|
|
|
|
The new champion looked significantly larger on the night and with size, aggression, strength, skill, supreme confidence and an unquestionable chin, he has the goods to trouble even the very best at feather and super-feather. For Brodie, retirement is an option he is rumoured to have rejected, but the road back to the top is now a long one and at 29 Brodie's best bet might be to look for big money fights such as Scott Harrion or a returning Naseem Hamed.
Also on the show Salford lad Jamie Moore regained the Commonwealth light-middleweight title (not lost in the ring) with a fifth round stoppage over Ugandan Adam Katumwa. The African started briskly, forcing the pace and catching Moore, but the local increased his tempo in the fifth and some impressive southpaw left hands brought the referee's timely intervention.
Friday night in Bradford brings the return to the ring of local boy Junior 'The Hitter' Witter, disputing the European light-welter crown with Italian champion Salvatore Battaglia. Witter, with a nickname Lovemore N'Dou would presumably love to get his hands on, has a chance to get back on the Ricky Hatton opponent list with an impressive display. Having fallen foul of Frank Warren over prevarications surrounding a proposed fight with Kelson Pinto, Witter has the edge in most aspects here and could look sufficiently impressive in stopping Battaglia late to not only win the title but also get fans talking about a Witter-Hatton match once more.
Despite Battaglie having little power, the Italian put in a good showing last February against Oktay Urkal in Germany and it is his smart boxing that may win rounds in the eyes of the judges. Ingle-trained switch-hitter Witter, though, should be too good and too strong, having stopped all his opponents in a handful of rounds since the snooze-fest against Zab Judah in 2000.
Former world title challenger Ryan Rhodes and Gilbert 'brother of Howard' Eastman fill out the undercard.
Also on Friday light-middleweight Javier Casillejo has a run-out against Venezuelan Marcos Avendano in what should be a straightforward fight for the fringe world-level Spaniard. Avendano is fighting for the first time outside South America but has mixed with some respectable company (a second round KO loss to Ricardo Mayorga being his only stoppage defeat). However, his record is padded thick with novices and career losers: Casillejo's class should win through over the course.
Saturday sees a thoroughly watchable Sergio Gabriel Martinez - Richard Williams rematch as the chief supporting bout to Brian Magee's match with Jerry Elliott in Belfast. The headline bout features Nigerian Elliott as a stand-in for Fighting Nordin, who withdrew some weeks ago through injury. Elliott is handy, and has compiled a decent career slate fighting mostly in Germany, but has not been picked as an opponent to derail the Magee train. The home fighter, despite having only 21 fights (all wins, 15 early) has mixed in higher company than this in the past and should progress onto better things following a late stoppage or points win to retain his IBO super-middleweight crown.
The Martinez-Williams bout is a fascinating rematch of their June 2003 match for the IBO light-middleweight belt, won clearly on points by Martinez. This has to be redemption time for Williams, one of the more stylish British boxers currently active. A loss would bar him for good from the world scene, whereas a win could open doors, although the Argentinean himself is hugely underrated globally. Last summer, Williams found himself comprehensively outboxed and it is questionable whether he will be able to overcome this mentally after just one (albeit polished) intervening outing against limited Ghanaian Ayitteh Powers. Martinez may well consign the thoroughly likeable Williams to domestic outings only in future.
One of Europe's most hallowed boxing halls, the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, hosts a decent card on Saturday. The list is headed by Oktay Urkal's challenge for Vivian Harris's WBA 140 pound title. Urkal has vacated the European belt being fought for by Witter and Battaglia in order to challenge Harris. Urkal is an excellent boxer and, fighting on home turf, may be favoured by the judges. Harris, despite being champion, is stepping up his competition in facing Urkal. It will come down to the tutored boxing of the Turkish German against the skills and youth of the American in a genuinely good match likely to last the course. After that, it would be churlish to second-guess German judges.
Also on the bill is highly-touted Russian super-middleweight prospect Vitali Tsypko, taking on compatriot Alexander Zaitsev. Zaitsev has faced (and lost to) some decent names and how Tsypko deals with him could bring him to the fore as one of the world's better 168 pound prospects. Timo Hoffman should deal with American Quinn Navarre relatively easily, and giant Nicolai Valuev faces arguably his toughest opponent to date in tough-chinned Argentinian Marcelo Domniguez. The foot-and-a-half height difference and 100 pound plus weight advantage should see things turn out in favour of Valuev, however.
June 5th, Calzaghe-Johnson is set for Manchester, along with Ricky Hatton versus a tantalising TBA. Sharmba Mitchell looks unlikely, with Mitchell victim Lovemore N'Dou being a contender for the slot.
Past British Updates
Feb. 3 | Feb. 10 | Feb. 18 | Feb. 24 | March 3 | March 10 | March 18 | March 24 | March 31 | April 7
