Boxing Preview, 23/24th September
Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images
Boxing is busy this weekend despite one of its main attractions falling through. The undercard of Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara was stacked enough that it’s a good card even without them, and there are several others, including a good heavyweight showdown in England, and the return of Shakur Stevenson on Friday. Let’s take a look.
Shakur Stevenson vs Robson Conceicao
Super-Featherweight
The headliner here- what should have been a defence of Stevenson’s two 130lb belts until he missed weight - is definitely the most high-level fight this weekend. A battle of slick outboxers, it probably isn’t going to be a war of any kind, but both are capable of style and classy technique, so providing neither one goes completely into hiding, we could get some slick boxing here. Of the two Stevenson is more likely to be the one making the fight, since although both fight from outside, Conceicao is the more determined counterpuncher of the pair - he likely won’t throw power shots unless Stevenson engages first. In all likelihood the younger Stevenson’s timing and speed should get him through, but Conceicao might be able to bring a few wrinkles into it, and Stevenson’s weight miss may bring some extra fire to a matchup that had already seen some back-and-forth at the head-to-heads.
The rest of the card is light on good matchups. Keyshawn Davis, the outstanding talent of the US’s Tokyo olympics amateur crop, features, but not in a fight that he’s likely to find challenging. The same mostly holds true for the rest of it, though there could be entertainment in lively welterweight’s Jahi Tucker’s step up in competition against Jose Louis Sanchez.
Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker
Heavyweight
A strong card in Manchester is topped by a genuinely good heavyweight clash with a lot on the line despite no title belts being in play. Joyce has struggled to get opponents in the ring with him who can help him make his way towards world belt level -as a multiple title challenger looking to work his way back into the fray himself, Parker can certainly do that.
As a clash of skills this looks close to a 50/50, though probably favouring Joyce. Parker is faster - unsurprisingly- and probably has the greater range of skills, boxing inside or backing off on the outside as necessary, but throughout his career he’s had a tendency to get gun-shy and almost flinch away when his opponent throws. He does look to have been working on this with his current coach Andy Lee, but showing improvements in that against the ancient frame of Dereck Chisora is a different prospect to facing down the relentless pressure and volume of Joyce. That combines with some of the heaviest hands in boxing- Joyce doesn’t need to put a lot of effort in to a punch to do real damage, and even his jab is a clubbing shot that broke Daniel Dubios’ resistance (and eye socket). The game for Parker will be to try to get in and out before Joyce can get going, whereas Joyce will be pushing him back with the jab and, if he can, push him to the ropes where he can get his surprisingly smooth combinations going.
As mentioned, it’s a strong card, led by the return of Amanda Serrano after her loss to Katie Taylor in April. She responds to that setback by dropping down to lightweight, and taking on Sarah Mahfoud for the belts she holds there. It should be fun- Mahfoud is a pressure fighter, which will likely lead her toe-to-toe with Serrano, who’s no stranger to that art. Jabs will be key, as both women have a tidy one, but you’d think that if it gets past that the advantage will go to Serrano, who looks tidier once the combinations get flowing and should be carrying a decent strength advantage.
Beyond that, a British and Commonwealth welterweight title clash between Ekkow Essuman and Samuel Antwi is worth looking out for, and Anthony Cacace, current British Super-Featherweight champion, fights Italian Michael Magnesi in a bout that is for an irrelevant trinket- an IBO title- but looks to be a good European-level contest at least.
Kid Galahad vs Maxi Hughes
Lightweight
As mentioned up top, this card should have been topped by Leigh Wood’s showdown with Mauricio Lara, which would almost definitely have been a total slugfest. Injury to Wood scuppered that, but Galahad vs Hughes is a more-than-capable headliner on its own. Galahad’s looking to recover his momentum after a shock, spectacular knockout loss to Kiko Martinez last year. Hughes, meanwhile, has been on something of a tear- he spent years bouncing around between 130 and 140lbs, making British or European level title challenges and losing, but since 2020 he seems to have found a new gear, winning the British title at 135 and then moving on to an IBO World trinket which, as above, doesn’t mean much on its own but has seen him win a string of good fights.
Realistically, the matchup does favour Galahad- he isn’t to everyone’s taste by any means but he’s a very well-rounded fighter both willing and capable of taking a fight wherever he thinks it needs to be, whether that’s a torrid low-volume clinchfest as against Josh Warrington or throwing a thousand punches in eleven rounds in his victory over Jazza Dickens. Hughes has become a very tidy mid-range boxer with some crisp and creative punching and an excellent feel for distance backing up a multi-layered defence, but he was never the most athletic boxer and he might just find Galahad’s box of tricks combined with a big speed advantage a little too much. He won’t lie down though, and Galahad is making a two-weight jump which could, obviously, also factor, since although Hughes is not a big puncher we did just see Galahad knocked out at featherweight.
The chief support is another women’s title fight, this time with Terri Harper challenging Hannah Rankin for her super-welterweight belt. This is Harper’s route back after losing her super-featherweight belts in a shock defeat to Alycia Baumgartner last year- she intended a rematch, but decided she couldn’t make that weight anymore, so jumps up to challenge the experienced Rankin. The 32-year-old Rankin has been in with a who’s who of women’s boxing at various weights, having faced Claressa Shields, Savannah Marshall and Patricia Berghult in her time. She did, however, lose all those fights. Given her reputation Harper would want to get the win to prove she belongs in that kind of company, but that’s not a given at all yet and the size of the weight jump might give some cause for concern too. Past that, the card features a slate of prospects, including Cyrus Pattinson and Solomon Dacres.