Boxing Fulcrum

James Dickens versus Ryan Walsh breakdown

This fight is over 10 rounds in the featherweight division and is the final of the Golden Contract tournament that MTK put on. James Dickens has gone on a good run since he lost back to back fights to Guillermo Rigondeaux and Thomas Patrick Ward. Ryan Walsh is one of the most underrated fighters in British boxing and has a domestic resume few can match.

James Dickens is an aggressive southpaw who has a relatively high activity rate. He likes throwing his left hand straight into the body of his opponents. Hes a decent combination puncher and turns into his hooks properly. He has a lot more power than his record suggests though hes by no means a big puncher and doesn’t have good finishing skills which is why he doesn’t get many knockouts even though he has the power to get them. He is the younger fresher man and has looked to be in the best form of his career.

Ryan Walsh has a weird style where he waits to try and counter but often ends up spending too much time not punching. When he does go to counter hes explosive and like Dickens has more power than his record suggests. When he actually decides to fight in a good style he presses forwards throwing accurate punches and clearly unsettles his opponents especially when he switches between his two styles in one fight. He’s shown a great chin and good stamina throughout his career.

I’m not very confident picking a winner in this fight but I feel James Dickens may be catching Walsh at the right time as he is 34 while Dickens is solidly in his prime at the age of 29. I think James Dickens will win a decision because of his youth and that he’ll throw more punches while being aggressive which the judges will like. I can see Ryan Walsh winning if he lands a big counter early and gets Dickens respect or if he engages in a toe to toe war where its a real 50/50 but Walsh’s chin may power him over the line.

One to watch : Fiodor Czerkaszyn

With all the talk of long time middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin facing Kamil Szeremeta from Poland I thought I’d write about another rising Polish middleweight and one that in my eyes is better than Szeremeta.

Fiodor Czerkaszyn has flown under the radar in Poland as over the course of five years hes built himself a record of 16-0. Any semi-decent prospect can build a nice shiny record but the difference with Czerkaszyn is hes actually taken on some interesting tests all while being unknown to most of the world and even to most of boxings hardcore fan base. KO wins over Kassim Ouma, Guido Nicolas Pitto and most importantly Patrick Mendy elevate him beyond the standard domestic level prospect and into someone that has potential on the world stage. Patrick Mendy has been stopped two times out of 38 fights, one by Czerkaszyn and the other more notable name Callum Smith the current WBA world champion at super middleweight who will face P4P number one Canelo Alvarez in December.

Czerkaszyn has a good jab which he uses in a variety of ways. He’ll throw it out hard and quick to set up a one-two but also use it as a range finder along with pawing out with it trying to bait his opponents into opening up their defence. His footwork enables him to get new angles on his opponents but unlike other prospects such as Israil Madrimov he doesn’t overuse his movement and jump in constantly. He is an aggressive fighter but its an educated aggression where he picks his opponents apart and understands the importance of throwing with differing levels of power to set up the knockout. He seems to be a respectable puncher but clearly doesn’t have the power of a GGG or other well known power punchers. He is best described as an aggressive boxer puncher who focuses on breaking opponents down.

He is big for a middleweight and I expect him to eventually move up to Super Middle but hopefully not before he gets a title shot at 160 pounds. He’s only 24 so has time on his side to keep developing and move towards a world title in 2022 or 2023. I expect by that time the middleweight landscape will look vastly different and he may be able to win a title or two as there won’t be many big names in the division by then. He is definitely a fighter to look out for as hes very talented and the next few years will be big for his career.

Fearghus Quinn versus Scott James breakdown

This is a good test for Quinn in his second fight and should give him rounds to develop further as a pro. Scott James is a journeyman who wins one then loses one. He’s fought a lot of prospects and goes for the win but so far has had to settle for one draw and six losses against unbeaten fighters. His six wins have come versus other journeymen who unlike James don’t come to win.

Fearghus Quinn was a decent domestic amateur in Ireland and has an aggressive style. He puts a lot of power behind his punches and pushes forward. He works to the body a lot and I think that this should serve him well as he starts to enter fights with more rounds. I don’t know how good his stamina is as hes only gone six rounds though that won’t be a problem for this fight as its only six rounds. His chin is also relatively untested but I’d be surprised if that was a problem for him in this level of fight.

Scott James is tough and really tries but doesn’t have the technical skills or power of Quinn. He doesn’t really turn into his punches and keeps his head on the center line which makes him easily counter-able. I think his biggest weakness is certainly his defence as he has very limited head movement and his footwork isn’t good enough to get him out of tricky spots. He does seem to have a good chin so Quinn will need to break him down rather than trying for the one punch KO.

I think Quinn’s relentless come forward style combined with his superior punching technique should be enough for him to win a decision after six rounds. I doubt he’ll get the KO as James is tough and over six rounds should be able to deal with Quinn’s power which so far hasn’t looked all that devastating.

Rene Tellez Giron wins by knockout in Mexico

Rene Tellez Giron won by knockout in Mexico earlier today in what is his first fight this year. Giron is a fighter worth watching as at the age of 21 hes already caused two upsets over touted prospects and gone the distance with Michel Rivera who is regarded as a very good prospect at lightweight. His opponent Guadalupe Acosta wasn’t expected to win but what was unexpected is him getting KO’d as hes gone the distance in four of his five losses which have been against a decent level of competition.

Daniel Dubois versus Joe Joyce breakdown

This is one of the best fights of the year and a real 50/50 in most peoples eyes. Daniel Dubois looks to be one of the most promising prospects in boxing while Joe Joyce is a rising heavyweight contender with a stellar amateur background.

