By Gav Duthie: The city of Hull plays host to their biggest ever boxing spectacle as two local lightweights Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle lock horns. The event also boasts a good undercard full of boxers with varying agendas – the revenge of Brian Rose on Carson Jones, the latest comeback of two time world champ Ricky Burns and the profile building of heavyweight prospect Dillian Whyte. Here is my take on the fights with predictions.
Luke Campbell 11-0 v Tommy Coyle 21-2
Many fight fans are asking when Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua is going to step up in class. Fellow gold medalist Luke Campbell is definitely being handed a tougher assignment than any Joshua has received in fellow Hull boxer and stablemate Tommy Coyle. Coyle is an enigma as a fighter. He was excellent against Derry Matthews but was knocked out in the 10th round, he was exposed against Argentine Daniel Brizuela being knocked down 4 times but rallied to win in the 12th. He then destroyed aging Australian warrior Michael Katsidis in 2 rounds but looked poor in winning in the mid rounds against Martin Gethin. One thing is for sure he won’t accept defeat against Campbell despite being the underdog. He will put pressure on ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and test his boxing skills likely into the late rounds.
Campbell UD
Brian Rose 26-3-1 v Carson Jones 37-10-3
The first Rose-Jones fight one Valentines day had more action in the first round than some have over 12. Rose started brightly but as he was getting confident he was caught and badly staggered by the American. Rose didn’t go down but the fight was stopped (correct in my opinion) and he was livid at the decision. After the win Jones was looking to step up but Hearn has managed to persuade him with the financial incentive to face the former title challenger. Rose should look to box more this time because Jones is hard to stop and he will keep pushing forward. I think this one will last longer but Jones will still prevail when he catches up to him.
Jones KO 6
Dillian Whyte 14-0 v Irineu Costa Jnr 17-4
Eddie Hearn obviously feels he needs to build the brand of Dillian Whyte in anticipation of his grudge match with Anthony Joshua. Dillian has the role of the villain in the story of the AJ express train. Hardcore fans know the story of the rivalry of how Whyte beat Joshua in the amateurs and the war of words they have had including a spat during a Wladimir Klitschko training camp. It will be beneficial to market the fight by having Whyte on Sky Sports and Costa Jnr is a safe bet. His record is not bad and he has a high volume of knockouts but has lost any big fight he has faced including Joshua Parker, David Price and Dennis Boytsov in the last couple of years all by stoppage. This is an opponent for Whyte to look good and to knock him out whilst doing it. The most interesting part if this will be the post fight interview in selling himself as someone who can derail Anthony Joshua.
Whyte KO 3
Ricky Burns 37-5-1 v Prince Ofotsu 15-4
This uninspiring opponent was only announced recently so it is not a huge surprise that it isn’t a big test. Despite losing last time out Ricky impressed against Omar Figueroa. He felt that the Mexican was too strong at times so he has decided to move back down to 135lbs. Britain should have arguably two world champions at lightweight with Terry Flanagan winning this earlier this month and Anthony Crolla drawing a controversial decision. Burns feels he can still mix it with these domestic opponents but he needs wins to justify getting title shots. Ricky needs cash and could have easily continued his career as a gatekeeper type fighter against American prospects but he wants another crack at the title before its too late.
Burns unanimous decision
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