Tonight at the Motorpoint Arena in his hometown of
Sheffield Kell Brook will attempt to win a shot at the IBF welterweight title
as he goes up against hard-hitting Argentinian Hector David Saldivia in a world
title eliminator.
Saldivia’s name might not be in the minds of many boxing
fans but that isn’t surprising. The best opponent he has faced is Said Ouali in
a WBA title eliminator two years ago which ended in disaster for him as he
floored the Moroccan in the first round but ended up getting floored himself
and then stopped in the very same round.
Perhaps we shouldn’t rule Saldivia out just yet though.
Afterall, he does have 32 knockouts from 43 fights.
Kell Brook is coming off of a majority decision win over
tough American Carson Jones in July in which he was criticised somewhat for
what seemed to be a lack of stamina late on. It would certainly look like
something Brook’s team needs to work on, and which Brook acknowledged in the
press shortly after the victory.
Brook knows all eyes will be on him to shine on Saturday
night and I don’t believe he will let his fans down. Saldivia has the power but
he doesn’t have any real significant wins. This is probably a step too far for
him.
Verdict:
This fight reminds me a little of Amir Khan vs Breidis Prescott. The only
difference is I see the South American being stopped in the early rounds in
this one. Brook by 3rd or 4th
round KO.
On the undercard, I see Jamie McDonnell getting a routine
early stoppage win (round 3 or 4) over late replacement Darwin Zamora. The
latter is unfamiliar at bantamweight having campaigned at lower weights
throughout his career and I don’t think McDonnell should have too much trouble
with him.
I also see Kenny Anderson score a stoppage victory over
veteran Robin Reid. Anderson will be hungry to keep impressing as he seeks a
British super middleweight title shot. Anderson should win before the mid
rounds in my opinion. Anderson to win by round 5 or 6 sounds about right.
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