Frankie Gavin moving down to 140

By Boxing News - 06/03/2015 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: In a predictable move, #4 IBF welterweight contender Frankie Gavin (22-2, 13 KOs) says he’s going to be moving down to 140 to campaign as a light welterweight. This comes after the 29-year-old Gavin was stopped in the 6th round by IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24 KOs) last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Gavin looked like the better fighter in terms of technical skills, but he simply didn’t have the punching power to make Brook respect him and keep him honest in there. Brook eventually bludgeoned the weaker Gavin into submission in the 6th with referee Steve Gray stopping the mismatch at 2:51 of the round as Gavin slid down the ropes after taking some decent head shots.

“Think it’s time to try light welter next fight. Nutritional advice welcome,” Gavin said on his Twitter.

I have strong doubts whether Gavin will be any better off at 140 than he was at 147, I really do. The problem is there are a number of big punchers in the light welterweight division that can punch almost as hard if not harder than Brook, and Gavin will still be really up against it once he eventually gets around to facing them.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that Gavin’s promoter Eddie Hearn would steer him around these big punchers for a while to help bolster his confidence and give him some easy paydays, but eventually he’ll have to face the top quality guys like Lucas Matthysse, Danny Garcia, Terence Crawford, Ruslan Provodnikov, Lamont Peterson and Viktor Postol. I see those guys all chopping Gavin up in short order. I can’t see Gavin beating any of those fighters because he’s not a big enough puncher.

I think Gavin’s only real chance of making something of his career is for him to drop down to 135 to fight at lightweight. If he can fight at that weight, I can see him being one of the top guys at that weight, as long as he’s not weight drained. However, Gavin reportedly walks around at close to 170 between fights, and it would mean that he would need to drop close to 35 pounds just to make weight for the lightweight division. I don’t think that’s physically possible.

Gavin looked totally drained in just making 147 for the Brook fight, and I don’t see how he can drop another 12 pounds to make lightweight. But it’s his best chance of doing anything with his career in my estimation, because he’s going to get battered and beaten to a pulp if he tries to fight at light welterweight. He just doesn’t have the power to fight at that weight. I think Gavin has the talent to be a good fighter, but his lack of punching power is the limiting factor for him.



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