Is this the year of the underdog?

What a great line up of boxing matches we have got over the next couple of months! In January, outside Khan v Bradley and the Super Six, I couldn't see any decent competitive 50-50 fight happening this year. I had never been so disillusioned with the sport, and I definitely didn't see all of these great fights happening. Fights that get real boxing fans talking, a real divide on who they think is going to win a fight. What a fantastic turnaround, and fair play especially to British promoters who are finally taking risks and have got the buzz back into boxing again. In a lot of these fights, to me it doesn't matter who wins. I'm just glad that we are going to find out who the best man is.

Now it is a common saying that the bookies don't often get it wrong, but in a few of the fights coming up, I really think they and the boxing public have got it wrong just like Groves v Degale. Here are the fights where I'm predicting the underdog to cause a stunning upset - I'd be interested to hear what you all think, and if there are any other fights that we have coming up where the underdog will be king.

Alvarez v Rhodes - Saul Alvarez is one of the most hyped fighters in the world right now and comparing his progress to other fighters of his age, he is doing rather well. But I think Golden Boy are overestimating his achievements to date. I've seen a few Alvarez fights, including the one where Cotto gave him all sorts of problems. And against Matthew Hatton, I was amazed Alvarez didn't get Hatton out of there considering how much bigger he was. And I was even more stunned about how many clean shots Hatton managed to get through, there was virtually no head movement. Alvarez cannot afford to take that many shots from Rhodes, who is undefeated at light middleweight and has fought at middleweight. Rhodes is a lot bigger than any opponent Alvarez has faced and I think he's in for a real shock. The strategy for Rhodes has got to be on the back foot - make him miss, make him pay. When Rhodes counters, Alvarez won't walk through the way he did with Hatton. And while Rhodes may be slightly older than we would like, I think his experience will help him cope with the fight being in Mexico. With judges sanctioned by a world governing body, I'd like to think he will get a fair shot too.

Haye v Klitschko - I have a lot of respect for Wlad's achievements, and he has done very well dispatching opponents with minimum fuss for the last 6 years but I think he is in for a nightmare against Haye. Wlad has height, weight, reach advantages and a defence that is hard to get past but this is David Haye; someone who doesn't fight often enough but is as Jim Watt said a "world class warrior". Haye has lightening speed, knock out power with both hands, good reflexes and head movement and what makes him so dangerous is that he will hit Wlad with shots that Wlad won't see coming. Add to that, he has the master tactician in his corner the Dark Lord himself. I've rated Adam Booth as one of the more astute men in boxing for years, so the credit he is getting now is long overdue. Wlad sees boxing as a game of chess, Haye sees it as a fight with skill and when the going gets tough, I think Haye has the stronger mentality to come through it. This is not going to be a toe to toe war. Haye's plan will also be on the back foot trying to get Wlad to miss with the jab, force him to lean forward more than usual and then counter. And I for one think Haye will get the job done.

Murray v Mitchell - I can't see how Murray is favourite for this fight. Murray's best win was against a near shot Thaxton. Mitchell has been in with Johansson and Bredis Prescott. I know Kevin let his fans down badly against Katsidis by not preparing properly, which Jimmy Tibbs had complained about before the fight, but this is Mitchell in last chance saloon and if he is not up for this, he never will be. If the Mitchell that turned up against Prescott is the one we've got on 9 July, and all the noises from the camp suggest it is going to be, he is going to have too much boxing ability for Murray. Don't forget this is a guy that a lot of us (including me) were saying might have too much for Amir Khan 18 months ago, thats how good Mitchell can be. Murray is a Ricky Hatton wannabe. A guy who tries so hard to be a pressure fighter and an attraction that he asks to get hit, and this is why we see him in trouble against novices like his last fight. He has ignored his defence for too long and he is going to pay for it here. Murray does not have the physical strength of a Ricky Hatton or Michael Katisidis to win at world level. A fit and focussed Mitchell wins this by knock out.

Fury v Chisora - Another classic example for me of how the Frank Warren PR machine has convinced the boxing world that Chisora is something which he isn't...yet (much like Degale). Just because he had the guts to sign up for Wlad (twice!) does not mean that he was in any way ready for him. I like Del Boy, but too many of his fights have been against poor or shot opposition. His best win was arguably last time against Sam Sexton. And he showed a lot of skill that night, good head movement, technique etc. But the 1 thing I notice about Del Boy is I don't think he has a lot of power. By contrast, Fury has blown hot and cold during his career. But overall he has been matched against tougher and more durable opponents. And he had his scare against John McDermott, a man that Fury destroyed in the rematch with a bit of style. Chisora hasn't yet had that complacency smashed out of him. For me, Chisora is a victim of Warren's overly cautious match making and, just like Degale v Groves, this is too big a jump against Fury who is hungry and battle hardened.