Safe Side Of The Ropes

By: Andrew Harrison

Sep 17 2010

Tags: the magnificent seven

Category: alexander frenkel, arthur abraham, dereck chisora, enzo maccarinelli, frank warren, frankie gavin, james degale, jamie moore, karo murat, kell brook, matthew hall, michael jennings, nathan cleverley, paul smith, ryan rhodes, sam sexton, sauerland

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Frank Warren presents a pay-per-view event from Birmingham on Saturday evening with a bumper card which took an unfortunate kicking a few weeks back after two of the headline acts succumbed to injury. Saddled with the tag line, “The Magnificent Seven”, the bill now resembles something more along the lines of “The Famous Five” albeit without the tea and cakes and Timmy the dog.

Fight of the night was to have been a long awaited middleweight grudge match between climbers Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin, however, Barker pulled up lame with a hip injury, leaving Macklin to vye for the European title he never actually lost in the ring against Georgian substitute Shalva Jomardashvili.

Ryan Rhodes is the other no show, yet the injury he suffered in training didn’t only water down the line-up further, it cost Rhodes the European light middleweight title he fought so hard to attain against Jamie Moore. The EBU have rather oddly decided to grasp back their shiny blue belt (without informing Rhodes might I add) and will award it to the winner of the replacement contest between substitute Matthew Hall and Rhodes’ original foe Lukas Konecny. Charming.

So what are we left with? Here’s a quick preview in order of appeal.

Nathan Cleverly vs Karo Murat

Cleverly-Murat is a significant fight between two unbeaten light heavyweight contenders. Murat is currently rated sixth at the weight by Ring Magazine, with Cleverly just a brace of spaces behind him in eighth. There’s some sort of spurious interim alphabet belt on the line which is of little importance; the winner will have announced themselves on the world stage which matters far more.

Cleverly is the maths whiz from Cefn Fforest. A strong and rangy boxer-puncher, he sauntered to 19-0 (9) in March when grabbing European honours in victory over Italian veteran Antonio Brancalion. His opponent is an Iraqi born German with a peekaboo style. Trained by Ulli Wegner and promoted by the Sauerland outfit, Murat has notched a 22-0 (13) ledger with his Arthur Abraham inspired moves.

Murat can chase or run, yet is equally happy to stand inside and plant his feet. A good body puncher, he’ll look for gaps from behind his high guard before digging in quick hooks to body and head. I think we’ll see a lot of movement from him against Cleverly as he bids to evade and counter the younger man’s aggression.

Cleverly is a good technical fighter who applies steady pressure from behind a heavy jab. Still only 23, he’s developing a bit of a punch, with his six previous opponents stopped inside schedule. He will likely take the role of pursuer here against the considerably shorter Murat.

Whilst I can see Murat befuddling and frustrating Cleverly for spells throughout the fight, I’m not sure that he has enough firepower to derail the Welshman. Although his tricky counter punching style is likely to pay dividends should he find himself able to get inside on such a tall opponent, he’s more likely going to inhabit the outer ring, which will suit the home fighter to a tee.

In a bout which can bring both fighters on some I fancy Cleverly (who I’m selecting as the Steve McQueen of the crew) to earn a unanimous decision which will carry him closer to an alphabet title shot against an opponent who will more than likely rate below him in the rankings (go figure).

Kell Brook vs Michael Jennings

Brook and Jennings have been like ships in the night over the past year or so having been scheduled to meet four times only to see the bout fall through on each occasion. Brook is the latest product from the Brendan Ingle fight factory in Sheffield, a switch hitting, welterweight swatter (James Coburn anyone?) who’s racked up numbers of 21-0 (14) to date. His opponent, Chorley veteran Jennings is a nice, tidy boxer who has won 36 from 38 with just two reverses (17 inside schedule).

Brook’s last contest came in March when he toyed with the experienced Pole Krzysztof Bienias for six rounds. Jennings, meanwhile, hasn’t been in action for almost a year, when he eased to a workmanlike points win over Hungarian trial horse Laszlo Komanjathi in Liverpool.

