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This Saturday, a domestic battle will take place between Tommy Coyle and Luke Campbell in the Lightweight division; a division where you have Kevin Mitchell, Anthony Crolla, Derry Matthews and Ricky Burns all from the UK.
The two fighters, who are both from Hull, have been good friends for some time, but as the fight draws closer tension between the pair has been strained, setting up the potential for an enthralling fight.
Coyle has had 23 fights, losing just two, with a total of 10 knockouts to boast. His breakthrough fight was against Michael Katsidis who he stopped as early as the second round.
Katsidis, an former World Champion, may have seen better days, but is a ring warrior and not many could do a job as Coyle did that night. His most recent fight was against Martin Gethin, another very good domestic fighter, who Coyle beat in the fifth round. However, there was a scare for the Hull born boxer, being put on the floor in the second round, and until Gethin had to retire in the fifth round he’d looked in control of the fight. His two losses were against Gary Sykes and Derry Matthews, another two impressive fighters.
Luke Campbell is an Olympic gold medallist from London 2012. He has had 11 fights, winning them all with nine knockouts. He looks a very sharp puncher with quick hands, and looks a big fighter at the weight, so there’s potential after the final weigh in to gain some weight before fight night.
In his 11 professional fights to date, he hasn’t really been tested or fought any renowned names, so Coyle will be his biggest name to date. Campbell has charisma and as an Olympic champion has been brought along very carefully, and if all goes to plan could be a big revenue earner in the boxing world.
I can see the fight being exciting. Coyle is not nicknamed “Boom Boom” for nothing and I see him trying to rough up Campbell and try to get him into a slugfest. Coyle can hit but can be easily tagged as well. Campbell’s nickname is “Cool Hand Luke” and in Coyle’s advances, he needs to stay cool, getting the jabs going and stay on the outside. He has very quick hands and needs to counter Coyle.
Forecast
I see Campbell having too much skill and ability for Coyle. Campbell’s biggest danger is early on, trying to get into a battle with Coyle who can hit, however, I think Campbell will have too much nous for this, and I see Campbell stopping Coyle in the 7th round.
My Current British Boxing Pound For Pound Top 10 (In brackets is last month’s rating)
1. Kell Brook (1)
2. Amir Khan (3)
3. Carl Frampton (4)
4. James DeGale (5)
5. Scott Quigg (9)
6. Anthony Joshua (6)
7. Jamie McDonnell (7)
8. Lee Selby (8)
9. George Groves (9)
10. Anthony Crolla (not ranked)
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