This is an eliminator for the WBA Lightweight world title over twelve rounds between two rising contenders. James Tennyson is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing right now because of his kill or be killed style of fighting. Josh O’Reilly has been slowly progressing in Canada as more of a pure boxer who fights off the back foot.
James Tennyson is an underrated technical fighter as its a lot harder to put together knockouts than people think. He stalks his opponents down and while he does throw a lot of punches he also picks the right spots and doesn’t just mindlessly hit the gloves or shoulders of the opposing fighter. Tennyson is a huge puncher who has carried his power up through the weight classes to lightweight. Similar to a lot of big punchers he can also be vulnerable himself though in the past its mostly been to body shots and I think that was more due to him squeezing himself down in weight rather than a real weakness.
Josh O’Reilly is a good technical boxer who uses his feet decently to box on the back foot around the ring. He’s not a big puncher and will need to box perfectly for twelve rounds to beat Tennyson. I think he keeps his chin a bit too high in the air and often has his hands low which may prove to be his undoing in this fight.
I think James Tennyson should be able to win this fight by knockout as I don’t think O’Reilly has the power to keep him away for twelve rounds and once O’Reilly starts to wilt Tennyson will jump on him and finish the fight.
Boxing Fulcrum 