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Luke Campbell vs Tommy Coyle: Danny Garcia vs Paul Malignaggi and Ricky Burns vs Prince Ofotsu - Boxing on TV this weekend

A stacked card in Hull lead this weekend's action

Martin Hines
Friday 31 July 2015 16:16 BST
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Luke Campbell with his Olympic gold medal at London 2012
Luke Campbell with his Olympic gold medal at London 2012 (Getty Images)

From the Rumble in the Jungle to the Rumble on the… Humber, the first boxing televised card of the weekend emanates from Hull where Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle fight for local bragging rights.

After a cringeworthy build-up which has taken more inspiration from WWE than real life, the two men will finally meet in the ring for the vacant WBC International lightweight title.

One of Britain’s most successful amateur boxers after winning gold medals at both the European Championships and the London 2012 Olympic Games, Campbell has made a smooth transition into the professional ranks with 11 clinical victories.

A former amateur gym partner of Campbell, Tommy Coyle’s professional career has been a touch more bumpy, but he has achieved a creditable 21-2 record over his five year career.

Coyle’s two defeats came against Gary Sykes in a 2012 Prizefighter match, and Derry Matthews who memorably knocked him out a year later.

Despite his sparkling amateur career, Campbell has yet to face top opposition as a professional, although he did defeat Daniel Eduardo Brizuela in five rounds last October, an opponent who narrowly lost to Coyle earlier that year.

Brizuela dropped Coyle four times in their meeting before being controversially stopped in the 12th round, and punch resistance is a major flaw in Coyle’s game, as he has been stunned or dropped in many of his most high profile fights.

Although not a concussive puncher, Campbell has stopped nine of his 11 opponents, with the majority of his power coming from the speed of his shots.

Tommy Coyle celebrates his win over Martin Gethin back in March (GETTY IMAGES)

Coyle does have plenty of heart though, which means if he is dropped it’s more than likely he will grit his teeth and return to action with plenty of intent.

The odds reflect the overall gulf in quality, with Campbell a wide favourite at 1/9, and Coyle available at 8/1.

Chief support on the undercard is a light middleweight rematch between Blackpool’s Brian Rose, and America’s Carson Jones.

Previously a British champion and former world title challenger, Rose was stopped in round one by Jones in February, before issuing a televised temper tantrum which made Meek Mill look like Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski.

Jones is a veteran fighter who once took Kell Brook to the very limit, but motivation is a huge factor in his psyche, and if Rose can get a good start in the rematch, he should canter through and achieve a points win.

Also featuring in Hull is exciting heavyweight Dillian Whyte, who looks for his 15th consecutive victory over Irineu Beato Costa Junior.

Set for a mammoth showdown later this year with Anthony Joshua, this will be Whyte’s first fight under the tutelage of Wladimir Klitschko’s trainer Johnathon Banks, and he will be eager to make his mark against the Brazilian.

Matchroom fighters Ricky Burns, Gamal Yafai and Martin Joseph Ward will also compete on the undercard.

Garcia vs Paul Malignaggi, Saturday night 2.00am, BT Sport 1

Danny Garcia must be wondering where it all went wrong. 30-0 across an eight year career, the Philadelphia fighter carried a huge amount of hype on his shoulders after excellent victories over Amir Khan and Lucas Martin Matthysse, but his recent fights have seen him decried as a man unwilling to progress his career in a positive way.

A March 2014 homecoming over Mauricio Herrera almost turned into a disaster when he edged a narrow Majority Decision, before a two round blowout over the unknown Rod Salka five months later was met with disdain.

Then in April, Garcia controlled the first half of his bout with Lamont Peterson, before falling apart in the second half as he struggled to deal with the intensity and accuracy from Peterson.

Just as he has always achieved, Garcia managed to squeeze out a victory, and he is looking for win number 31 on Saturday night against Paul Malignaggi, who has only won once since October 2012 and has seemingly been on the verge of retirement for the past two years.

Put simply, if Garcia wins he surprises nobody. If Malignaggi emerges victorious, he’s beaten a guy who has been out of form for the past year.

In short, nobody wins so you might as well put some money on the underdog at 6/1.

An exciting WBA World middleweight title bout features as chief support where champion Danny Jacobs battles 33 fight veteran Sergio Mora.

Jacobs survived cancer midway through his career and returned to defeat Australia’s Jarrod Fletcher for the then vacant world title, while Mora is a former WBC light middleweight champion.

Payano vs Warren, Sunday night 2.00am, BoxNation

A rare Sunday show features live from Florida where Juan Carlos Payano defends his WBA Super World bantamweight title and competes for the vacant International Boxing Organization World bantamweight title against Rau'shee Warren.

Both undefeated fighters, 16-0 southpaw Payano won his WBA title against Anselmo Moreno last year, while 13-0 Warren makes a huge step up in his professional career.

A three-time Olympian and 2007 AIBA World Champion, Warren has failed to fully ignite in the paid ranks, but has the opportunity to earn two significant world honours if he can defeat the talented Payano.

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