In a contest which looks tailor made for Brook at this stage of the game, I can see him aggressively hounding Jennings round after round, putting a bit of a whupping on his man before halting him late. A muted version of Prince Naseem Hamed’s coming out party against the blue collar Steve Robinson might be a good punt for how this one might go.

Sam Sexton vs Dereck Chisora

Sexton and Chisora last met as novices when, after a decent little tussle between two traditional sized heavyweights of a similar skill set, Chisora pulled out a stoppage victory in the sixth and final round after what had been a close affair.

Now they have moved onto the prospect stage, has Sexton 13-1 (6) come on sufficiently to gain revenge over the more advanced 13-0 (8) Chisora? Despite scoring a brace of handy looking wins over the rugged Irishman Martin Rogan, I’d be inclined to think not.

Sexton can undoubtedly outwork Chisora (the Horst Buchholz of the gang) with good use of his jab, however, keeping the more aggressive Finchley man at bay for the entire shift will be a difficult task. I’d expect Chisora to overcome any deficit on the cards with a late charge in the fight’s final quarter which will see him retain the British title he picked up after beating the remnants of Danny Williams last time out. Sexton is a live underdog and good value nevertheless (and my Robert Vaughn).

James DeGale vs Carl Dilks

I’m beginning to warm to DeGale, the Olympic gold medallist who continues to put the wind up British fans with his abrasive personality and Flash Harry fighting style. In only his eighth contest (all wins, five early) he tackles decent scouser Carl Dilks (14-2, 5 kayos).

Boxing Monthly currently rate DeGale eighth domestically with Dilks tenth. “Chunky” can earn himself first dibs on British champ Paul Smith (or at least the Lonsdale belt should “Smigga” vacate) with a target practice type victory over game bait. Fond of a pound note, DeGale is the card’s Brad Dexter.

As mentioned further up the page, Matt Macklin (26-2, 18) should recover the European middleweight title against Shalva Jomardashvili (27-2-1, 19), probably by stoppage (Charles Bronson it is then).

Also featuring on the bill is light welterweight prodigy Frankie Gavin, who engages in his first ten rounder against Michael Kelly for an Irish title (Warren can pull these things out of thin air it seems). I’m one of the few who’ve been slightly disappointed with Gavin thus far in the pros (I really rate the kid might I add), who tends to pick up far too much facial damage for one so talented. He can win again here though.

Manchester puncher Matthew Hall (26-2, 16 kayos) steps into Ryan Rhodes’ shoes and battles Lukas Konecny (44-3, 21 kayos) for the European title at light middleweight (he’s even had his mug shot pasted over Ryan’s on the rehashed posters). He’ll have to work hard against the savvy Czech in order to clinch victory, who I fancy might know enough to throw a spanner in the works (and with his bald head and veteran status, he can take the role of Yul Brynner).

Another interesting battle sees cruiserweights Enzo Maccarinelli (32-4, 24 kayos) and Alexander Frenkel (22-0, 17 kayos) duke it out for the Welshman’s European title. Give me the unbeaten Ukrainian Frenkel in an entertaining fire fight which will put yet another kink in Maccarinelli’s topsy turvy career.

The marathon card can be purchased from Sky Box Office (coverage starts at 6pm). Quite whether it’s worth the £14.95 price tag is a tricky one, especially when one considers the best fight of the lot (Macklin vs Barker) no longer features. It’s an excellent card from Warren nonetheless and well worth the entrance fee for those in the vicinity of the LG Arena.

Those looking for a gamble will need to get creative with an accumulator bet likely to keep you interested through the easy prelims and into the more evenly poised headline acts. Try this one: DeGale, Konecny, Frenkel, Cleverly, Chisora, Brook and Gavin all stuffed into an accumulator alongside Macklin to win inside the distance. At odds of 12/1, what’s not to like?