On Saturday night at the Genting Arena in Birmingham Sam Eggington (17-2-9KO) will put his British and Commonwealth on the line against Bradley Skeete (22-1-10KO) in an eagerly awaited contest, in a city that has been somewhat starved on world class boxing.
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Both men come into the contest in a rich vein of form. Skeete has won his last four fights since dropping a decision to Frankie Gavin (a fight in which many fans argue that he won) two years ago.
He has won three of these contests by knockouts but faced no one of the Birmingham man’s calibre in those bouts. But he will be coming into his opponents turf with a real belief that he can snatch the belts from the hometown boy.
Eggington’s form of late has been very impressive winning four of his last five (loss coming in the Prizefighter format, one of which he avenged last time out beating Dale Evans) these wins have included claiming the unbeaten record of Glenn Foot and stopping Shayne Singleton in spectacular fashion.
‘The Savage’ will have to be at his best to beat Skeete in what promises to be an exciting fight.
The odds reflect as close fight with Eggington priced at 8/11 and Bradley 6/5. The odds also suggest that the fight will go the distance and both men will have to be at their best to have their arm raised at the end of the fight.
My prediction would be an Eggington point’s victory but if Skeete were to replicate his Gavin performance he won’t be far away.
On the undercard is Birmingham brothers Kal and Gamal Yafai. Kal (17:0) will fight an official eliminator for the WBA Super-Flyweight crown against Nicaragua’s Dixon Flores (12:3:2) who was unsuccessful in challenging for the WBC version only two fights previous. However one would expect the homeboy to stop Flores and move on to bigger and better things.
While younger brother Gamal (8:0) will hope to claim the Super-Bantamweight Commonwealth crown from champion Bobby Jenkinson. Jenkinson (9:1:1) won the title in his last fight with a shock win over Lewis Petit, which will give him real confidence coming into his first defence.
The odds suggest the belt will change hands with minimal fuss with the challenger priced at 1/8 and champion as far out as 5/1. In reality I expect the fight to be a lot closer but Yafai to claim a point’s victory and take the belt home.
Also on the card is Dublin’s Luke Keeler (9:1:0) who faces Doncaster’s Ryan Fields (5:12:4) a man who has never been stopped in a middleweight contest. The Irishman should claim a relatively easy victory and move onto bigger things and will have on eye on Matchroom’s proposed return to Belfast in April/May.
Surrey southpaw Jake Ball (3:0) who has stopped all before him thus far will fight Hungarian Norbert Szekeres (18:47:3) over six Light-Heavyweight rounds.
Additionally there are two area title fights in what promises to be an enjoyable night of boxing in the Midlands.
(Top image credit: Matchroom Sport)
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