McCloskey: I’m not going to get involved in a war with Prescott

By Boxing News - 08/20/2011 - Comments

By Sean McDaniel: Ireland’s Paul McCloskey (22-1, 12 KO’s) is convinced that he’s going to be able to out-box knockout artist Breidis Prescott (24-2, 19 KO’s) next month in their WBA light welterweight eliminator bout. McCloskey, 31, is a slick fighter that likes to make his opponent’s miss and is counting on that attribute to carry him to victory over the lanky 5’11” Prescott.

McCloskey will be fighting at home in will likely be a jam packed Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He’s definitely going to have the crowd fully on his side in this fight, and that’s likely to give him confidence. However, McCloskey is also giving away a lot in the power, speed, and experience department.

McCloskey doesn’t have the same kinds of weapons that Prescott possesses and has to hope that he can get out of the way of enough shots to win a close decision. There’s little chance that McCloskey, with his poor offensive skills, can dominate a puncher like Prescott. The only thing he can do is make him look bad and hope that the judges score rounds for him off of that.

It’s clear that McCloskey will get out-punched and out-landed in this fight. It could be as high as 4-1. However, the fight is at home and the judges will likely respond to the crowd noise and perhaps give McCloskey rounds where he’s getting totally machine-gunned by Prescott.

McCloskey said this to News Letter: “I will use my boxing skills against Prescott, and not get dragged into a war. I will try and outbox Prescott and not get involved in a slugging match. He is very strong and he can bang…I have the tools to win this fight – but I have to not get involved in a war – if I can help it.”

It’s going to be difficult for McCloskey to avoid getting involved in a war because with Prescott sticking his power jab in McCloskey’s face all night long if he doesn’t respond back with anything he’s going to look kind of silly. McCloskey will be giving away at least six inches in reach to Prescott, and it’s going to be difficult for him to land his jabs. McCloskey doesn’t really throw jabs. He’s more of a fighter that fires back against guys that come close to him. If Prescott is allowed to get close, it’s going to be a huge problem for McCloskey because even if he misses with a number of his shots, he’ll connect with something big and make a mess of McCloskey.

It comes down to this. Either McCloskey fights back, which involves a war, or he’s going to get blasted out and end up looking worse that David Haye did in losing a passive fight to Wladimir Klitschko.



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