By James Slater: Fans of the heavyweight division could be in for a treat this weekend, as three relevant, potentially explosive heavyweight match-ups take place over Friday and Saturday night.
On Friday night in Las Vegas, unbeaten Russian southpaw Magomed Abdusalamov will throw his heavyhanded bombs at fellow lefty, the unstopped Maurice Byarm. This one could prove interesting, with “Mago” facing his hardest test yet. If the raw but exciting slugger can go one better than Bryant Jennings (the only man to beat Byarm, on points) and halt the 29 year old he will have made a decent statement. Byarm is up for this fight and he is said to have trained hard. I pick Abdusalamov to win, but he may have to go further than he has done before.
Over in Europe on Saturday night we will have Wladimir Klitschko’s return with southpaw Tony Thompson, and also Tyson Fury’s latest test, against the always-willing Vinny Maddalone. Klitschko looks set for another victory, yet this time he will be facing a fully fit Thompson, albeit a 40year old version. Wladimir has said repeatedly that it will not be easy (not only that, but that he would not have chosen to face “The Tiger”again himself) and I think the challenger will at least win himself a few rounds – which is easier said than done against “Dr. Steel Hammer.” Look for Thompson to last the distance this time round, ultimately losing via 12-round UD.
As for the Fury-Maddalone clash, this one could be the pick of the bunch as far as fun fights go. Sure, some have criticised the match-up, saying unbeaten Fury is taking a step back in terms of quality of opposition, yet Fury’s tendency to brawl when he doesn’t have to, combined with Maddalone’s raw power, might result in a great action fight.
The 38 year old from Queens has been stopped four times, but each time it was either by a top name or it was in a fight he was winning before getting tagged. And if Nicolai Firtha can wobble Fury and if Neven Pajkcic can deck him, what might happen if Maddalone’s whistling left hook lands on big Tyson’s jaw?
Fury has to be the pick to win, as he’s the younger man, he is boxing at home and he is taller and has less wear and tear on his body. Still, Maddalone has the quintessential puncher’s chance. If he does go down, Maddalone can be relied upon to go down swinging. Oh, and there will be blood in this one!