By Ian S Palmer
Middleweight Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of Cameroon will be taking on Patrick Mendy of Gambia this Saturday, March 12th at the Palais des sports Marcel Cerdan over in France. The 32-year-old N’Dam N’Jikam, who now fights out of France, will climb into the ring with a record of 31-2 along with 18 Kos while the 25-year-old Mendy, who fights out of the UK, is 16-9-1 with 1 Ko to his name. N’Dam has been victorious is six of his past eight contests, but was beaten by Canada’s David Lemieux via a 12-round unanimous decision in his last outing in June. Mendy’s last fight took place in September when he dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Kamil Szeremeta.
This fight has been scheduled for just eight rounds and there’s a chance it will go the distance. N’Dam has good mobility and is adept defensively while his attack is typically set up with his stiff jab. He has good power and chin and is quite durable in the ring. He isn’t known as a one-punch knockout artist though and his current knockout ratio stands at 55 per cent. He turned pro back in 2004 and has fought 231 rounds since then. N’Dam stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has an unlisted reach.
N’Dam seems to be content to let his boxing skills carry him to victory and doesn’t go looking for stoppages. In fact, he hasn’t stopped anybody since back in 2010. N’Dam’s biggest wins so far have been against Curtis Stevens, Fulgencio Zuniga and Max Bursak. However, he struggles when moving up on class. As well as losing on points to N’Dam, he also dropped a 12-round unanimous decision in a title shot against Peter Quillin in 2012.
Mendy doesn’t have a very impressive record and his one Ko show his power is almost non-existent. He’s boxed 152 rounds since turning pro in 2009. Unfortunately, Mendy’s height and reach are both unlisted. We do know his current knockout ratio stands at just four per cent though. He enters this bout with just a pair of wins in his last seven bouts and his biggest asset in the ring could very well be his chin. He’s been stopped only once in his nine defeats. He’s a tough customer though, but will be taking a big step up in class.
Mendy hasn’t beaten anybody of note and has lost to the likes of Callum Smith, Patrick Nielsen and Bradley Pryce. His lone draw came against Dmitry Chudinov in 2013 and Smith has been the only man to stop him. Mendy lost his first two pro fights and should be given credit to sticking with the sport he loves. But since he’s just 25 years old he still has time to turn his career around and a win over N’Dam would be an excellent start.
Prediction
N’Dam has the advantage in all areas here as he’s a talented, seasoned pro. Mendy appears to be in well over his head and it doesn’t look like he has a puncher’s chance either. Look for N’Dam, to rack up a decision here with a late stoppage being possible, but not likely.
