ASHLEY SEXTON vs USMAN AHMED

There’s a fascinating flyweight fight on the same show as Friday’s Napa-McDonnell bout in England when unbeaten Ashley Sexton meets Usman Ahmed, who was game and spirited when losing to Chris Edwards in a British flyweight title bout last May.

Edwards was too physically strong and too experienced for Ahmed, but it wasn’t quite the mismatch that the wide scores suggested. Ahmed kept fighting back, and there were moments when through sheer defiance he was winning exchanges. At times Edwards looked like overpowering him, but Ahmed wouldn’t give in.

On Friday Ahmed is boxing a different type of fighter in “Flash Ash” Sexton, who is a smart, crisp boxer, not the Chris Edwards bulldog-type fighter. Ahmed, who is fast and busy, might have more success against Sexton.

I am a long way from home base this week (just experiencing life outside of boxing for a while) and without access to all my source material I cannot be as solid in my opinions as I would like to be. My feelings about this English title 10-rounder are that Sexton is the better fighter and the puncher in the fight. I have been impressed with what I have seen of Sexton. He has the more impressive amateur background and I like his confident and enthusiasm approach to the game. He says that the better the opponent, the better he will perform. (Don Broadhurst said much the same and he was somewhat exposed by Lee Haskins, but Broadhurst was meeting a much more experienced fighter with a tricky style.)

Sexton, in short, should win this fight. The bout on paper looks sure to go the full distance, but an improving fighter such as Sexton could make a statement with a rather more emphatic type of result. I expect Sexton to win, with a chance of a stoppage in eight or nine rounds. It all depends on whether Sexton can raise his performance to the next level and if, indeed, the better class of opponent brings the best out of him.