Daniel Dubois has a great jab and sets up his punches using it which is great too see in any young fighter. His work to the body is underrated in my opinion and is actually what KO’d his last opponent. He is very powerful and clearly has fight ending power though hasn’t shown it at this level yet. I believe his power will transfer up the levels in this fight.

Joe Joyce was a great amateur and clearly has skill though his punches are some of the slowest i’ve seen. He has a high output and won’t stop coming but has shown when he steps up a level (Bryant Jennings) that this isn’t as effective as people in the sport make out. He’s also 35 at this point and in my opinion has slowed down a bit from his amateur days.

I find this fight hard to predict because I don’t know how Dubois will perform under constant pressure from Joyce. Thinking Logically I have to back Dubois to win this fight by stoppage due to his youth, superior hand speed and jab. His work to the body will be especially effective as in the Bryant Jennings fight Joyce was hurt badly to the body in round one.

Florian Marku signs with matchroom

Florian Marku has recently signed a promotional contract with Matchroom boxing. The promising Albanian prospect has a huge fan base and I imagine that is one of the major reasons he got a multi fight deal with a big promoter. I expect him to start being pushed towards domestic opponents in the UK such as Chris Kongo soon.

Nikita Ababiy versus Brandon Maddox breakdown

This should be a solid test for Ababiy though one he should pass in my opinion. Brandon Maddox is a good domestic fighter in the USA but generally loses when he steps up against good amateurs and prospects.

Nikita Ababiy is a powerful middleweight prospect who is slowly learning his craft. He isn’t quite as reckless as he was early in his career and actually focuses a bit on defence and combinations rather than loading up on punches. I think he has a lot of potential and at 22 has all the time in the world to get to a world title. He had a good amateur career though never went to the Olympics.

Brandon Maddox can cause fighters problems if they are slow or don’t have good fundamentals but when facing top amateurs and prospects they can generally take advantage of him having his chin high in the air and standing still after punching instead of moving to avoid counters. He throws punches with a weird stiffness sometimes and his stance and footwork are confusing to me as they seem very random.

I think Nikita Ababiy should be able to exploit the holes in Maddox’s game to knock him out in the 5th or 6th round.

Daniyar Yeleussinov versus Julius Indongo breakdown

This is a good step up fight for Yeleussinov who has moved quite slowly so far in his pro career considering how good of an amateur he was. Julius Indongo is a former unified champion but is 37 now and been knocked out in his last two big fights. To be fair to him those losses were to Terence Crawford and Regis Prograis both of whom are top talents in the sport.

Daniyar Yeleussinov is a great technical boxer and in his recent fights has also been sitting down on his punches more. He doesn’t have massive natural power but he still hurts people because of how accurate he is.

Julius Indongo has a bit of an unorthodox style and is hard to deal with due to him being a tall southpaw. He has good power even if his record doesn’t show it. I think with him being 37 now hes slowed down a bit and for someone that relied on keeping fights at range and boxing thats not a good thing. His defence and chin are also questionable when it gets to the highest level of the sport and while Yeleussinov isn’t at that level right now I think he has the potential to get there.

I think Daniyar Yeleussinov will win by knockout because Indongo is past his best while Yeleussinov is improving and also has a stellar amateur background to back up his youth.

Emmanuel Tagoe versus Mason Menard breakdown

This should be a solid fight and a good test for Tagoe who is a promising contender in the lightweight division. Mason Menard has become a measuring stick for rising prospects in the division at this point though he always gives it everything.

Emmanuel Tagoe has good boxing skills even if they are slightly unorthadox in my opinion. He holds his left hand very low which lets him shoot his jab from almost his hip. He’s got decent timing and seems very defensively responsible. I think he has really good footwork and can cause a lot of the top guys problems with his movement.

Mason Menard is a come forward fighter who doesn’t do anything special really and when he steps up in competition he normally gets stopped at this point in his career. When he got KO’d by Teofimo Lopez I did question whether his punch resistance was gone but that could have just been Lopez having a lot of power.

I think Tagoe should be able to use his footwork and general boxing skills to win a decision as I don’t think hes a huge puncher and his style doesn’t really lead to knockouts.

Daniel Jacobs versus Gabriel Rosado breakdown

While this fight is interesting because of the bad blood involved between the two I personally don’t see it being that competitive and the fact that its been put together at all frustrates me a little. Daniel Jacobs after competing in the middleweight division for years has decided to move up to super middleweight which is perfectly fine. What I think isn’t fine is then choosing to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr who hasn’t taken his career seriously for years and proceeded to quit in their fight to no ones surprise. I get that they chose Chavez Jr because hes a big name and makes for a big event but why after taking a fight like that do you decide to fight Rosado a guy who’s lost almost every big fight and is a middleweight moving up to Super Middleweight? It doesn’t help test how good a fighter he is at super middleweight or really prepare him to face any of the champions. I don’t think hes especially motivated to face any of the top guys anymore and I think if he loses another fight he’ll go into retirement as hes made plenty of money.

Jacob’s is a good fighter and does pretty much everything better than Rosado. The only things you can credit Rosado for is perhaps he has more dog in him as no matter how far down on the scorecards he is he’ll push forward and go for the win. Jacob’s certainly has heart but in a straight up battle of will I’d back Rosado.

I think Jacobs should be able to use his boxing skills and decent power to beat Rosado by decision or late stoppage. I think Rosado may be slightly on the slide and in boxing there are levels and Jacob’s is clearly a level or two above Rosado.