Antoine Douglas vs. Les Sherrington:
This Friday Showtime will bring fans another edition of their prospect laden ShoBox: The New Generation. Usually on the program prospects will take on fellow prospects or be challenged by a limited veteran. Friday's main event will pit prospect against veteran when Antoine Douglas (18-0, 12 KO) takes on Les Sherrington (35-7, 19 KO) in a 10-round bout in the middleweight division. Douglas has looked good as of late but he still hasn't taken that next step up and the unknown Sherringston certainly doesn't represent a big step up in competition. At only 23 years old Douglas is still learning on the job but he has already shown a quality jab and strong left hook out of the orthodox stance. He is an aggressive fighter who likes to mix things up on the inside where his quick hands allow him to get the better of most exchanges. However, Douglas also has some bad habits like pulling straight back defensively and usually coming in straight ahead without giving his opponent other looks. Sherrington is much more experienced than Douglas and he has been fighting professionally since 2002. Despite that experience Sherrington hasn't faced a lot of tough competition in his native Australia with his biggest fight being a loss to Sam Soliman. Sherrington is not very good defensively and he is very vulnerable to counter right hands. While he lacks power his straight punches are effective and his jab and straight right hand are probably his best weapons. The chin of Sherrington is pretty fragile and he has been stopped six times in his seven career losses so look for Douglas to test his chin early. If Douglas looks very good on Friday night it may be the last time he finds himself fighting an opponent like Sherrington but he does need to look good. Douglas should start strong and because he won't have to worry too much about return fire he should be able to get inside and do damage. It may take him a little while but Douglas will win this fight by the way of 8th round stoppage.
Taras Shelestyuk vs. Aslanbek Kozaev:
The co-feature for Friday's card features two fights most American fans have probably never even heard of. The bout will pit Ukraine's Taras Shelestyuk (12-0, 8 KO) up against Russia's Aslanbek Kozaev (26-1-1, 7 KO) in a 10-round bout in the welterweight division. This will be the first 10-round fight for Shelestyuk who turned pro in 2013 and isn't as experienced as his opponent. Shelestyuk is a southpaw who is tall for the division and he will have a 3-inch height advantage over Kozaev. The Ukrainian fighter has a very nice looking jab that he likes to move up and down and he can hurt opponents with his right hook. While Shelestyuk does need to improve his left hand his movement in the ring is good and he is a prospect to pay attention too. Kozaev is a short orthodox fighter with a wild style. Kovaev doesn't have much power but he fights like he does, always throwing looping punches. Typically Kozaev will attack straight ahead behind a high guard and he throws quick punches on the inside. While Kozaev does have a nice left hook his best weapon may be his overhand right. However, that overhand right could be nullified by the height advantage of Shelestyuk. If Kozaev had any power at all this might be a much more interesting fight, but he doesn't have power and he isn't a slick boxer either. Because Shelestyuk is so much taller and seems to do everything at a higher level than Kozaev he will win the fight via unanimous decision in a fight that isn't all that close.
Comments
Post a Comment