by James Slater – The upcoming WBC heavyweight title defence by Vitali Klitschko against the unbeaten Kevin Johnson will be supported by two other heavyweight bouts, according to BoxRec.com. Fighting in the opening bouts on the Switzerland show, will be former top-rated cruiserweight-turned heavyweight Jonathon Banks against Germany’s Marcel Zeller, and unbeaten Russian giant Alexander Ustinov against former world title challenger Monte Barrett..
In truth neither fight is all that appealing, and both Banks and Ustinov should be able to win pretty handily. The Ustinov-Barrett fight would have been interesting, had “Two Gunz” not been blown away inside just two rounds by Odlanier Solis recently. Apparently wanting to give it at least one more go before deciding if he’s through, the 38-year-old New Yorker will face an uphill task against the 6’7,” approx 300-pound 32-year-old.
With accusations flying around saying he is a shot fighter, Barrett (if the fight does indeed go ahead as BoxRexc say it will) has opted to take on one big man in an effort to prove such talk to be false. A year or so ago, in the lead up to his intriguing fight with David Haye, Barrett was a respected heavyweight. But now, after the way he fell apart against unbeaten Cuban Solis, his reputation has suffered.
Barrett, 34-8(20) claims the October loss to Solis came about because he’d taken the fight on short notice. But how much notice had Monte been given before agreeing to take the Ustinov fight? A smart guy, Barrett always vowed to retire from boxing when the right time came – the question is, has that time passed now?
It’s tough to see a Barrett win on December 12th, even allowing for the fact that Ustinov, as huge as he is, is not too fast with his hands or feet. At 18-0(15) the younger man by six years can certainly punch some though, and this is what’s worrying for Barrett fans. How much punch resistance does “Two Gunz” have left?
Of course, Barrett can still crack himself, and if he does manage to get himself an upset win in Switzerland he’ll be entitled to say “I told you so,” to all the critics who said he shouldn’t be boxing on.
As for Banks-Zeller, another win certainly looks likely for the 27-year-old heavyweight from Detroit. But after failing to truly impress last time out, when he out-pointed Javier Mora in a dull affair, Banks, 22-1(15) needs to up his work-rate and score an eye-catching KO here. And 36-year-old Zeller, 22-5(21), though he’s tough, has been stopped in three of his last four outings. If he’s going anywhere in his new weight class, Banks should get Zeller out of there well before the scheduled eight rounds are done.