading overseas for the first time with an 11-1 record is not going to get too many people backing him for the upset. Quinlan will talk a good game, but there is nothing on his resume to think he is anything more than a chance for Eubank to showcase his talent.

But anyone who thinks this is going to entice the biggest names to fight Eubank Jr is going to be disappointed until the Eubanks realise they are not the 'A' side of any of the fights they have called for. Instead they keep pushing for the lion share of things and that is not going to happen until Eubank Jr can beat someone of note.

That isn't Quinlan and I think this is going to be an easy day in the office for Eubank Jr.

Much will depend on what Eubank Jr wants to prove as to how long this fight is going to last, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if it is an early night for the British fighter. Backing Chris Eubank Jr to win this one inside the first three Rounds looks very possible in this one and is worth a small interest.

MY PICKS: David Price Win Between 7-12 @ 4.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Chris Eubank Jr Win Between 1-3 @ 4.00 Bet365 (1 Unit)