Prize Fighter Ten Preview
Well, as nothing of note is happening this weekend, it’s time I took a gander at one of these Prize Fighter tournaments, Barry Hearn’s creative attempt to put some fun back into the sport.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Hearn’s Matchroom outfit began staging eight man elimination tournaments (which start and finish on the same evening) back in April ’08, a competition which awards the winner somewhere in the region of £32k (the winner must beat three men, with each fight taking place over three rounds).
This will be the tenth outing for the concept, which has proven reasonably popular, especially with casual fans of the sport who have long since become disinterested in boxing’s lack of clarity and cohesion. Prize Fighter isn’t exactly the sweet science at its finest but at least punters know where the hell they are with it, with a clearly defined beginning and end.
Seen initially as a bit of a novelty gig, more recently, the tournament victors have received somewhat of a career boost. Prize Fighter 9 winner Gavin Rees found himself in the running for a WBC title shot against Devon Alexander at light welter recently, whilst Prize Fighter 8 champ Audley Harrison has been rewarded with a European title shot against Albert Sosnowski in April.
So to tomorrow’s tournament, this time at light middleweight with the following fixtures (odds are in brackets):
Quarter Finals
26 Feb 10 – 20:15 (1/4) Prince Arron v George Hillyard (11/4)
26 Feb 10 – 20.35 (4/6) Bradley Price v Neil Sinclair (11/10)
26 Feb 10 – 20:55 (4/9) Danny Butler v Brett Flournoy (13/8)
26 Feb 10 – 21:15 (8/11) Steve O Meara v Martin Concepcion (EVS)
Semi Finals
Hillyard/Arron v Sinclair/Pryce
Flournoy/Butler v O’Meara/Concepcion
Outright betting is as follows:
Pryce (28-7, 15 KO’s, rated 5th at the weight by Boxing News) 3/1
Sinclair (33-7, 26 KO’s, rated 8th) 10/3
Arron (14-3, 1 KO’s, rated 14th) 9/2
Butler (18-3, 3 KO’s, rated 9th up at middleweight) 11/2
O Meara (10-0, 2 KO’s, rated 38th) 6/1
Concepcion (16-6, 10 KO’s, rated 17th) 9/1
Flournoy (9-0, 4 KO’s, rated 16th down at welterweight) 10/1
Hillyard (9-4-1, 5 KO’s, rated 24th up at middleweight) 16/1
These things are entirely unpredictable however I’d be surprised if Pryce ran out as winner. The Welshman has never been a quick starter and has admitted he’s had to change his style to suit the format. I fancy the hard hitting vet Sinclair to edge him in the quarters (Sinclair stopped Pryce in 2003) before bombing out the brilliantly named Prince Arron to take his place in the final (Arron doesn’t have enough firepower to stave off either Pryce or Sinclair).
The other side of the draw is a complete crap shoot. I fancy unbeaten duo Flournoy and O Meara to box their way into the semis with the unbeaten O Meara taking the other final spot after a close battle with scouser Flournoy.
I’ll then go out on a limb and venture that O Meara’s fitness can see him home past weathered campaigner Sinclair (who may well be a bit worse for wear from his bout with Pryce).
I could go into things in a bit more depth, however the format doesn’t lend itself to deep thinking, anything can happen tomorrow night and probably will (and that’s part of the fun right?). Those looking for a decent punt could take the Sinclair/O Meara finalist tip at 10/1 although the live betting is always fun with fights swinging this way and that and good value to be had by betting mid fight.
Me? I’m gonna begin with a tenner on my online account with Hills and see where I end up. I’ll update the blog as I go.
This time next year Rodney………………..
