British Scene Weekend Preview

Dave Oakes previews Friday night's match-up for the vacant British super-bantamweight title between Commonwealth bantamweight champion Jason Booth and undefeated southpaw Mark Moran.

Friday April 17 Jason Booth vs Mark Moran (SKY) By Dave Oakes Jason Booth faces Mark Moran this Friday in an exciting and intriguing fight for the vacant British super-bantamweight title at the Indoor Sports Centre, Leigh, England. Booth, the Commonwealth bantamweight champ, will be taking part in his first fight up at super-bantamweight after a long and distinguished career in both flyweight and bantamweight divisions. He was originally scheduled to challenge Lee Haskins in a British super-flyweight title fight, whilst Moran was originally due to face Matthew Edmonds. The fight was made after both Edmonds and Haskins pulled out, Edmonds was struggling to make the weight and Haskins picked up an unspecified arm injury in training. Despite the step-up in weight for Booth, there isn’t a great size difference between the two men. Moran is half an inch taller than Booth and is slightly bigger built but they both have the same reach. The major gulf between them will be experience and technical ability, both of which favour Booth. The fight has to be considered as a big step up in class for the unbeaten Moran. This will be his first major title fight; whereas Booth will be participating in his twelfth. Booth has also boxed quality opponents like Damaen Kelly and Dale Robinson for minor belts. Moran is an aggressive southpaw who likes to fight for the full three minutes of every round. This has suited him well so far in his short career but he’s only boxed four and six rounders in all but one of his fights. He was looking to be running out of energy in his only fight scheduled for ten rounds before he produced a late rally to stop the game but limited Danny Wallace in the ninth round. Booth won’t be bothered by Moran’s southpaw stance as he’s fought many southpaws in his career, including a superb win last time out against Sean Hughes, who he out-boxed and stopped in ten one-sided rounds. Booth will be looking to counter Moran and box in flashy bursts rather than trying to match the younger mans work rate. I’d be surprised if Moran won this fight but I expect him to put up a brave fight. I believe Booth will be too fast, slick and skillful for Moran to cope with, with Moran losing on points in what should be an enjoyable fight for the fans. e-mail Dave Oakes