By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated British lightweight prospect Luke Campbell will be taking on Daniel Brizuela of Argentina in a 12-round contest at the Hull Arena in England this Saturday, October 25. Campbell is one of the UK’s best young boxers and won a gold medal for his homeland in the bantamweight division at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. The bout, which is being held in Campbell’s hometown, can be seen live in Britain on Sky Sports 2 and is for the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Lightweight Title.
The 27-year-old Campbell turned pro in 2013 and will enter the ring with a perfect record of 8-0 with 6 Kos. The 28-year-old Brizuela has an impressive 26-3-2 mark along with 8 Kos to his name. Campbell is a southpaw who’s fought just 34 rounds as a pro up to now while his south American opponent has quite a bit of pro experience with 205 rounds under his belt. Campbell last fought just a month ago when he stopped Krzysztof Szot in the seventh round while Brizuela took a 10-round unanimous decision over Jorge Samuel Fredes in July.
Campbell is being groomed slowly and he’s taking a big step up in class here by meeting Brizuela. This will also be his first 12-round bout. Brizuela is a good fighter, but lacks real power even though he dropped Tommy Coyle four times earlier this year. He’s got a lot of heart and a solid chin, even though Coyle also decked him four times, and has enough power to do some damage with an accumulation of punches. He’s a tough customer and represents a legitimate test for the up-and-coming Campbell.
Campbell possesses more power than his opponent and that could be a big factor here. He’s quite confident, has fine boxing skills and is a good counterpuncher. He’ll find that Brizuela doesn’t mind fighting while going backwards since he’s not the type to take the fight to his opponent. He won’t allow Campbell to have his own way all night though since he’ll make a stand and fight back when he has to.
It’s important that Campbell doesn’t take Brizuela too lightly since he’s proven himself to be an extremely dangerous fighter, especially when he’s in trouble. Brizuela will need to earn some respect in the ring though by landing some power shots or Campbell will gain in confidence as the fight goes on. If Campbell cuts off the ring and doesn’t rush into things he has a good shot at remaining undefeated, but he’s in with a seasoned pro who could surprise him.
Prediction
Brizuela gave Tommy Coyle the fight of his life in Hull back in February when both fighters hit the canvas four times. Coyle ended up stopping him in the 12th round. Since Campbell has more power than Coyle and slightly better boxing skills, he should be able to do the same or better against the Argentine. While this is usually a bad way to predict the outcome of a boxing match it should work this time around. Look for Campbell to win the bout on a late stoppage or decision, but Brizuela should put up quite a fight.
