This past Saturday saw Psaul Spadafora eventually suffering the first defeat of his career. The "Pittsburgh Kid" simply fought on too long and fought someone too good to only be a shadow of their former self.
On man hoping to avoid the same fate as Spadafora will be Indonesia's Chris John (48-0-3, 22) who looks to defend his "Super" WBA Featherweight title this Friday in Australia. The long time unbeaten Indonesian, who has been accused of fighting poor challengers throughout his career, will this week be facing premier level challenger in the form of Simpiwe Vetyeka (25-2, 15).
John, the holder of one of the most impressive records in the sport and one of the longest title reigns, is a fighter who at his best sensational. He had great handspeed, every punch in the book, fantastic movement and the ability to unload some lovely combinations. As he's aged he's slowed however and his speed has gone, the legs have slowed and he's been forced to fight more in the pocket.
Against fighters like Shoji Kimura, Stanyslav Merdov and Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo we've seen John get away with fighting in the pocket due to his superior skill-set and ability. Against Satoshi Hosono however John was being dragged into a fight he didn't want, prior the the unsatisfying conclusion to the bout.
I feel that if the Hosono fight had reached a natural conclusion we'd have seen John needing to dig as deep as he's ever dug to have kept a hold of his title. That might be because I rate Hosono highly, but I'm not sure if that's all it is.
If I can be accused of rating Hosono highly then the same accusation can also be sent to me regarding Simpiwe Vetyeka. The South African has impressed me in both of his profile bouts, both of which were in Asia.
The first major bout for Vetyeka saw him dropping a narrow decision to the WBC Bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa. He pushed Hasegawa hard, took the best shots of the Japanese fighter and really give him hell. Vetyeka built on that result earlier this year when he stopped the teak tough Daud Cino Yordan, John's countryman.
Vetyeka has proven that he's tough, skilled, fast and technically very solid all round. He moves excellently, has a hard stiff and yet quick jab, the ability to fire his jab off whilst moving and really he's a very, very accomplished fighter. Not the sort of fighter John should be viewing as a patsy.
For me it's the movement and speed of Vetyeka which will actually see the upset occur. Vetyeka will refuse to trade in the pocket early rather sticking to his boxing and movement to allow him to rack up rounds with clever boxing. By round 8 or 9 he'll slow down and mix it on the inside though by then John will need a knockdown or two to retain. He'll not get any.
For the second successive week I think we'll see a long unbeaten run broken by a younger and fresher fighter.
Prediction-Vetyeka by Split Decision
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