By Adam Fillingham:
Last Weekend
The intriguing matchup between Irishman Paul McCloskey and Columbian puncher Breidis Prescott took place this weekend in Belfast.
After a harsh battle of words before the bout the two commenced in a grueling twelve round war for a crack at Marcos Maidana’s WBA “regular” title.
Prescott took control early using his long reach and powerful jab to his advantage. McCloskey who looked like a small boy in comparison just stood in the middle of the ring soaking up the punishment from his Columbian foe. The first half of the fight was all Prescott and he knocked the European champion down (although with his forearm) but after a stern talking to by his corner McCloskey came into the eighth round like a wild man. The shorter Irishman beat Prescott to the punch in many of the later rounds and when McCloskey’s confidence was up he looked world class.
With the final round a close affair the fight went down to the score cards. My final card was 113-115 to Prescott. I felt McCloskey’s battle back was too little too late although the official judges’ score cards were 114-113, 115-113 and 114-113 to McCloskey making him the winner by unanimous decision.
So whether you think he won or lost Paul McCloskey will be fighting for the WBA “regular” title, most likely against Marcos Maidana. If McCloskey can fight all twelve rounds like he did the final five against Prescott then McCloskey could soon become a world champion.
This Weekend
Sky Sports and channel 5 will be battling it out this Saturday with both channels showing big cards; On sky this week we see the return of the Smith Brothers; Stephen, Paul and Liam. On Channel 5 Tyson Fury will be battling it out with American journeyman Nicolai Firtha and Junior Witter is rumoured to fight on the bill.
John Simpson conqueror Stephen Smith will be defending his British and Commonwealth titles against the light punching once defeated Lee Selby. “Swifty” Smith should make light work of the Celtic champion Selby but he is very unheard of, so no one quite knows what the Welshman could do.
Paul Smith will be continuing his comeback trail this Saturday against the game journeyman Paul Samuels. Smith should easily defeat the “win one, lose one” fighter and if he doesn’t, Paul’s dreams of reclaiming his British title will be in tatters.
Finally prospects Liam Smith and Rocky Fielding will be fighting a pair of journeymen nobody has heard of. Let’s hope both fighters win and we can see what they are made of in real tests.
On Channel 5 Tyson Fury will be taking on tough American Journeyman Nicolai Firtha. I’m not sure why Firtha was picked as there must have been hundreds of fighters Fury could have defended his Commonwealth belt against but he chose an American. As long as the fight is a cracking one I couldn’t care less. Fury will be coming in the heavy favourite and a Tyson win is the likely outcome, so don’t expect Fury to be tested just yet.
Quick News
David Haye has stated he will delay his 31st of October retirement deadline by six months if there is an offer of a rematch from Wladimir Klitschko or a crack at his older brother Vitali.
Undefeated American Floyd Mayweather has announced he will fight Amir Khan; IF he defeats welterweight prospect Jesse Vargas.
Scotsman Ricky Burns has vacated his WBO super featherweight title and is now moving up in weight to challenge for the vacant WBO lightweight title against tough Australian Michael Katsidis. Burns was meant to be defending his super featherweight strap for a fourth time against American contender Adrien Broner.
British title eliminator between David Price and John McDermott has been finalised for November the 19th. The winner should get a crack at British champion Tyson Fury.
And finally police were called to the Cardiff press conference between WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly and British and Commonwealth champion Tony Bellew. Thankfully matters were taken care of calmly and the two eventually conducted their respective interviews.
Comments are closed.