STAR PREVIEW Sat: Fight Camp 4 Whyte vs Povetkin

As we approach the final weekend of ‘Fight Camp’, it is fair to say that the outlandish concept has been a huge success. Boxing fans were starved of action for so long that fights of any level would have been accepted but what Fight Camp and Eddie Hearn have delivered has been extraordinary. Now, with just one card left to go, we may have saved the best until last writes Jordan Neild.

The main event this weekend between Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin is a fight that will ultimately determine who will be in line to face the winner of the trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in 2021 for the WBC Heavyweight championship of the world.

The two fighters have had contrasting climbs to the top of the heavyweight division but hold many similarities when it comes to fighting style. Povetkin was an outstanding amateur and won gold at the 2004 Olympic Games and his professional career has brough similar success. His career now spans over fifteen years but despite him being 40, his recent wins against top contenders has proven that all of his natural ability remains in-tact.

Whyte, on the other hand, came up through the small hall circuit before he burst on the scene against Anthony Joshua in 2015. He lost on that occasion but since then, he has transformed himself into a top-class heavyweight. His resume over the last five years is as good as anyone in the division and he cannot be accused of taking an easy route to a world title.

The fight itself is a fascinating one to decipher. These two both have the ability to end the fight with one punch and they have both been hurt in the past which makes the fight very difficult to predict. It is hard to write off Povetkin as he has proven so many times that he is an elite fighter but if Dillian Whyte is to one day become a world champion, he needs to win this one in impressive fashion to keep knocking on the door of the current world champions.

The chief support is a rematch of what many believe is the greatest female fight of all time. Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon battled it out over ten rounds at Maddison Square Garden last June and had the entire arena applauding by the end.

The decision that night went to Taylor which was hugely controversial as many at ringside had Persoon winning. Now fourteen months on, Persoon gets the opportunity to become undisputed lightweight champion again and Taylor gets a chance to silence the many who doubted her after the first fight. Unfortunately, there won’t be a crowd to appreciate this rematch live, but it remains almost impossible to split these two and we might just get another classic this weekend.

A fight that could steal the show is between Jack Cullen and Zak Chelli at super-middleweight. This fight was a late addition to the card but has all the ingredients to be a brilliant contest. It will be the first fight for Cullen at super middleweight, but he’s been struggling at middleweight for a while and this move could reinvigorate him.

Zak Chelli is a fighter who has flown under the radar a little bit and has predominately been on cards that haven’t been in the public eye. However, he is talented and brings some pedigree into this contest and he has also fought better opposition than Cullen. His win over Umar Sadiq is an impressive piece of form and that experience could be the telling factor in this one.

Further down the card is another fascinating domestic clash between Luther Clay and Chris Kongo. Both fighters are still yet to announce themselves to the wider boxing public, but this is a huge opportunity to do just that, on a huge card.

It’s hard to predict this one given that we haven’t seen the full potential of these two but there are a lot of people inside the sport who claim Kongo has the ability to win major titles so it will be interesting to see if he can deliver on those claims.

Rounding off the card, heavyweight Alen Babic takes a big step up in just his fourth fight against the experienced Shawndell Winters. Babic is highly thought of and has been the chief sparring partner for Dillian Whyte over the last couple of months. He should look impressive here, once again to continue his climb up the heavyweight rankings.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BET Star Sports Enhanced double (Whyte by KO/TKO & Taylor by decision) 2pts @ 11/4 with starsports.bet
BET Zak Chelli to win 1.5pts @ 3/4 with starsports.bet

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