Kid Galahad and James Dickens clash for the vacant IBF world featherweight title in the second week of Matchroom Fight Camp action – and it should be a closely-fought showdown.
This pair shared a ring seven years ago, with Galahad recording a stoppage victory, but plenty has changed since that first fight.
Galahad Only Beaten by Warrington
Josh Warrington is the only man to defeat Galahad in his 28 professional fights, but that was a close contest and the split decision could have easily gone the other way.
The Sheffield puncher is an elusive and awkward fighter, but he is also extremely tough and that’s going to be needed against Dickens.
‘Jazza’ was beaten by Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2016 and Thomas Patrick Ward made it back-to-back defeats for the Merseyside man.
Dickens is Dangerous
However, Dickens, who is 47/20 to cause a bit of a shock, has been in the form of his life recently, and Leigh Wood’s win against Can Xu for the WBA title last week, paid ‘Jazza’ a major compliment.
The workrate and pressure from Dickens was too much for Wood when they clashed last year and it was the same story when Dickens beat Ryan Walsh in December.
That’s certainly strong form, and there’s no doubt that the Liverpool fighter is in a good place, but Galahad, 2/7 to win, gives the impression that he is a cut above those two boxers.
Galahad can Edge it
The Sheffield puncher is likely to find Dickens a fairly easy target to hit, and at the prices it could pay to side with another Galahad stoppage victory, in what promises to be an excellent fight.
Interesting Undercard
There’s plenty of potential on show on the undercard. Young Romford heavyweight Johnny Fisher is in action and all-action Alen Babic takes on Mark Bennett in the big boys division.
Another promising heavyweight, Fabio Wardley, goes in with Nick Webb, but in terms of betting the most interesting contest is the women’s clash between Ebaine Bridges and Bec Connolly.
@EbanieBridges fights @Bec_Connolly11 this Saturday!#FightCamp #BridgesConnolly pic.twitter.com/5WXJdVKwC3
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) August 3, 2021
Bridges was involved in an almighty scrap against Shannon Courtenay last time out and, while the Blonde Bomber showed her toughness and durability in that fight, she was easy to hit and didn’t carry a great deal of power.
Courtenay was previously knocked down by Rachel Ball, who isn’t a big puncher at all, so the fact the Aussie was unable to stop the Watford fighter in her tracks indicates that there isn’t a huge amount of bang in her punches.
Bridges is the headline act in this fight, but that’s a tough defeat to recover from and the prices seem to be completely dismissing Connolly’s chances of at least being competitive.
The Swindon slugger brings a losing record to the ring, but those defeats have come against the likes of Natasha Jonas, Ellue Scotney, Terri Harper and Ramla Ali.
Bridges isn’t at the level of those punchers and the only top-level fighters Harper and Jonas have managed to get Lady Luck out of the ring before the final bell.
Connolly’s 31/4 price to win seems generous and she could be worth a punt, while it could also be worth backing this ten-round bantamweight clash to go the distance.