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How far can the British Featherweights go?

By Murali Para

12.10 - At the moment the featherweight division probably has more depth than any other in the U.K. There is a balance between seasoned campaigners like McCullough and Hamed, looking to re-establish their credentials after a hiatus, and young, hungry lions like Brodie and Harrison, seeking to make their mark on the world scene for the first time.

After more than 2 years out due to a questionable brain scan, Wayne "the Pocket Rocket" McCullough is on the comeback trail with 2 solid wins this year. A tough competitor whose 3 losses include points defeats to Erik Morales and Naseem Hamed, has looked impressive, and it will be intriguing to see how he acquits himself when he steps up once again to world class. This is even more the case now that Michael Brodie and Scott Harrison are looking for a breakthrough as well; there could well be an interesting domestic clash at some point in the future. Of course, the other fighter in question here is Prince Naseem Hamed. The Barrera loss in April 2001 seems to have affected Naz mentally. For a fighter who thrives on confidence, he looked tentative and ordinary against Manuel Calvo in May this year. There are whispers he will not fight again this year, and perhaps not at all. Given his success in the sport, Hamed must struggle with motivation. But even recently, he has spoken of becoming one of the greats. I cannot help but think he should either seek out meaningful challenges or retire with dignity.

And what of the new guard of British featherweights, Michael Brodie and Scott Harrison? Michael Brodie, a super-bantamweight for most of his career, certainly has potential as a featherweight in spite of his arguably suspect chin. He suffered a controversial decision loss to Willie Jorrin in September 2000 at the lower weight, but his record is otherwise unblemished. In May this year, Brodie fought tough Argentine, Pastor Maurin, managing to drop him in the 6th - something which Barrera failed to do against Maurin - and being sent to the canvas himself in the 10th. Brodie boxed his way skilfully to a wide points decision. Next weekend we will see Glaswegian Scott Harrison square off against Julio Pablo Chacon in a WBO title challenge. This career-defining fight will test Harrison like never before. Harrison's rugged, attacking style has been effective over the last few years, and has seen him outpoint Tom Johnson and stop Steve Robinson inside 3 rounds. And Chacon for his part looked stale when narrowly out-pointing Victor Polo in January this year, suffering a 3rd-round knockdown in the process. In any case, Chacon has not been stopped as a pro and that might prove to be significant.

The group of British featherweights in question here - Hamed, McCullough, Brodie and Harrison - is without doubt a talented ensemble, but whether they will all be willing and able to stamp their authority on the higher echelons of this weight class is another matter entirely. Hamed of course has been there and done it all before, but he is looking like a shell of the fighter who knocked out Augie Sanchez. McCullough has had similar success, but it is too soon to know how much he has left in the tank after his sabbatical. As for the young guns, Brodie and Harrison, it is always difficult to pick out future world champions until they have fought world-class operators. Brodie was robbed against Jorrin even though he was knocked down, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in future contests. Many of the questions about Scott Harrison will be answered next weekend in Glasgow when he takes on Julio Pablo Chacon.

It should not of course be forgotten just how strong the featherweight division is in terms of world-class operators. Barrera, Morales, Tapia, Gainer and Juan M. Marquez are only some of the big names here. Indeed, perhaps only the light-welterweight division is more steeped in talent. Not so long ago, there seemed to be a batch of future world champions in the British light-middleweight division with Roberts, Lockett, Takaloo, Alexander and Williams all looking impressive. Since then, 3 of these fighters have sustained bad losses and the others have been injured or inactive. So how well the British crop of featherweights will do on the world scene is not a foregone conclusion, by any means. What is certain though is that there are plenty of exciting matches to be made involving them.

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