Boxing

[Sean]

**Adam Aziz vs Sergey Lipinets and Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro added to the 1st February post

 

[Sean]

Friday 31st January - George Liddard vs Derrick Osaze

Another Matchroom Next Gen card and im really looking forward to seeing the promising up n comer George Liddard (10 Fights - 10 Wins (6 KOs) again after his first round blow out of Illunga last time , hes up against the decent Derrick Osaze (15 Fights - 13 Wins (3 KOs) - 2 Losses) who lost last time with a brutal stoppage by Denzel Bentley in the second round for the WBO Middleweight International Title , to be fair to Osaze his only losses to date have come against quality opponents in Bentley and Tyler Denny back in 2021 and i think hes gonna be the biggest test to date for Liddard who in all honesty has only faced C level opponents thus far , this will tell us alot more about Liddard and where he is at the moment , as if he can get Osaze out of there that will be impressive as his only stoppage came against Bentley whose a class act on his day. I did read that Osaze was on about jacking it all in after the Bentley bout so the question has to be asked has he still got the desire and the heart for it , i guess we'll find out on Friday .. but for me i think Liddard wins and wins convincingly , im not 100% about a stoppage but from what ive seen so far Liddard can certainly bang so theres always the possibility but i'll stick with just a Liddard win for now.

George Liddard To Win

GEORGE LIDDARD WINS

 

[Sean]

Saturday 1st February -

David Benevidez vs David Morrell
Looking forward to this one as it should be an explosive encounter as from what ive seen theres been a bit of spite between the two so im hoping for fireworks in this one .. Benevidez (29 Fights - 29 Wins (24 KOs)) AKA The Mexican Monster has been impressive up to his last fight , well he has imho anyway , last time was his first bout at Light Heavyweight and to me he seemed a little off compared to the old Benevidez , he did the job and beat Oleksandr Gvozdyk but like i say he didnt seem himself .. Morrell (11 Fights - 11 Wins (9 KOs)) also had his first fight at Light Heavyweight last time , and as with Benevidez he wasnt as impressive as he had been in his past fights , in all honesty he looked a lot worse than Benevidez did imho and his win over Kalajdzic was a lucky one in my opinion as it could of easily gone the other way. It might be that both of them just need to settle and feel comfortable at their new weight so im willing to give them another chance , plus whoever wins this very likely gets a shot at the winner of Beterbiev / Bivol so both are gonna be trying their best thats a given. This is really a 50/50 fight i think , im going from Benevidez to Morrell and then back again .. and once ive posted this and my selection im no doubt gonna go away , think some more and change my mind again lol , yep its that close as far as im concerned as both have the tools to win this. You kinda have a clash of styles , Benevidez with his high output and work rate , and power against Morrells sleek Cuban skills alongside his ability to knock people out. As i say should be a good watch , and one of those where you dont blink just in case you miss something ! I see the fight happening in two parts really , early doors i see Morrell starting well , using his solid footwork and jab to good effect and frustrate his opponent but eventually i think Benevidez works him out and starts to wear Morrell down with his relentless pressure and punch output .. I also think the fact that Benevidez is more experienced (pro wise) could come in to play as hes definatley faced the better opposition to date , Demetrius Andrade , Caleb Plant etc .. all very good boxers and he beat them all. Morrell hasnt faced anyone like that as yet and this will be toughest assignment to date i have no doubt , in all honesty Morrell could come through this with flying colours , he definatley has the skill set and the punching power but i think Benevidez' experience and relentlessness could prove to much. Could be wrong though and i really dont mind as long as we get a good fight.

David Benevidez To Win

Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton
Quite an interesting bout this one , Brandon Figueroa (27 Fights - 25 Wins (19 KOs) - 1 Loss - 1 Draw) arrives looking for a fourth successive win after beating Carlos Castro (TKO) , Mark Magsayo (UD) and last time , back in May 2024 , Jessie Magdelano (KO) , before this he'd lost to Fulton by majority decision and in the process lost his WBC Super Featherweight title and he'll be looking to avenge that loss here i think as it was a contenscious win in all honesty. Fulton (22 Fights - 21 Wins (8 KOs) - 1 Loss) comes into this on the back of a split decision win over Carlos Castro back in September of last year , that was his first fight since he took on The Monster Naoya Inoue and got stopped in the eighth round , no shame in that at all as Inoue is one of the P4P best in the world .. But if im being honest although Fulton won that last fight he didnt look the same fighter , its as though the Inoue fight had took something out of him although it did teach him something as when he got dropped in the Castro fight he took the count and then got up remaining calm whilst alot of boxers would of just gotten up straight away , and with the momentum that Figueroa is building up i think he can get the win here especially given his no nonsense relentless approach , he doesnt mind taking one or two to land one and whilst Fulton is very much defensively minded i think Figueroa is gonna prove to much for him this time , he'll feel that he won that last fight and i think he'll want to prove a point , obviously this could prove counter productive but i dont think so in this case , from what i saw of Fulton in his last fight i think Figueroa can stop him , very probably from round 6 onwards , although another one won on points wouldnt be the greatest shock either , but either way i see Figueroa coming out on top this time round.

