The British Five in May

The month of May will see five British boxers get a shot at a world title or unification; McDonnell, Selby, Mitchell, Gavin and Degale.

All five are in winnable but far from straight forward bouts, come June 1st which of them will be sitting pretty as 'champion of the world' and which of them will be back to the drawing board?

I'll start with Frankie Gavin, going against my previous statement he faces the toughest task of the lot against compatriot Kell Brook and to my mind will not and probably cannot win. He's in with somebody bigger, stronger, tougher, faster, hard hitting and just plain better, as a low volume reasonably feather fisted guy, in my mind I can't see what he can do to win. He'll also be in against someone eager to impress and looking to put down a statement of intent, expect to see him stopped within the first half of the fight.

The ugly fight between southpaws Degale and Dirrell, in what will be an evening for the purists we'll see two classy but complicated stylists go head to head. Neither are known for their crowd pleasing style, we have the runner in Dirrell and the awkward Degale, don't expect to see the former to let the latter show of his recent more aggressive mindset. Whilst Degale will have to rein in a lot of that aggression, I do feel he'll be the one pushing the pace of the fight looking to make things happen, he may not land much of real note but will throw enough to eek out a split decision.

Mitchell against Linares pits two of the sports more natural talents but two of its most vulnerable, to sum it up briefly it's a fight that could go one of four ways. Linares is the better boxer of the pair but Mitchell the touch tougher, could be a case of who lands first or one running away with it on the cards, I don't expect a close fight. At a push will go for Linares within 8.

Haven't seen enough of Kameda or Gradovich to make any real argument either way.

If anyone can tell me how Gavin can win I'd love to know....Inferior boxer with no shot equals - No chance...

I think Degale wins by decision and think Selby and Mitchell have really good chances..

No idea about McDonnell's fight he just doesn't interest me...

Might do a super yankee on them all losing.  Probably wouldn't get great odds though.

Easy Truss, open air stadium fight, in a thunderstorm with Brook having an antenna strapped to his head

Seriously though, think he's pretty much outmatched and the best he can do is put on a really good performance to help elevate himself a bit.

I like Mcdonnell, seems like a good honest pro

Strongback wrote:Might do a super yankee

Truss, he's talking to you mate.


Hope Selby wins. Be good to see DeGale win, would set up a potential rematch with Groves which could be interesting. Can't say I really care about the rest.

Dipper Brown wrote:

Strongback wrote:Might do a super yankee

Truss, he's talking to you mate.

Nah, That would be doing a super-size Yankee.

To clarify, Strongy does a Yankee in his bedroom whenever a British fighter loses.  A super Yankee just requires a larger tissue.

milkyboy wrote:

Dipper Brown wrote:

Strongback wrote:Might do a super yankee

Truss, he's talking to you mate.

Nah, That would be doing a super-size Yankee.

To clarify, Strongy does a Yankee in his bedroom whenever a British fighter loses.  A super Yankee just requires a larger tissue.

I'm just hoping to win a few quid.  

With the amount of Brits who lose I'd need a subscription to Kleenex in your fantasy world.

Blame the media guys !!!

Irish people are interesting, engaging and charismatic on the TV..

We've been had !!!!..

The WBO won't sanction McDonnell vs Kameda so it is no longer a unification bout.

I believe Gavin will do ok for 6 rounds or so before he fades and is overpowered, he simply isn't a WW and his lack of power at the weight will be his undoing, love to see him pull it off though. I believe Selby may edge it or get a favourable decision, Linares to stop Mitchell, Kameda to stop Mcdonnell and Dirrell to outpoint Degale.

Cheers, Rodders

Nice preview, Hammersmith. Can see a couple of tight and debatable decisions in these ones.

My concern with Gavin is that he'll go the distance against Brook but stink the place out in doing so, making it in to a dreadful fight. I'm expecting him to put more emphasis on purely not getting hit than any other Brook opponent so far, basically, and while I don't think he's got the attacking arsenal or physicality to win the fight or beat Brook with counters, he knows how to move around the ring, moves his head well in the early rounds and can judge distance quite well. He's still got the same trainer he had in the amateurs and it shows. Like yourself I can't see how he wins but I just hope he doesn't jack on the night and make it a survival job.

Degale-Dirrell is basically impossible to call with anything even approaching conviction, for me. Like you, I can envisage a split decision. I think Dirrell is the quicker, more slippery of the pair and has quicker feet but there are a lot of question marks over where he's really at these days. A very skilled boxer but the Froch and to a lesser degree the Abraham fights have given us reasons to question his durability and mental strength. Degale can take a shot and gut it out and looks like he's been enjoying letting his hands go a bit more freely and with more weight in them in his last couple of fights. Don't think there'll be much in it but I'll take a guess and say that Dirrell gets this on a close one, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went the other way.

