This weekend there are two significant British fights essentially competing directly against one another. Billy Joe Saunders defends his WBO middleweight belt against Willie Monroe and Callum Smith has his first round fight in the World Boxing Super Series against Erik Skoglund. It would be nice if these didn’t go head to head, but that is not the reality that has been made.
Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) won his WBO belt twenty one months ago ago in a vacant title fight over Andy Lee in a pretty dreadful affair. Somehow this will only be his second defense in that time. Last December Saunders met little known challenger Artur Akavov in what looked like a walkover. He managed to really struggle there, however, and had a much more difficult time retaining than anticipated. Needless to say, the Billy Joe Saunders title reign has not been inspiring.
As a challenger, Willie Monroe (21-2, 6 KOs) isn’t going to help that impression much. At his best Monroe can be a slick, sharp boxer who moves really well. For the first half of his fight against John Thompson, for example, Willie looked downright spectacular by slipping and ripping from the pocket. Yet, that isn’t usually how Monroe sustains his fights. For most of what I have seen of him, Willie Monroe prefers to simply avoid a fight at all than to take risks to win one. While I think he is perfectly capable of beating Billy Joe Saunders from a talent and skill perspective, I don’t trust Monroe’s mentality at all against a good fighter under very bright lights.
My prediction is a really, really painful to watch Billy Joe Saunders unanimous decision. BT Sport has the fight at at 3:30 PM Eastern time. Top Frank Warren prospects Anthony Yarde and Daniel Dubois are on the undercard.
On ITV at basically the same time, Callum Smith (22-0, 17 KOs) and Erik Skoglund (26-0, 12 KOs) take a really interesting step up against one another. This fight kicks off the super middleweight half of the World Boxing Super Series and just is a good fight in its own right. Smith is rightfully the favorite here, however. As the potential best of the fighting Smith family, Callum does seem to have a small skill advantage over Skoglund while possessing a more sizable athleticism edge.
Yet, Skoglund is a good prospect. He is also used to facing bigger men as he is dropping down from light heavyweight. He still won’t have a size advantage as Smith is a huge super middleweight, but the Swede will be much more used to dealing with his opponent’s size than any other of his opponents have been. That can really count for something.
Both men here will represent each other’s best opponent to date. That is something to really strive for in terms of matchmaking from a fan’s perspective. This is why I recommend tuning into this fight live over the Saunders/Monroe show. It starts at 2:45 on ITV and features Martin Murray on the undercard. With some luck a quick finish could free fans up to catch both fights live. Callum Smith should win, but Skoglund is definitely a live dog.
