British Scene Season Preview Part Two: Macklin vs Asikainen, Thaxton vs Murray, Sexton vs Rogan & Booth vs Hunter

Dave Oakes is back with the second half of The Boxing Bulletin's preview of the upcoming British boxing season.

In today's preview:

Matthew Macklin (photo © Justin McKie) vs Amin Asikainen - European middleweight title

Jon Thaxton vs John Murray - British lightweight title

Sam Sexton vs Martin Rogan - Commonwealth heavyweight title

Jason Booth vs Michael Hunter - British super-bantamweight title

Macklin vs Asikainen

The quality match-ups keep coming and 25th September sees Matthew Macklin challenge Amin Asikainen for the vacant European middleweight title. Macklin decided to vacate his British title to take this fight and must win to show that it was the correct decision to do so.

Macklin is finally discovering the form that made him one of the hottest prospects in British boxing when he turned pro in 2001. His career has been a slow burner but he’s now got the experience to not just challenge for the European title but to win it.

The quality match-ups keep coming and 25th September sees Matthew Macklin challenge Amin Asikainen for the vacant European middleweight title. Macklin decided to vacate his British title to take this fight and must win to show that it was the correct decision to do so.

Macklin is finally discovering the form that made him one of the hottest prospects in British boxing when he turned pro in 2001. His career has been a slow burner but he’s now got the experience to not just challenge for the European title but to win it.

Asikainen is a quality fighter and will be hoping to regain the belt that he held for two years before his shock knockout loss to Sebastian Sylvester. He’s also suffered a bad knockout defeat against Khoren Gevor and there are still unanswered questions about his punch resistance. There’s a feeling that whilst Asikainen is great when he’s in control, he falls apart when he starts taking heavy shots.

If Macklin can produce the same for that saw him demolish Wayne Elcock inside three rounds last time out, and applies pressure from the first bell, I can see no reason why he can’t stop Asikainen in the mid to late rounds.

Thaxton vs Murray

If you thought September looked pretty good then October is shaping up to be even better. The two best lightweights in Britain do battle on the first Saturday of the month, with Jon Thaxton and John Murray squaring off for the vacant British title.

The undefeated Murray lost the title on the scales last time out but followed it up with a solid performance against the always competitive Scott Lawton, whom he stopped in the sixth round after dishing out a vicious beating.

This fight is make or break time for Thaxton, he’s lost three of his last four and is starting to look like a fighter on the slide. The most surprising of those defeats came in his last fight when he was out-pointed by the game but limited Tom Glover up at light-welterweight. Thaxton believes that the extra weight was the reason behind his loss to Glover, but having spent half of his career fighting at that weight, I find it hard to believe that it would make such a huge amount of difference against someone as limited as Glover.

Thaxton should provide Murray with the hardest fight of his career but I expect the young Mancunian to have too much hunger, stamina and aggression for Thaxton to cope with.

Sexton vs Rogan

Next up is the much anticipated rematch between Sam Sexton and Martin Rogan on October 9th at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast.

Their first meeting in May this year was an action packed back and forth fight that either boxer could’ve won. Sexton started the better but started to struggle as the fight wore on. Rogan showed his usual grit and determination but made a fatal error when he stood back and waited for the referee to step in after wobbling Sexton with a couple of clubbing hooks in the 8th , all this did was allow Sexton to regain his composure, and his senses, when he should’ve gone in for the finish. The end came moments later when Rogan was stopped due to a badly swollen eye.

It was a rarity in that it was an enjoyable heavyweight fight with plenty of action. I expect the same this time but with Rogan coming out the victor via a late stoppage.

Booth vs Hunter

The best fight of the month could come a week later (October 16th) when Jason Booth defends his British super-bantamweight title against former world title challenger Michael Hunter. The ex amateur rivals have not been shy about letting people know of their dislike of each other, with Booth’s manager, Jimmy Gill, joining in by calling Hunter chinny and saying his man should be viewed as the red-hot favourite.

Booth is in the form of his life having won his last six fights, five of which were title fights. This is despite fighting at bantamweight and now super-bantamweight when he’s more of a natural flyweight. He’s always been a beautifully skilled boxer but has now got the experience and maturity to produce the performances everyone knew he was capable of.

The smooth skills of Booth should provide us with a nice clash of styles against the pressure fighting Hunter. Hunter is always at peak fitness, is always prepared to box or brawl his way to victory and has only been defeated once in thirty-one fights, when he was outclassed by Steve Molitor in a clash for the IBF title.

The main worries for Hunter will be his inactivity and his struggles to make the weight. He’s only fought three times in the past two and half years and two of those fights were up at super-featherweight. It was only a few years ago that Hunter was tearing through the division at British and European level but he seems to have lost his hunger since the Molitor defeat.

This fight is a real 50-50 battle; Booth has the skills to outbox Hunter, whilst Hunter has the size advantage and aggressive style to beat Booth. It’s a toss of a coin but I’ve got a feeling that if Hunter still has the desire to be a champion, he’ll find a way of winning a close fight.

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Check out the first half of Dave's season preview: British Scene Season Preview Part One; Simpson vs Truscott, O'Donnell vs Glover, Davis vs Napa, Fury vs McDermott & Olusegun vs Daws