I still believe in Mitchell. God only knows why, but I do. I think he's never done his talent (or himself) justice to this point in his career and if he's on form he can win this one against Linares. Might be my heart ruling my head here, but I'll go with him to carve out a late stoppage while a couple of rounds down on the cards. Hey, fairytales come true every now and then, don't they?

Seen a couple of Gradovich's fights - the unjust draw he had to make do with against Velez at the back end of last year and his rematch TKO win against Dib. He's the most beatable of the 126 lb title holders but he's no joke. Doesn't do anything spectacularly but he's a well-drilled, nicely organised boxer - just doesn't have any 'special effects' so to speak. Hard to gauge because neither of them have fought anyone with the same technical, rounded boxing style as each other at a high level, but I think Selby's slight edge in speed, athleticism and combination punching might be enough to win a close one on points here. But again, that's not a prediction made with any real conviction, just a basic outline.

Was intending to have a look at Kameda but haven't got round to it yet. So until I do, I'll go for a draw in that one!

Hammersmith mind if I put this on the site mate?

If you wish Hampo.

Can't disagree with any of that Chris, I think like you the person I want to see win the most is Mitchell, the grit he showed in the Maduma fight combined with being punch perfect against Estrada gives me hope. We said something similar after the Prescott and Murray fights prior to facing Kats and Burns though, so who knows, he does seem to be enjoying and taking training more seriously now.

If Dirrell is up for this I think he can win it comfortably. Faster, bigger hitter, home advantage and much harder to hit.

Problem is he came very close to retiring and has a cosy life away from the ring.

Does Dirrell hit harder than Degale? Think he's getting a bit over rated here by some, he's got talent but he has very rarely shown it and his ability to not get hit is more to do with a swift back foot approach rather than avoiding or blocking punches.

I think he hits harder. Stunned Froch at least once and put Abraham down. I know Abraham was off balance but not many could floor him. Also got a couple of good KOs against lower opposition guys I cant remember.

DeGales power has improved but Id certainly go with Dirrell

Im lookin forward to that fight. Both entertain me on their day. If they were a bit smaller they would be called stylish

Yeah I'm with Dirrell on this one. JD is stepping up a long way in class and providing (and that's a big IF) Dirrell turns up to fight rather than run then I can't see JD winning. Dirrell is the slight underdog according to the bookes - 1/1 vs 4/5 for JD... Will certainly be having a bit of money on that.

I don't rate Dirrell as highly as others do on here...

Degale however has impressed me much over the last year..

Just needs to make sure he works !!!!!... and doesn't pose too much...

Think Degale will suffer with stage fright. Underneath the bluster he comes across as incredibly insecure. The win at Wembley may have had him thinking he's hot sh!t but people weren't there for him and he was riding on the coat-tails of Froch and Groves. Don't think he's as popular as he'd like to believe and I think a pro-Dirrell crowd will get to him especially if he has a poor start or allows Dirrell into the contest at any stage.

I have to say that if he does win and the big fight JDG wanted did come off, it might be the only time that I root for Froch

Not much of a DeGale fan then Dave I take it?

I hope he wins and think he will but doubt a fight against the Slimester Froch will happen

I see DeGale getting a rude awakening. Dirrell is the only fighter with the talent to give Ward a run for his money. I did say talent.

If  Dirrell's is focused and on his A game I fancy him to win this, Dirrell will know this is the last chance saloon, loses this and he will struggle to get anywhere near another title shot, promoters tend to lose patience eventually.

The fact Dirrells management won the purse bid, tells me they fancy this.

The only fight that really interests me is the degale fight. It's a Pickem for me. I really rate dirrell as a talent but I'm not sure he's always delivered on it, there are a lot of question marks as to where he currently is as a fighter... Down to degale to out work him I think. The winner puts themselves up as the main challenge to ward, so it has intrigue too.

Unlike others it seems I couldn't give a monkeys about Mitchell. Linares is a great technician to watch, he'd have been a star if the sport if he had some whiskers. No idea what's left in the tank, but if he can produce anything like the ability he's shown in the past, Mitchell will need to knock him out... Perfectly possible but I won't be shouting from the roof tops if he does.

"Mitchell will need to knock him out"

We'll see............

... ok, i forgot where the fight was being held

... It's not ok,

Linares' skill level is amazing he is a dream to watch, but it only takes a half decent shot to put him over. Give him some power and a chin we'd be looking at a top 5 P4Per no question.

Oh and you can put your house on Kameda beating McDonnell. Poor lad... Gonna take a tonking in there.