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Dave Oakes previews Friday night's 154lb Prizefighter Show.

The Prizefighter tournament returns this Friday at the York Hall, Bethnal Green. This time it will be the light-middleweight division’s first foray into the competition, with a decent line-up of fighters that should ensure an entertaining night's boxing.

The eight combatants for the tournament are Bradley Pryce, Neil Sinclair, Prince Arron, George Hillyard, Brett Flournoy, Danny Butler, Steve O’Meara and Martin Concepcion.

The first fight of the night sees the unpredictable George Hillyard taking on Prince Arron. Hillyard, 9-4-1 (5 KO’s), was tipped to do well in the paid ranks when he first turned pro but seems to take two steps back for every step forward he takes in his career. I don’t feel that it’s a lack of talent that’s holding him back, he seems to do all of the basics well enough, it’s just something in his psychological makeup that isn’t quite as it should be.

A lack of focus and determination seem to be Hillyard’s main failings. He lost in just his third fight to the tough but perennial loser Ernie Smith, it was a fight that he should’ve won clearly but he let Smith dictate the pace of the fight and looked disinterested at times. The same can be said of his fight with Marcus Portman, the fight was close but Hillyard switched off in the later rounds to allow Portman to edge the fight on the referee’s scorecard.

When Hillyard does turn up 100% focused, he looks a good fighter. He can box off the back foot or as the aggressor and carries respectable power in both hands. He also looks to possess a solid chin; he’s only been down once to my knowledge, that was against Matt Thirlwall in his last fight. Hillyard beat the count but quit seconds later as the bell rang to end the round. That may be a good indicator to how much desire he’s got, Hillyard doesn’t seem to respond well when the going gets tough.

Prince Arron, 14-3-1 (1 KO), should be looking to benefit from the huge height and reach advantages he has over Hillyard. Arron can jab and move fairly well but he doesn’t carry any power and has fallen apart in the two biggest fights of his career, although he was very young when he lost to both John Duddy and Anthony Small, both fights ending in the second round. One standout performance on his record is a victory over that hard-hitting Cello Renda, he didn’t let Renda work his way inside his jab and made him look crude at times.

If the fight was over ten rounds I’d have no hesitation in picking Arron, but I’ve got a feeling the three round distance will suit Hillyard the better and feel he’ll out-hustle Arron to edge the fight on points.

The winner of the Hillyard/Arron fight will face the winner of the second fight of the night between Neil Sinclair and Bradley Pryce. This is the fight that the majority fans will be looking forward to the most. Sinclair already holds a win over Pryce; he stopped him in the eighth round of an enjoyable British title fight seven years ago.

A lot has changed in the careers of both men since their first meeting. Sinclair was expected to go on towards European honours and a second world title challenge, instead he seemed to drift away from the sport before returning with mixed fortunes some fifteen months after defeating Pryce.

Pryce, 28-7 (17 KO’s), lost four of his next seven fights after the Sinclair defeat; he looked like a fighter who would be remembered as someone who didn’t make the most of the opportunities he’d had. That all changed when he fought Ossie Duran for the Commonwealth title in March 2006, Pryce used his head by keeping to Enzo Calzaghe’s game plan to take the title on points.

He made six defences of the title, including an impressive stoppage victory over Anthony Small, before running into Matthew Hall last year. Hall is a murderous puncher and levelled Pryce in brutal fashion in the second round, a round in which Pryce tasted the canvas three times.

Pryce has shown vulnerability in the chin department all through his career, four of his seven defeats have come inside the distance and he’s been knocked down and hurt numerous times. Pryce is very rarely in a bad fight, neither is Sinclair for that matter, and there are bound to be fireworks in this match up.

Sinclair, 33-7 (26 KO’s), is, at 36, the older man by eight years. He’s won his last two fights but doesn’t look to be the fighter he once was. His punch power looks to be as deadly as ever but he’s much slower these days. As well as having a good reign as British champion, Sinclair has also fought for a world title against Daniel Santos, who he dropped heavily in the first round before getting stopped in the second.

Like Pryce, Sinclair hasn’t got the best of chins and is no stranger to the canvas. This is a fight that could go either way, and it could end very early if one of them lands a haymaker. It’s a hard fight to call but I’m leaning towards Pryce, I feel he’s the fresher and hungrier fighter.

The third fight of the night is between Danny Butler and Brett Flournoy. This will be the second time Butler has taken part in the Prizefighter competition, having lost in the semi-finals of the middleweight competition against eventual winner Martin Murray.

Butler, 18-3 (3KO’s), is a likeable fella and a good honest pro. He failed in an attempt at the British middleweight title in his last fight, losing in the seventh round after a gutsy effort against Darren Barker. Butler took the fight at short notice after Wayne Elcock pulled out and deserved a lot of credit for saving the show.

Flournoy, 9-0-1NC (4 KO’s), is a bit of a mystery to me. I must have seen him fight at some point, either amateur or pro, but I can’t recollect having done so. He’s a southpaw, has good amateur pedigree – he’s a former ABA champion and I’ve been told he’s at his best when he’s using his speed to dart in and out of range.

One thing noticeable from viewing Flournoy’s record is that he’s boxed less than two rounds in the past twenty-one months, so ring rust may be an issue.

It’s obviously not an easy fight for me to predict but I think Butler is the dark horse of the tournament and will tentatively pick him in this fight.

The fourth and final quarterfinal is between the unbeaten Steve O’Meara and Martin Concepcion. The unbeaten O’Meara, 10-0 (2 KO’s), is the home fighter in this tournament, he’s a tidy boxer who puts combinations together well and he will look to utilize his speed against the slower Concepcion. Concepcion is a dangerous puncher but is very easy to hit, he’s come undone when he’s stepped up in class thus far in his career, apart from his victory over Matthew Hall, who he caught flush in the first round. He’s another entertaining fighter, though, and has got too be considered a danger to O’Meara’s unbeaten record.

This is another fight that I’m having a hard time predicting. If I’m pushed to pick a winner, I’ll have to say O’Meara. I think he may have enough class to stay away from Concepcion’s bombs and pick off Concepcion as he comes in.

As far as the whole tournament goes, I think the winner will be either Pryce or Butler. Although you can never tell with the Prizefighter series, it’s thrown up some shock results in the past and I’m sure Friday will be no different.

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