Scotland’s Best Return to the SSE Hydro, Glasgow
By: Oliver McManus
Cyclone Promotions continue their whistle-stop rise of ‘The Tartan Tornado’, Josh Taylor, who defends his WBC Silver Super Lightweight title against Winston Campos following the withdrawal of, original opponent, Humberto Soto.
Taylor comes off the back of a sensational 2017 that saw him defend his Commonwealth title against Warren Joubert, fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, DEMOLISH the hype train of Ohara Davies and prove his mettle in the toughest of tests as he rallied his army of fans ahead of his bid to become the GREATEST Scottish boxer of all time.
The distinguished amateur already looks super technically with exemplary footwork able to see him, quite literally, jump around the canvas as he avoids the shots coming his way – good movement is often the forgotten skill of a boxer because, after all , if you can’t get hit you can’t get sparked out!
With 10 of his 11 wins coming by way of knockout including Davies’ devastating demolition, last July, knock-out power of the highest order is an obvious gift for the 27 year old but I’d like to see him really work the combination shots against Campos for, as much as anything, preparation for his inevitable step-up to World title level.
Campos provides a completely different challenge, stylistically, to Soto with the most prevalent difference being his southpaw stance – it’ll be interesting to see how Taylor handles this, with his in-your-face style susceptible to walking onto the punches of a southpaw.
On the back of a 14 win streak, admittedly against dull opposition (including two opponents, back-to-back, TWICE), El Zurdo captured the WBA Fedcaribe title in December with a wide points decision (oddly over nine rounds) against Galvis Guerra.
This will be his first fight outside of his home country for some five years and, with that, his first step up in quality in just as long – unfortunately for the 25 year old, it’s set to be a miserable flight home with Taylor expected to dispatch the South American with relative ease.
On the undercard Chantelle Cameron looks to defend her world title as she battles it out with Myriam Dellal for the IBO Lightweight title – Cameron possesses an unblemished record at 5-0 and looked at her scintillating best last December against Viviane Obenauf, forcing her Brazilian opponent to retire at the end of the sixth.
Obenauf had previously gone the distance with Katie Taylor so for Wham Bam Chan to blast the 15 fight veteran out of the ring in such impressive fashion demonstrates clearly the necessary skills of an elite level boxer.
In Dellal she faces an experienced veteran of the women’s game, having been a professional for 10 years and mixing it with the cream of the crop on many an occasion – Delfine Persoon and Maiva Hamadouche to name just two. Hailing from France, the 39 year old will need to be on the top of her game to stop the unmissable ascent of Chantelle Cameron.
Moving back to the Super Lightweight division then where we find a tasty clash for the Commonwealth title between, Edinburgh’s own, Jason Easton and Glenn Foot, a feisty warrior from Sunderland.
Foot was most recently in action on the undercard of Liam Smith-Liam Williams 2 when he pushed, hot prospect, Josh Leather the full 12 rounds, dropping him in the second and, for many, winning the fight. Nonetheless the leaves didn’t crunch for him and a narrow points decision saw him on the losing end.
Despite the loss, Foot showed he was far from done with the industry and is far from an easy opponent from Easton who’s yet to be in with a real livewire of an opponent. For Foot the key is to impose himself early on, get in the face of Easton and don’t let him settle.
Unbeaten Easton has a record of 11 wins with no defeats and has the likes of Steve Jamoye, Josef Zahradnik and Zoltan Szabo on his resume – the deceptively gangly (in a good way) fighter moves with confidence, commanding the centre of the ring before unleashing pure power in his right hand. A real phonebox fight in the making, BRING IT ON.
Also fighting on the bill are Charlie Flynn and Iain Trotter, both fighting in title fights, who’ll look to make it five titles in one night for the best of Cyclone’s talents ahead of what could be a stellar year for the fledgling promotion company – Martin Bakole Ilunga, Lee McGregor and Joe Ham also fight on what promises to be a simply sumptuous night of championship boxing.
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