WBA Cruiserweight title action sees former champion Guillermo Jones (?-?) attempt to recapture his old belt from Russian Denis Lebedev (?-?) in a bout that has been made...and than cancelled more often than Floyd Mayweather Jr has "taken vacations".
Now aged 41 years old what Jones has left is a bit of a mystery. He's looked good in his most recent fights stopping Firat Arslan, Valery Brudov and Michael Marrone but those bouts span almost 5 years and it really is a mystery as to what he has left in him.
At his best Jones was a tricky customer. He was big, powerful, fast, slippery and managed to land an amazing number of sneaky shots. He could look lazy but yet effective, clumsy but yet intelligent and hurt yet teak tough. In fact Jones has one of those styles which never looks good but also never lets his opponents look much good either.
Although Jones is 3-1-2 in world title fights many feel that he should be 6-0, his draws with Jhonny Nelson and Laurent Boudouani (who he also lost to) were all highly controversial and all came away from home. Even though he has had bad fortune on the road he's proven he isn't adverse to fighting away and has won fights in Venezuela, the USA and most notably German (where he stopped Arslan).
At "just" 33 years old Lebedev, the home fighter for this bout is significantly younger than the challenger though is also less experienced in terms of both professional bouts and professional rounds. Despite his relative inexperience Lebedev has proven to be a world class fighter mixing it with Enzo Maccarinelli, Alexander Alekseev and Marco Huck amongst others, with only Huck managing to score a victory over him (albeit controversially).
Lebedev is a small, powerful Cruiserweight who hits like a truck, uses very under-rated boxing skills and has an excellent killer instinct. He's shown a bit too much respect in some fights, notably his bout with Roy Jones, though when he lets his hands go he's a destructive force able to break bones and out man the tough men of the division.
Although Lebedev isn't one of the big names in world boxing he is one of the sports most genuinely exciting fighters. His power brings excitement, his toughness brings action and overall it's always a joy to watch him in a bout. This time around though he could be in for a tough night as he gives away an astonishing 5" in height.
The height difference between the two men will be drastic and a major disadvantage for Lebedev, who is a big betting favourite. In terms of skills it'd be fair to say that Jones is the more skilled man, Lebedev the more powerful, both are tough and both are proven and whilst the size is clearly an advantage for Jones the age is a clear disadvantage.
Prime for prime I'd have to go with Jones though now, with too many questions surrounding him I have to go with Lebedev who is fresher and won't have the ring rust or just general rust of Jones.
Prediction-Lebedev TKO10
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