Prescott: McCloskey fights to survive at this level instead of win

By Boxing News - 09/08/2011 - Comments

By William Mackay: Colombian Breidis Prescott (24-2, 19 KO’s) made some very astute observations about his opponent Paul McCloskey (22-1, 12 KO’s) in an interview at ringTV, where Prescott nailed it on the head when he said this about his fight against McCloskey on Saturday: “McCloskey is a very awkward fighter with a very ugly style. He’s not a big puncher. I feel that he is a runner who tries to use his head. But at the next level, he tries to survive instead of win.”

This is very true. McCloskey seemed to be in over his head in his last fight against Amir Khan last April and he looked to be just trying to keep from getting knocked out instead of winning. He looked like he didn’t belong out there with Khan to be honest. It was sad to see how overmatched McCloskey was in that fight. When he did get cut in the 6th, McCloskey appeared to not even put up much of a fight when the referee was asking him if he wanted to continue. It looked like he was relieved when the bout was stopped.

On Saturday, McCloskey is again venturing over his head against Prescott, a fighter that seems so much better than McCloskey that it’s not even funny. This is a much more dangerous fight for McCloskey than his bout against Khan, because Prescott can punch with devastating power with either hand and has a great jab to go along with his power shots. Prescott, 5’11”, is also will have a 2 1/2″ height advantage and likely a reach advantage of at least four inches, possibly more. It’s simply a mismatch. McCloskey is just too weak, slow and short to compete with a monstrous puncher like Prescott, and we’re going to see McCloskey just looking to survive instead of win like Prescott is saying.