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Danny Green takes on Antonio Tarver tomorrow with the weigh-in today. However, the bout includes a very strong undercard with some big boxing match-ups.
Shane Cameron vs Dominic Vea (12 rounds, Commonwealth cruiserweight title)
This fight I’m almost looking forward to as much as the main event. Cameron is finally fighting opponents his own size having campaigned at heavyweight for much of his career.
With his workmanlike style of fighting it was always going to be hard for him to compete against boxers who had a natural size advantage over him.
His opponent, Dominic Vea, is one of the more entertaining fighters in Australia at the moment. His fight with Oscar Siale was one of the better domestic fights in recent times and his fights with Anthony McCracken and Daniel Ammann were also wars.
The styles of these fighters makes for an exciting matchup. Both like to come forward and while Vea relies more on his power, Cameron is a solid boxer who can also punch.
Vea has a cast iron chin and while Cameron has been knocked out twice in his career, both losses were at heavyweight and one of them was against former heavyweight title challenger David Tua who has been one of the hardest hitters in heavyweight boxing.
This fight will likely be fought on the inside and both men like to work up close which should make for a great battle.
The two big advantages I think Cameron has in this fight are his experience and his conditioning. Vea often slows in the later rounds of fights and his work rate drops to single shots while Cameron has had more fights and been longer in fights against quality opponents.
Vea can land early and do some damage, with an early knockout on the cards, but if Cameron can get through the first half of the fight without taking too much damage, he should control the second-half of the fight with his work rate.
This is a big fight for both men though. A win for Cameron possibly sets up a showdown with Green should he win and the payday that goes with it.
Naoufel Ben Rabah vs Isaac Hlatshwayo (12 rounds, welterweight)
2000 Ugandan Olympian Naoufel Ben Rabah has based himself out of Australia during his professional career and while Hlatshwayo is South African, he is very well known to Australian fight fans having twice fought Rob Medley in Australia.
Rabah had two shots at the IBF junior welterweight title back in 2006 and 2007, the second of those a much anticipated fight with Lovemore N’Dou. Hlatshwayo recently held the IBF welterweight title, but lost that title in December 2009 to Jan Zeveck.
He’s an experienced fighter who has wins over former Nate Campbell and Delvin Rodriguez as well as the two over Medley.
This is an interesting fight. Rabah has built himself slowly back up since the 2007 loss to N’Dou and Hlatshwayo has only fought once since his recent loss.
This is a good crossroads fight for both fighters. Both guys have good hand and foot speed and solid punching power and the difference in the fight will probably come down to who has the better defence.
This fight is likely going the 12 round distance should both men come in at their best.
It probably won’t be as entertaining for the casual fan as Vea-Cameron or the main fight but it’s a solid matchup and will be entertaining for the more hardcore boxing fans.
Pieter Cronje vs Mohammed Azzaoui (6 rounds, cruiserweight)
South African born Cronje now calls Perth home and competes for the second time at the cruiserweight limit having fought most of his career at heavyweight. Cronje has been in with some of the better heavyweights in Australia, going 10 rounds with Alex Leapai and twice beating Colin Wilson.
Azzaoui represented his native Algeria at the 2000 Olympics and now fights out of New Zealand.
Azzaoui is by far the more experienced boxer having fought at the Olympics as well as for the WBO cruiserweight title against Enzo Maccaranelli, a fight that took place on the Joe Calzaghe vs Mikkel Kessler super middleweight unification fight in 2007.
If the fight were over a longer distance I’d give Cronje a greater chance and this is a hard fight to call, but I think Azzaoui can use his speed and skills well over the six rounds and provided he avoids the power of Cronje, he should win a close decision.
Sam Ah See vs John Akaoula (4 rounds, welterweight)
Welterweight prospect Sam Ah See will have his fourth professional bout and look for his fourth first round knockout
win.
His opponent John Akaoula (4 wins 5 losses 2 draws) is better then his record suggests, having competed against fighters with more experience then himself. Akaoula might last a round or two but will do well to last the four against the power of his opponent.
As far as undercards go this is a very good one. It’s not the usual rubbish that is often shown on Australian pay per view cards. There’s two fights on here that are better then the usual Friday Night Fight main events which are the sort of matchups you want if you’re paying $50 to watch it on pay per view.
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