By Ian S Palmer
Denmark’s Patrick Nielsen will be taking on Britain’s Patrick Mendy as he defends his WBA Intercontinental Middleweight Championship in Esbjerg, Denmark on Saturday Feb. 9. Nielsen will enter the ring with an unbeaten 17-0 record with 8 Kos, while Mendy, who was born in Gambia, has a 14-5 mark with just one knockout. The 22-year-old challenger may be known to some fans for winning the British Prizefighter tournament back in 2010.
Mendy claims that he’ll destroy Nielsen on Saturday night and take his title, but that’s a pretty bold prediction from a guy who’s got just one knockout to his credit and five defeats in 19 bouts since turning pro in 2009. Mendy’s definitely been busy so far for such a young boxer, but other than Bradley Pryce, who beat him by a 10-round decision last March, none of his opponents are recognizable. However, give Mendy credit for sticking with the sport after losing his first two pro bouts. He’s also quite durable and hasn’t been stopped yet.
Nielsen is taking Mendy’s trash talking in strider and basically laughing it off. He’s actually younger than his opponent as he’s just 20 years old. He fought professionally for the first time in 2009 and has also been busy fighting in Europe. He’s regarded as a solid prospect, but hasn’t fought many tough opponents yet either. The two young Patricks know there’s a lot at stake in this bout, especially Nielsen.
Nielsen’s a southpaw who stands 6-feet tall and this could pose some problems for the challenger. He’s got fast hands and decent power, but he often throws wide shots like the young George Foreman instead of coming down the middle. He loses power when doing this and sometimes leaves himself off balance and open for a good counter punch.
Mendy might be just a class below Nielsen, but he’s won nine times in his last 10 fights so he should at least have some confidence going into the ring. He’s a pretty good boxer with fine foot movement, but his biggest asset is probably his ability to take a punch. That’s a good quality to have since he’s certainly not the world’s best defensive boxer.
Both fighters like to be the aggressor so this could be an exciting bout, especially with the pre-fight hype. Nielsen is quicker and will be using his strong right jab to control the action. He’s got more experience than Mendy, who’s only been more than eight rounds once in his career and has never fought outside of Britain, and also has a decent chin
Mendy will put in a good effort here on the road in Denmark, but I don’t think he’s got the skills and/or power to do much damage to Nielsen. Since he can take a good punch though, I look for Nielsen to have to work hard to retain his belt by a decision or a late stoppage on an accumulation of punches.
