By Nate Anderson: Last Friday night, light middleweight contender Sechew Powell (23-1, 14 KOs) overwhelmed opponent Kevin Finley (12-1-1, 9 KOs), whom he stopped in the 1st round at the Paragon Casino & Resort, in Marksville, Louisiana. My question is this: Is Powell as good as he looked against Finley, a fighter who had never fought anyone close as good as Powell, or is Powell only as good as he looked in a 10-round unanimous decision lost to Kassim Ouma in August 2006?

Judging by how Powell easily stopped Finley, you’d think that Powell, the #1 challenger for the IBF light middleweight title, is a can’t miss future champion. Not so fast, though, because Powell looked almost as bad in his bout with Ishe Smith in February 2007. He treated Smith as if he were a knockout threat, almost afraid to mix it up with him at all for the duration of their 10-round bout.

Certainly, Powell has said that he has now changed his style, that he’s more offensive-oriented now and won’t be making anymore mistakes of coming out timid-looking as he did against Ouma and Smith. Perhaps what he says is true? Maybe he is a new fighter now. Finley probably will attest to that. He took a huge amount of straight left hands to the head on Friday, and was knocked down twice by Powell before the referee moved in and stopped the slaughter.

Still, I’d like to see whether Powell against a top light middleweight like IBF champion Cory Spinks or # 5 contender James Kirkland. It would be interesting to see if Powell really is as good as he looked against Finley. I think Kirkland would give him a lot of problems due to his power punching, and would perhaps knock Powell out in a quick fashion.