By Ian S Palmer
Tommy Coyle will be taking on fellow Briton Luke Campbell in the ‘Rumble on the Humber’ this Saturday, August 1st at the Craven Park Stadium in Hull, England. Both boxers hail from Hull and both were members of the city’s St. Paul’s Amateur Boxing Club. The 12-round bout is for the vacant WBC International Lightweight Championship and can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports.
The 25-year-old Coyle enters the ring with a record of 21-2 with 10 Kos while the undefeated 27-year-old Campbell is a perfect 11-0 and has 9 Kos to his name. Campbell is a southpaw who stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 71-inch reach. He only turned pro in 2013 and has 45 rounds under his belt up to now. He’s got good power with a knockout ratio of 82 per cent. Coyle’s height and reach are unlisted by Boxrec, but he turned pro in 2009 and has fought 120 rounds since then. He’s got average power with a knockout ratio of 43 per cent.
Campbell will be the favourite heading into this fight since he won a Gold Medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England. He’s handled the pro game just as well as the amateurs as he racked up nine stoppages in his 11 contests. Campbell has progressed as a pro, but hasn’t fought any top opposition as of yet. Coyle will definitely be his toughest test up to now and it’ll be interesting to see how he handles his old friend in the ring.
Coyle has been beaten by Gary Sykes and Derry Matthews with Matthews stopping him in the 10th round two years ago and Sykes beating him by unanimous decision in just a three-round fight a a year earlier in 2012. Coyle’s best performance has been against Michael Katsidis as he beat the Australian via a second-round TKO last year. Coyle is regarded as a brawler, but he doesn’t seem to possess as much power as Campbell. He likes to slug it out and has been stopped and decked before. However, he’s also gotten off the canvas more than once to come back and win.
Coyle has a lot of heart and determination, but he doesn’t own the same boxing skills as Campbell. But Coyle realizes this and that’s why his tactics usually see him going toe-to-toe rather than trying to finesse his way to victory. Coyle will go after his foe from the opening bell and won’t give up until the final bell rings or one of them falls. He’s a fan-friendly fighter due to his exciting style. Coyle might stick to boxing for the first few rounds though since he has to respect Campbell’s power.
Prediction
This fight should produce some fireworks and there could be more than one knockdown along the way. This is a tough one to call since there are several possible endings. Somebody could get tagged early or it could go all 12 rounds. The likely scenario is a Campbell win by stoppage in the second half of the bout though.
