This is an eliminator for the IBF world title at Light Flyweight. Nontshinga is one of the best prospects in the division while Araneta is a decent contender who lost in his first step up to world class.
Nontshinga is a big puncher and has decent boxing skills though his main weapon is his power. Christian Araneta also has power and semi-decent boxing skills which is what makes this a fun fight.
Christian Araneta
I expect it to be a back and forth affair for a while before Sivenathi Nontshinga wins by knockout due to his power.
This is an excellent step up fight for Adeleye who is a decent prospect in the heavyweight division. Kamil Sokolowski is a great test man for prospects to see if there good enough to progress towards British level or not. He does mostly lose to the good prospects but he gives them rounds and unlike most early opponents its by no means a guaranteed win.
David Adeleye is powerful and has good technical skills due to his amateur background. Kamil Sokolowski isn’t as good technically but has some power and is very awkward to fight. He’ll mostly throw one or two punches at a time and will raid forward unexpectedly.
Kamil Sokolowski
I expect David Adeleye to pass this test and win a decision after six rounds though with Sokolowski coming in on six days notice Adeleye may get the late stoppage.
This is Callum Johnson’s comeback fight and while the opponent Emil Markic has a good record of 32-2 I don’t think this fight will be all that competitive.
Callum Johnson is a massive puncher that throws a lot of punches and sets a relentless pace. He’s been inactive but has been training and seems to be in good shape so that shouldn’t be a big problem in my opinion.
Emil Markic is 38 and hasn’t fought anyone of note since he got knocked out in four rounds by Umar Salamov in 2017. He’s not great defensively and I think at this point doesn’t have that solid of a chin.
Emil Markic
I expect Callum Johnson to win by knockout because hes a big puncher versus an older guy who doesn’t have much punch resistance in my opinion. Hopefully we see Callum Johnson active now and in big fights as hes a good fighter.
This is an excellent fight between two unbeaten British middleweights who are both talented and on the rise. Denzel Bentley is 14-0-1 with 12 knockouts while Felix Cash is 13-0 with 9 knockouts.
Denzel Bentley showed in his last two fights that he can box and counter off the back foot well which was a different style to his come forward all action style he did against lesser competition. I also think he clearly has improved in his last two fights and will be improved again for this fight. He has a lot of power and has learn’t to set it up now so it’s more effective. I think he’s shown an effective jab and that he can also take a punch.
Felix Cash is a come forward fighter that takes risks to get his own punches off. He’s a fairly big puncher and works to the body well. He’s got decent boxing skills but favors coming forward and trading from what I’ve seen. I think this is more because he wants the stoppages than him not being able to box from the outside. I don’t think his defence is great and he’s there to be hit which isn’t great versus a big puncher like Bentley.
Felix Cash
I’m going to pick Denzel Bentley the under dog to win this fight by stoppage. I think he’ll catch Felix Cash coming in and hurt him badly before finishing the fight. I expect it to last for at least five or six rounds but I expect Bentley to catch Cash in the ninth or tenth round and win by knockout.
This is a fight which your only likely to see in Japan as its Daigo Higa who is a former world champion and a big name versus an unknown but dangerous 3-0 prospect. In most countries Higa would simply say Nishida needs to do something big to get the right to fight him but in Japan these match ups happen often.
Daigo Higa is a massive puncher who has shown hes vulnerable in the past and isn’t hard to hit. He’s not bad technically but hes also not some masterful boxer who will box rings around his opponents. His style of fighting is much more destructive as shown by his record where all his 17 wins are by knockout.
Ryosuke Nishida is only 3-0 but took a big step up in his last fight and won convincingly. He’s good technically and he’s also big for the weight class so will come in with a sizable reach advantage. He hasn’t shown massive power yet especially compared to Higa though Higa himself isn’t as much of a puncher at Bantamweight as he was at lower weights.
Ryosuke Nishida
I think this fight will be more competitive than it looks on paper but I still expect Higa to use his experience to win. I think he’ll keep on coming and over time will break Nishida down probably to the body. I expect Daigo Higa to win by late stoppage due to his power and experience.
This is a good fight in the Light fly division between long reigning world champion Kenshiro and world class contender Hisada. Kenshiro has made seven defences of his world title and is in my opinion clearly the number one fighter in the division. Unfortunately due to out of the ring troubles and the corona virus he hasn’t fought since 2019. Hisada also hasn’t fought since 2019 where he lost a decision to Hiroto Kyoguchi for the WBA world title. He performed well in that fight though I think it was most likely his last roll at the dice at least at world level.
Kenshiro is technically better and can box well on the back foot. He’s willing to get into exchanges if needed and has good power for the weight class. Tetsuya Hisada isn’t as good technically and will most likely come forward for the majority of the fight.
Tetsuya Hisada
I think Kenshiro will successfully defend his belt for the eighth time by winning a decision after twelve rounds. I think he’ll out box Hisada on the back foot for the majority of the fight and lead him into big counter punches which may lead to him winning by knockout if Hisada has regressed in his time off.
This is a slight step up in competition for Torres who is a prospect in the Super featherweight division. Anuar Salas is a journeyman who has lost five of his last six with the other fight being a draw against a 6-9-1 fighter.
Anuar Salas
Bernard Angelo Torres should be able to box his way to a decision after six rounds due to being better technically and having the momentum behind him.
This is a very strange fight that I expect Lejarrago to look good in. Lejarraga is a big puncher with decent skills though has a suspect chin after losing by stoppage twice. He’s a very fun fighter and can be in lots of fun fights in the future.
Jez Smith is 12-1-1 with five knockouts but has only competed domestically and hasn’t had a huge amount of success at that level. One of his losses was at middleweight which isn’t his natural weight class so that doesn’t mean all that much however he was broken down the stretch in that fight just like in his other loss. He looked good in his last fight where he beat a 3-0 fighter but that isn’t anywhere near the level of this fight.
Jez Smith
I think Kerman Lejarraga will win this fight by stoppage due to having more power and also being better technically. Lejarraga has been fighting at a higher level for a while now and shouldn’t have too many problems in this fight. I’m glad Jez Smith is getting a big opportunity though.
This is a fight between two past their best featherweights who are similar in many ways. Both aren’t big punchers and both are 35.
I really don’t see much of a difference between the two though McDonnell is bigger and has fought at a higher level in the past.
Gavin McDonnell
I think after twelve rounds Gavin McDonnell will have done enough to win a decision due to his height advantage and him having fought at a higher level than a Gago.
This is a good fight though one that would be regarded as a bit of a tune up fight for Sandor Martin if Kay Prospere wasn’t a British fighter and the fight wasn’t put together by Eddie Hearn.
Sandor Martin has good technical skills and has proven himself to be European level while Kay Prospere has struggled domestically.
Kay Prospere
I think Sandor Martin will win this fight by decision due to being technically better and also because of his experience at a higher level.
Boxing Fulcrum 