By Scott Gilfoid: IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (22-1, 8 KOs) will be making what should be another ridiculously easy defense of his title next month against #3 IBF Eric Hunter (21-3, 11 KOs) on April 9 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. This fight has disqualification written all over it. The Selby-Hunter fight will take place on the Sky Box Office pay-per-view card headlined by IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin vs. Britain’s own Anthony Joshua.
It’s unknown yet where Selby’s promoter Eddie Hearn will place the Selby-Hunter fight on the card, but my guess is it’ll be the third or fourth fight from the main event. I can’t see Hearn placing a featherweight contest like Selby-Hunter as the co-feature due to the potential of a buzz-kill due to Selby’s spoiling fighting style.
The British boxing fans are going to want to see nonstop action on the night, and it might be a real downer if Selby is running and holding all night long.
Hunter, 29, has been disqualified twice in recent losses to Mike Oliver and Luis Franco. He was also beaten by someone named Carlos Vinan in the past. It’s interesting that the International Boxing Federation has Hunter ranked #3 with their organization, because about the only notable win on Hunter’s resume is a victory over high level journeyman Antonio Escalante.
Personally, I don’t see that as nearly a good enough win for Hunter to be ranked at No.3 by the IBF. I think it’s a good enough win to give Hunter a bottom #15 ranking, but that’s about it.
Even that ranking is a stretch because beating journeyman shouldn’t put at you at the top of the division. I’m just saying. It looks like Selby is taking another soft job.
Despite the talk of Selby taking on the big names after he captured the IBF strap last year in his win over Evgeny Gradovich, we haven’t seen that yet. In Selby’s last fight, he beat the tiny 37-year-old Fernando Montiel by a 12 round decision last October.
Montiel was a good fighter earlier in his career when he was a lot younger and fighting in the super flyweight division. He’s not been a factor as he’s gotten older and moved up to the featherweight division, where he’s completely undersized and under-powered for the division.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbMnkjM5R_c
Believe it or not, this will be a mandatory defense for the 29-year-old Selby. Talk about making it easy for him. The IBF is basically lobbing a ball to Selby by letting him fight Hunter rather than some of the talents they have ranked below Hunter like Oscar Valdez and Ronny Rios. Heck, even Jonathan Barros is a better option than Hunter in my view.
“I can’t wait,” said Selby via skysports.com. “I’ve always wanted to box on April 9 and I’ve been working towards that and my head’s been on it, so now it’s confirmed its great news. Hunter looks decent and it will be a good fight, but I am more than ready for this one. It’s always nice to fight in front of your home fans so it will be great to have my second defence in front of my own people.”
The boxing fans want to see Selby step it up by fighting some of the other world champions like Gary Russell Jr., Vasyl Lomachenko, Leo Santa Cruz and Jesus Andres Cuella. Is that too much to ask to have Selby face one of those guys rather than the likes of Hunter and a past his best Montiel?
“I’ll be at my best. I’ll show why I am the IBF world champion and show people what I can do,” said Selby.
It would be sad if Selby burns up what he has left of his prime by facing the likes of Hunter, Montiel or other fighters rather than the talents in the division.
Selby appears to be in no hurry whatsoever to take on the cream of the featherweight division. I have a feeling that by the time that Selby does step it up, he’ll be too old to make it competitive against one of the big names in the division. When you’ve got a mover like Selby, these type of fighters burn out quickly once they start slowing down. The sluggers are the ones that have the long-lasting talent. That’s why it’s in Selby’s best interest to fight the best right now while he can still move around the ring.
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