British Scene: John Simpson vs Stephen Smith Preview

Dave Oakes previews Saturday night's Commonwealth featherweight title bout between champion John Simpson and challenger Stephen Smith.  Check out Dave's preview of the main-event between Roman Martinez and Ricky Burns.

The undercard to Saturday's Roman Martinez vs Ricky Burns bout sees a fantastic match-up between John Simpson and Stephen Smith. Smith is taking a huge jump up in class having only fought journeymen thus far in his career, whilst Simpson is a battle hardened and experienced championship performer.

The fight will be Simpson’s third defence of his Commonwealth featherweight belt and will also double as an eliminator for the British title.

Smith (10-0 6KO’s) had an extensive amateur career, which culminated in him winning Gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and taking a Bronze at the European Championships in the same year. The fact he, and Frank Warren (his promoter), are willing to take a fight of this magnitude so early in his professional career says a lot about how highly he’s regarded.

Simpson (21-6 9KO’s) has been involved in nine title fights in his career, one less fight than Smith has had in his whole career. His record is very deceiving, a few of his defeats have been debatable and he’s improved greatly over the past two or three years.

Simpson has already been a British champion, winning it at the third attempt, and has taken on the majority of the best domestic featherweights of the past five years. He was matched hard early in his career but never seemed out of his depth despite picking up a few defeats.

The defending champion will have hometown advantage, as well as the obvious gulf in experience. He isn’t a massive puncher but his shots can have a debilitating effect as fights wear on. I actually sense Smith is the heavier handed, although Simpson has got a granite-like jaw and will take some stopping.

I think this could be a sensational fight; both boxers like to come forward, Simpson behind a high held guard and Smith with a looser style that allows him to fire rapid combinations off at ease. We’ve yet to see what Smith’s chin is like but there’s been no evidence of any weakness so far in his career. Stamina is also an unanswered question; he’s yet to go past eight rounds whilst Simpson has done the championship distance on numerous occasions.

Simpson is the betting favourite but I feel the fight is more of a 50-50 affair. Simpson would be a tough opponent for anyone never mind a boxer who’s only had ten fights, he will try to take Smith to places he’s never been before, dragging him into the trenches and seeing how he stands up to a war at close quarters.

Liverpool born and bred Smith comes from a big boxing family - his brother Paul is the British champ at super-middle - and is a naturally gifted boxer. I was lucky enough to watch him many times in the amateurs and have been tipping him for big things for years. With that in mind, I’m going to have to back my gut feeling and say that he’s going to produce a top class performance on Saturday that may shock a fair few people.

I can see both boxers taking a round or two to weigh each other up before becoming embroiled in an almighty war. I’d imagine most people would believe that would suit Simpson, and I’d normally agree, but I’ve got a feeling that Smith is a little bit special and he may be too quick and accurate on the inside for Simpson to cope with.

This is a big call but I think Smith will repeatedly hurt Simpson to the body and will take him apart inside eight brutal rounds. It definitely won’t be one-way action though, and Smith may have to take some heavy shots in order to get his own off.

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