Dennis Shafikov v Lee McAllister
Sky Sports provide us with some good punting opportunities this weekend when Dennis Shafikov comes over to defend his EBU light Welterweight title against Lee McAllister.
McAllister(34-2, 9 kos) who is probably best known to UK fans for his tussle with John Murray where he started brightly before the relentless aggression of his opponent saw him overwhelmed inside eight rounds.
He is surprisingly still only 29 as he appears to have been boxing for ages and has been carefully matched in his career to boast some impressive looking figures.
Shafikov 27-0-1(16 kos) looks the type of fighter that causes McAllister problems.
Much out the Murray mould he ploughs forward in straight lines and inflicts the pain. I don’t think McAllister has the power to keep him off and that ultimately is the problem.
I expect Shafitov to get him out of there inside of 8 rounds.
Daily Sport recommended bet:
7pts Shafikov by KO TKO or DQ – 2/1 Boylesports
Devon Alexander v Marcos Maidana
Sky’s coverage starts off with Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana squaring off over 10 rounds – it should have been over 12 but Alexanders team didn’t want to pay the sanctioning fees to make this a title eliminator.
Alexander (22-1) was touted as the next big thing but the wheels have come off the career big style in my opinion over his last three fights.
He fought and won a highly controversial decision against World level stalwart Andry Kotelnyk, and then appeared to look for a way out when losing a fight and was very short of ideas against Timothy Bradley.
He was then dropped and out battled by Lucas Matthhyse and somehow the judges found it in their hearts to gift him that decision to the Don King Promoted fighter.
In my opinion Matthysse is a poor man’s Maidana and what can the Argentinean Wildman do differently against Alexander?
Well for starters Maidana is a differently league when it comes to punching power, and he knows from the last three fights if it goes to the judges’ scorecards he shouldn’t expect any favours.
He needs to start early, be in ‘face and try and stop him basically.
The bookmakers have not given a seconds thought to how they believe this fight was going to go they have glanced down the records and priced up accordingly.
Maidana should be shorter price the win and definitely a shorter price the knockout and I feel at the prices both should be played strongly.
Daily Sport recommended bets:
4.5pt Maidana to beat Alexander – 6/4 Betfred
3pts Maidana to win by KO TKO or DQ Paddy Power 7-2
In other Boxing action the errant Frankie Gavin attempts to get his career back on track after 7 months out the ring with “personal Issues” when he takes on British gatekeeper Kevin Mcintyre over 8 rounds,.
After seeing the weigh in Gavin looks in respectable shape and I know it’s always a gamble betting in fights involving Mr Gavin but 5/6 the stoppage looks a fair price.
Inn the main event Nathan Cleverly takes on unheralded Tommy Karpency, in true frank Warren style it looks a decent fight on paper but the YouTube reality tells me Karpency quite frankly isn’t very good.
Cleverly isn’t the fastest starter or the biggest puncher but I still expect him to get the job done somewhere in the 2nd half of the fight.
One of my favourite up and coming fighters Adrien “the Problem” Broner also returns in an interesting fight against Eloy Perez who also is undefeated. The reality is that Broner is leagues above this guy and is on a mission to prove himself at the moment to be one of the best in the world and I do believe Betfred’s even money is a real standout price.
Finally, BoxNation is showing us the Huck v Povetkin world title fight and it is a real toss of a coin battle. I don’t think there’s too much between these two fighters and unless Potvetkin manages to land a massive heavyweight shot on him I think the value lies with “Captain” Huck. He’s is a national hero in Germany and at 10/3 defiantly worth a small play.
Daily Sport recommended bets:
1pt Huck to beat Povekin – 10/3 Betfred
4pt Broner to ko Perez – evens Betfred
2pt Cleverly to win in rounds 7-12 – 11/5 Ladbrokes
Broner to ko Perez 8/11
Cleverly to ko Karpency 8/15
Gavn to ko Mcintyre 5/6
Shafikov to ko Mc Allister 15/8