Dillian Whyte Headlines A Big Night of Fights for British Boxing
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By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
This weekend sees a big match up in the heavyweight division as former champion Joseph Parker makes another return to UK shores, not to try and avenge his only loss to Anthony Joshua, but to fight against another man who wants his revenge from Joshua, Brixton’s Dillian Whyte. Whyte is hoping that a victory against Parker will secure his shot at the title, whether that is against Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua, Parker will be hoping a win does the same for him.
The fight will present an intriguing match up of styles of two boxers battling to enter the elite fighter status at the heavyweight division, both are solid fighters but just lack that star appeal of a Joshua, Wilder or even a Tyson Fury, a win here puts them very close to that upper echelon bracket of heavyweights.
Parker, despite being the former champion hasn’t quite got to that status, perhaps because of his relatively quiet nature, which is in total contrast to his opponent on the night, Dillian Whyte who is refreshingly honest, but rustles a few feathers along the way.
Whereas Whyte will be wanting to bring the fight, Parker’s best tactic would be not to bring the fight to Whyte. Unfortunately Parker didn’t bring any fight on the night in his last outing against Joshua, perhaps wary of AJ’s vaunted power but more likely he was not prepared for AJ’s tactics and clever use of the jab. If Parker wants to stand and trade with Whyte, he will be playing into Whyte’s hands as that is exactly what Whyte wants. If Parker can return to his style of moving and punching, keeping on his toes, he will frustrate Whyte and force him into mistakes. Both men have solid chins but both also lack that difference making power. If Parker can fight like he can, I would expect him to steal this one on points, the fight is in Whyte’s territory so Parker will have to win convincingly to get the nod but it’s nothing he is not capable of. For Whyte to win, he is going to have to apply the pressure and force Parker to open up and fight the way he wants Parker to fight.
The undercard though, is just as impressive as the main event. Also included is another heavyweight clash, the much experienced Dereck Chisora faces a stern test when he takes on Carlos Takam. This will be a good fight as Chisora always likes to have a fight and in Takam he will find a tough fighter who won’t take a step back, this could quite possibly develop into a slugfest but it will depend more on the mood of Chisora on the night, which Chisora will turn up? The motivated Chisora who gave Dillian Whyte hell and battled both Tyson Fury and Vitali Klitschko over 12 rounds or the unfocused Chisora who looked lazy in his defeat to the European Champion Agit Kabayel only as recently as last November.
Dereck Chisora’s stablemate Frank Buglioni makes a return to the ring for the first time since losing his British light heavyweight title to the hard hitting Callum Johnson back in March when he takes on Emmanuel Fuezue in an eight round contest. This has the feel of a confidence regaining fight for the former world title challenger who will no doubt be looking to win in emphatic fashion and set the stage for bigger fights later in the year or early next year.
Three of Britains brightest prospects and hottest talents also take centre stage on the night as Joshua Buatsi, the former olympic medallist challenges for his first title, the WBA intercontinental belt over 10 rounds against Andrejs Pokumeiko. Buatsi is a hard hitting and composed fighter and big things are expected of the light heavyweight boxer.
Anthony Fowler and Conor Benn(son of the former British middleweight and super middleweight legend Nigel Benn) also look to continue their winning ways, Benn had a controversial victory against Peynaud in Decemeber 2017 in which he was dropped twice in the opening round only to come back and win on points, he will be aiming to make a statement that he is far better than what he showed in their last match up.
If that isn’t enough then across the pond in the USA we have a great match up at 135lbs when one of the world’s best pound for pound fighters, Mikey Garcia takes on a man who has the potential to be one of the best in Robert Easter, JR. Both are undefeated champions with Easter, JR holding the IBF version of the title and Garcia holding the WBC belt. Easter, JR holds a huge height and reach advantage over Garcia but Garcia is the more experienced fighter and more accomplished boxer. Easter, JR will be looking to bounce back from a shaky last outing and if he doesn’t improve upon that performance, Garcia’s power will overwhelm the IBF champion as he looks to get inside his taller opponent and unload his fearsome power.
Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
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