Andy Lee vs. Billy Joe Saunders
Saturday night on Showtime there will be a fight for gypsy bragging rights as Andy Lee squares off against Billy Joe Saunders. Both fighters come from the traveler community and the atmosphere in England should be absolutely electric. The fight is scheduled to go 12 rounds in the middleweight division for Lee's WBO strap. Gennady Golovkin has already expressed interest in unifying all the belts in that division so the winner on Saturday could find themselves in the ring with him soon.
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| Lee's right hook might be the best in boxing |
Lee is a southpaw with one of the most dangerous punches in all of boxing, his right hook. Lee has come back from down in fights or tasting the canvas to win with that punch alone. Lee is a counter puncher who is a boxer-puncher, although lately he has had more success in the puncher role. Besides his right hook Lee also has a good jab and he will follow it up nicely with a straight left hand. In recent fights Lee has been out boxed but came back to score the win so he never feels like he is out of a fight and even got off the canvas twice in his last fight against Peter Quillin to fight to a draw.
Lee has had himself a nice career that started with a lot of knockouts. He is a very confident fighter and that confidence has helped him put together a record of 34-2-1 with 24 knockouts. Lee has scored wins over Craig McEwan, Brian Vera, and Matt Korobov and his losses came against a much, much bigger Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Vera, although Lee would avenge that loss. When it comes to resumes Lee has a more impressive one than Saunders, but the younger fighter will look to change that come Saturday night.
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| A win over Lee would be huge for Saunders |
Saunders is also a southpaw but is isn't as powerful a puncher as Lee. Saunders is a patient fighter who loves to pop his jab from the outside but on the inside is where he lets his hands go more often. The southpaw is a fighter who seems to be in constant motion which is somewhat strange considering he isn't a very high volume puncher and he likes to keep both hands fairly low. The straight left hand of Saunders isn't a great punch and while his right hook is solid he is a fighter who relies more on his defense to win fights.
While Saunders has been able to put together a perfect record of 22-0 with 12 knockouts he has not faced the same level of opposition that Lee has. The biggest win in the career of Saunders came back in 2014 when he won a split decision over Chris Eubank Jr. another young fighter with talent. However, in Lee, Saunders will be facing a very experienced veteran with killer one-punch power. Saunders will need to focus on his defense if he wants to score the biggest win of his career.
Lee will be the taller man with the longer reach in this fight so look for him to use his jab early and often. Saunders doesn't have big power and he isn't a very busy fighter but his constant motion and defense can frustrate opponents. For his part Lee most not get frustrated and stick to his game plan. If Saunders want to win this fight he may need to open up more than usual but that could be dangerous against a puncher like Lee. One bad habit Saunders has, besides keeping his hands low, is that he will sometimes reach with his jab and let his left hand float away from his body which leaves him wide open for Lee's signature counter right hook.
PREDICTION: In the early rounds this will be a close fight. Neither Andy Lee or Billy Joe Saunders will come out overly aggressive and Saunders style should take Lee some rounds to figure out. However, in the middle rounds Lee will start finding a home for his power punches and when Saunders gets more offensive in an effort to answer back Lee will land his right hook and win this fight by the way of 9th round stoppage.
Liam Smith vs. Jimmy Kelly
Saturday's Showtime card might as well be billed "The Battle of the U.K." because every fighter in the main event and co-feature was either born there or currently resides there. The c-feature will pit Liam Smith up against Jimmy Kelly in a 12-round bout for Smith's WBO junior middleweight title. Between the two fighters the only blemish is a draw early in Smith's career and both fighters should be looking to make a statement on this high profile card televised in the United States.
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| Smith won't be giving up his belt easily |
Smith is a 27-year-old orthodox fighter who will be the heavier handed fighter come Saturday night despite not being very heavy handed. Smith fights with a disciplined style and rarely drops his high guard. He does a nice job of jabbing to the body and he will also counter with that punch upstairs. Smith also has a solid left hook and although at times his right hand doesn't look like much when he throws it straight he can end fights with it. One reason for Smith's success may be that he doesn't take very many unnecessary risks so look for him to fight a patient, disciplined fight against Kelly.
Smith may not be a very well known fighter in the U.S. and he may have never faced any elite fighters but ever since 2012 he has always taken on solid opponents. This will be a huge opportunity for Smith who currently has a record of 21-0-1 with only 11 knockouts. Even though his knockout percentage doesn't command attention he can surprise opponents with his stiff, accurate punches. Not only does Smith have more experience than Kelly but he has also faced the better opposition.
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Kelly is also an orthodox fighter but he will often switch up and fight as a southpaw. Out of the orthodox stance Kelly has a quick jab and a nice straight right hand but only when he isn't leaping in with both punches. The problem for Kelly is that he tends to get very wild, especially with his left hook and that could cause problems against a disciplined fighter like Smith.
One major problem for Kelly could be his inexperience. He has only been scheduled for three 10 rounds fights and has only gone 10 rounds one time. In fact in his first fight of 2015 Kelly was only scheduled to go 4 rounds, however he has been very busy this year, having already fought four times so he should be sharp. Another problem for Kelly is that he hasn't fought a high level of opposition so this will probably be the toughest test of his young career.
This fight will be a battle of discipline against wildness. Smith is a few years older than Kelly and fights in a more mature, patient style. Kelly on the other hand fights with an eagerness to land punches and that eagerness often finds him leaping toward his opponent very wildly. If Kelly is going to win this fight he will need some of that wild style to frustrate and confuse Smith but that doesn't seem very likely.
PREDICTION: Liam Smith is not only more experienced than Jimmy Kelly but he is more disciplined and has fought the higher level of competition. Smith will be able to draw on all those aspects of his game to beat Kelly by the way of unanimous decision.
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