British Scene: Lenny Daws vs Barry Morrison Preview

Dave Oakes previews tomorrow night's Sky main-event between Lenny Daws and Barry Morrison.

Photo © Justin McKie

Barry Morrison takes on old foe Lenny Daws (pictured) this Friday when the two face off in a rematch for the vacant British light-welterweight title at the York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Morrison comes in at late notice after Ajose Olusegun chose to vacate the title last week rather than face Daws. Olusegun is now due to fight Romanian Ionut Dan Ion next month in a world title eliminator. His withdrawal has opened the door for Morrison to reclaim the title he lost to Colin Lynes just over two years ago.

Morrison became champion by beating Daws in what remains the only blip on Daws’ record. Their original meeting was an enthralling slugfest that could’ve gone either way, the judges favoured Morrison by split decision but a lot of ringsiders and viewers, myself included, had Daws winning.

Daws has struggled to find his form since losing the title to Morrison and will be hoping that a victory on Friday night will kick-start his career. Morrison has also struggled since their first meeting, losing to David Barnes as well as the aforementioned defeat to Colin Lynes.

It’s also worth noting that Morrison has been fairly inactive of late, having fought only once since his defeat to Barnes in July of last year. Daws has fought three times in that period, albeit against fairly limited opposition. It remains to be seen whether or not the lack of preparation and ring sharpness will influence Morrison’s performance but it doesn’t seem to be the ideal preparation for what will be the biggest fight of his career to date.

I can see this fight being very similar to their first, both fighters will be prepared to stand toe to toe and it could come down to fitness rather than finesse. Daws and Morrison are predictable in their style; they come forward, throw punches non-stop and try to grind their opponents down, they’re never going to box and move but they do what they do extremely well.

I believe the fight will be close early on but I expect Daws’ better preparation and fitness to help him win most of the late rounds. I think Daws will reclaim the title on the scorecards in what should be another entertaining fight for the fans.

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