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Match: Rey Bautista v Heriberto Ruiz |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Super Bantamweight |
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| Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Prediction: Bautista late stoppage |
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| This should be a decent fight, Bautista was regarded as one of the top guys in the division before being blown out in a round by Daniel Ponce De Leon, he has come back well and won his last 3 fights all against decent opponents, Ruiz is another decent opponent but he has just fallen short when he has been stepped up in class, therefore Bautista should win, and is a decent puncher so may get the stoppage. |
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Match: James Kirkland v Brian Vera |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Middleweight |
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| Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Prediction: Kirkland mid to late stoppage |
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| Not really the smartest fight for top light middleweight James Kirkland to take, Vera has been competing at Super middleweight for a few years now so is the bigger man, and he is coming off great wins over Max Alexander and Andy Lee. Despite these disadvantages Kirkland is very strong at the weight and has destroyed his last 4 opponents inside 2 rounds. Vera may stand up to him for a few rounds but I think Kirkland has a great career ahead of him and I would be surprised if he didn’t dispatch Vera inside the distance. |
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Match: Ricky Hatton v Paul Malignaggi |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
Title: IBO Light Welterweight Title
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| Weight: Light Welterweight |
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| Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Prediction: Hatton points win |
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| The wait is over these guys have been calling each other out for what seems an age, now they get to find out who is the best. Hatton has looked well below par recently in his outing against Lazcano, but Paulie has hardly looked at his best either damaging his hands in most of his recent fights. You would have to say if his hands don’t hold out here he is in with little chance of scrapping through with the win. Hatton has been working under new coach Roger Mayweather and it will be interesting to see what changes he has made, from the reports Hatton feels in the best shape he has been in for a number of years, but the constant pressure he puts on his body gaining and losing so much weight between fights it must be starting to have an effect. Paulie is a skilful tough fighter and on his best form will be a real handful for Hatton, a lot depends on which fighter can bring his A game on the night. I would give Hatton the advantage and think 7 times out of 10 would win this fight, but don’t rule out Malignaggi, I think it will be down to the judges to decide. |
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Match: Aleksy Kuziemski v Yuri Barashian |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Light Heavyweight |
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| Venue: Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany |
| Prediction: Barashian late stoppage |
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| None punching unbeaten pole Kuziemski gets the biggest test of his career against world title challenger Yuri Barashian, Barashian holds wins over the highly rated Thomas Ulrich and on his day is capable of competing with some of the top guys out there, in his last fight he took Garay the distance. I feel Barashian may just be a little too much for Kuziemski but never rule out an undefeated fighter. |
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Match: Hugo Hernan Garay v Juergen Braehmer |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
Title: WBA Light Heavyweight Title
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| Weight: Light Heavyweight |
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| Venue: Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany |
| Prediction: Braehmer Points win |
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| Recently crowned WBA champion Garay gets a tough first defence against German Juergen Braehmer in his home town. Garay has had experience of close decisions going against him when losing a MD and a SD against current WBO champion Zsolt Erdei, so he will know he will have to win it big if he is going to get the decision on the cards. I think Garay is the better fighter of the two and if this was in a neutral venue I would probably go for Garay to win, but as this one is likely to go to the cards and it will probably be close I think Braehmer will edge it. |
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Match: Matthew Hatton v Ben Tackie |
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| Date: 22-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Welterweight |
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| Venue: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Prediction: Tackie points win |
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| Tackie has already shared the ring with Matthew’s better known brother Ricky, and although he is coming off 4 straight losses he would be my favourite to win this one. Hatton is a decent domestic fighter and even though he has really shown some of his best form of late I think he falls short when stepping up to this level. Tackie has shared the ring with the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Kendall Holt and Juan Lazcano. He has never been stopped and always performs well and pushes his opponents to the limit. The fight will probably be left in the hands of the judges but Tackie may just have too much. |
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Match: Steve Molitor v Celestino Caballero |
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| Date: 21-11-2008 |
Title: WBA & IBF Super Bantamweight Title
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| Weight: Super Bantamweight |
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| Venue: Casino Rama, Rama, Ontario, Canada |
| Prediction: Molitor Points win |
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| This is one of the toughest fights I have had to call for a while and I have to say I have no idea who will win this one, I am guessing it will go to a split decision or should be very close. Caballero has a big height and reach advantage and is a great fighter, but Molitor is tough and is a tricky southpaw who hits a lot harder than his record suggests. I have changed my mind a few times, Molitor is the undefeated fighter and I do like him but I think Caballero will be the toughest opponent he has faced to date. Caballero is the current defending WBA champion he has made 8 defenses of that title while IBF champion Molitor has made 5 defenses. I think I am going to stick with Molitor to get the points win, but it is with no great confidence. |
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Match: Sam Sexton v Colin Kenna |
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| Date: 21-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Heavyweight |
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| Venue: York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom |
| Prediction: Sexton mid round stoppage |
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| Recent Prizefighter winner Sam Sexton steps in against journeyman Kenna, Kenna who has also appeared on Prizefighter has lost 6 of his last 7 fights and should not be a match for Sexton who should win inside the distance, unless he can reproduce the form that saw him go the distance with fighters such as Roman Greenburg and recent Danny Williams destroyer Albert Sosnowski. |
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Match: Matthew Marsh v Rocky Dean |
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| Date: 21-11-2008 |
Title: British Super Bantamweight Title
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| Weight: Super Bantamweight |
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| Venue: York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom |
| Prediction: Marsh Points win |
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| This will be the 3rd time that these two have squared off in the ring, Marsh won both contests on the cards in close battles, Dean has had a tough career and has faced some of the best domestic fighters around so the record of 14-9-2 does not really do him justice. He will be coming here to win and will certainly not give marsh an easy ride, however Marsh has also improved since the last time these two met and I would be surprised if he didn’t win. |
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Match: Steffen Kretschmann v Marcel Zeller |
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| Date: 18-11-2008 |
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| Weight: Heavyweight |
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| Venue: Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany |
| Prediction: Kretschmann Early to mid round stoppage |
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| Battle of the punchers, these guys have had 31 knockouts between them in only 35 fights, Kretschmann 11 from 12 and Zeller 20 from 23, so this fight almost guarantees one of these guys will not be going the distance, Zeller despite having far more experience is the underdog here, he is 6’1 and averages around 215-220lbs, he has been very carefully matched since two early losses in his career and has mainly fought inexperienced. Kretschmann is a 6’5 southpaw and will have a decent 10-15lb advantage, he is also the home town guy and is tipped to go onto bigger and better things, I suspect he will be the one standing when this one is over, I would be surprised if Zeller lasted more than 3-4 rounds. |
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