After the late cancellation of of the IBF Flyweight title bout that was scheduled on this weekend's Sport Events Steinforth card we are left with just a sole title fight in Europe this weekend as German Robert Stieglitz (45-3, 26) defends his WBO Super Middleweight title for the second time. The often over-looked Stieglitz will be facing the relatively unknown and totally unheralded Nigerian Isaac Ekpo (22-1, 16), AKA the Grenade.
Whilst the bout is the highest profile contest in Europe this weekend it's also one that appears to be relatively one sided with Stieglitz being a genuinely solid competitor. He's not a massive puncher but at his best he's a force to be reckoned with. He posses solid speed, solid technique and a fantastic work rate that he can see him grinding down opponents with volume rather than power.
Although Stieglitz isn't the most durable of fighters, having been stopped in 2 of his 3 losses, he has matured into a tougher fighter both mentally and physically. He's learned to take shots better and no longer seems to a fighter with worries. Sure he's not real competition for someone like Andre Ward or Carl Froch but he'd give pretty much anyone else in the division a genuinely tough days work.
Plenty is known about Stieglitz. We've all seen him fighting notable opponents including Librado Andrade and Arthur Abraham and we've also seen his in ring maturity. A lot less is known about Ekpo who has been a professional since 2005 though has never fought outside of Africa or fought a notable name. In fact in his 23 fight career it's hard to find anyone of any note on his record.
What is known about Ekpo is that he's unbeaten in the last 5 years and is actually on a 17 fight winning streak with 12 of those coming via stoppage. He's certainly got power, at least at the lower level, though questions are out there regarding whether or not he'll manage to connect again a better level of opponent or whether or not it'll have an effect at this level. My feeling is that it won't.
In fact my guess in regards to this bout is that Ekpo will miss regularly and be countered in return, slowly being broken down before being stopped in the late rounds of the bout.
Prediction- Stieglitz TKO8
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