Brandon Figueroa To Win .. By Stoppage (Round 6 onwards)

Adam Azim vs Sergey Lipinets
Looking forward to this one as unbeaten Adam Azim (12 Fights - 12 Wins (9 KOs)) takes on former IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Sergey Lipinets (22 Fights - 18 Wins (13 KOs) - 3 Losses - 1 Draw) in whats probably gonna be his hardest test to date , well on paper anyway. Azim comes into this on the back of a pretty much one sided beat down of Ohara Davies who he stopped in the eighth round , hes stopped his last three opponents starting with Franck Petitjean for the European Light Welterweight title and then he retained that title by stopping Enock Poulsen in the fifth round before the Davies bout. Khazak Lipinets has won only two of his last five bouts , he drew with the decent Canadian Custio Clayton , then lost to Boots Ennis , suffering the first and only stoppage of his career , then beat Omar Figueroa Jr who retired in the 8th round and then he lost a unanimous decision to Michel Riviera before beating Robbie Davies Jr back in May of last year. Azim comes into this full of confidence but i dont think he should be over confident as hes never faced anyone as durable as Lipinets , and despite being 35 and not being quite the force of old Lipinets still has the potential to be a stern test. Azim has very fast hands , and hes very precise with his punches and has plenty of power but bearing in mind Lipinets does possess power of his own and has been in with some big names in the past , and as i say the only person to have stopped him is Boots Ennis. One of Azims qualities for me is patience , he can wait an opponent out , slowly breaking them down before jumping on any opportunities that present themselves an d i think thats whats gonna happen here. I think Azim wins this , but whether he can stop Lipinets is another matter , hes durable and tough as old boots but as i say hes now 35 and been in some proper wars , not just in boxing as before his boxing career he was a world champion kickboxer , and they'll have left their marks over the years. If Azim is to stop him id say it would probably be in the latter half of the fight , round 6 onwards but im not that confident so ill just go with the Azim win.

Adam Azim To Win

Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro
Interesting match up on the undercard of the Benevidez vs Morrell fight and its one that im looking forward to watching as it should be a proper Mexican war ! .. Cruz (30 Fights - 26 Wins (18 KOs) - 3 Losses - 1 Draw) lost his last bout by split decision to Jose Valenzuela and in doing so lost the WBA Super Lightweight title he won in his penultimate fight when he stopped Roly Romero in the eighth round. Im a big fan of Cruz , hes definatley a fan friendly type of fighter as he only knows one way to fight and thats to relentlessly plow forward throwing punches , and they come from all angles .. he certainly lives up to his nickname of Pitbull ! Fierro is also coming in on the back of a loss , he lost by unanimous decision to Alfred Santiago when he took a shot at the vacant WBO NABO Super Lightweight title , hes kinda reminiscent of Cruz in his style in that hes a come forward fighter who continously throws , and that makes me think that this could well be a proper slugfest. For me Cruz has faced the better opposition to date and i think that this will be the hardest test yet for Fierro , and as theyre similiar styles this could come down to whose got the best whiskers , and for me that would have to be Cruz on all the evidence ive seen. Fierro has a distinct height and reach advantage , but can he utilise those in his favour ? Im not sure , as defensively hes quite poor and i think Cruz has the better defence. This is a 50/50 fight when it boils down to it , but for me this is a must win for Cruz and i think hes gonna be determined to get back on track. With both of them throwing and throwing hard its probably best to assume that a stoppage could be on the cards somewhere along the line , im not 100% about that as neither have been stopped yet but i do fancy Cruz to end the fight in the later rounds , possibly from the eighth round onwards. Whoever wins this should be a cracking fight.

Isaac Cruz To Win .. By Stoppage (Round 8 onwards)

ADAM AZIZ WINS
ISAAC CRUZ WINS But by decision rather than stoppage (altho some of the bombs that were dropping its a shock one of em werent stopped)
STEPHEN FULTON WINS
DAVID BENEVIDEZ WINS

 

[Sean]

Three outta four yesterday and one from one on Friday .. Fulton won handily tbh so no moaning about that one although Figueroa fought a strange fight if im being honest but it is what it is and we move on ..

 

[Sean]

Saturday 8th January -

Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin
Well over the years Delboy (48 Fights - 35 Wins (23 KOs) - 13 Losses) has given us some memorable fights and i genuinely love the fella but i think his career has dragged on for too long now if im being honest , i said it for a while now that id like to see him retire happy and healthy and that still stands .. He beat Joe Joyce last time which in all honesty most people didnt expect but fair play to him , however that Joe Joyce is miles off the Joyce before the Zhang stoppages so that maybe diminishes the win a little as Joyce seems to be on the wain for me (although hes another fighter i like) , but as i say he did what he had to do and came through it and here we are. Wallin (30 Fights - 27 Wins (15 KOs) - 2 Losses - 1 No Contest) is best known for his two losses here in Britain in all fairness , the first one where he lost to Tyson Fury back in 2019 where quite a few people had him down as winning and then being stopped by Anthony Joshua back in 2023 in the fifth round .. This is supposed to be Chisoras penultimate fight and i have to say im kinda surprised by the choice of opponent if im being honest , i was expecting an opponent like Joyce who is more known as a banger so it'd be more of a slug fest but although Wallin does possess some power he is more known for his boxing skills if we're being honest. Back in the day i'd have Chisora to win all day long but nowadays im not so sure , this is a winnable fight for Chisora i have to say and if he catches him clean theres a fair chance its lights out time but Wallins' only been stopped the once and that was by AJ , since then hes stopped Nigerian Onoriode Ehwarieme in the first round , who i really dont know alot about tbh , looking through his record hes faced some decent opposition but everytime he has stepped up hes lost so how worthwhile that win is im not to sure , probably more of a confidence booster after the Joshua loss id say but he wont find Chisora so easy to stop id say. Back to the fight i would dearly love to see Chisora win i really would but i just cant see it , like i say theres always the possibilty that he could catch Wallin clean but i think the best way to go would be a Wallin win.
Otto Wallin To Win .. By Decision

 

[Sean]

Willy Hutchinson was due to face Zach Parker on the Chisora undercard but Hutchinson has pulled out due to dislocating and tearing his left shoulder during sparring .. shame was looking forward to that one , apparently they're trying to find a replacement to face Parker