BILLY DIB vs ZOLANI MARALI

There are those who feel that Australia’s Billy “The Kid” Dib is destined for stardom on the world stage. Others are somewhat sceptical. What is beyond doubt is that the unbeaten Dib is one of Australia’s brightest prospects, and on Wednesday he has the chance to show his potential in a meaningful fight when he meets South African Zolani Marali for the vacant IBO junior lightweight title.

This is a real test for Dib. Although each boxer has had 20 bouts, Marali (19 wins, one loss) has been boxing for much longer than the Australian and at 31 has the look of a competent veteran.

I would say that this is Dib’s toughest test yet, but his backers appear to be supremely confident. The knowledgeable and seasoned Aussie trainer Johnny Lewis has been brought on board to fine-tune the 22-year-old Dib. Lewis told Australian reporter Grantlee Kieza that he is very confident that big things are going to happen for Dib. “He just oozes class with his boxing ability and just has to improve in a few areas to be a genuine world-beater,” Lewis said.

Marali, meanwhile, also has a highly successful and experienced trainer in Nick Durandt, while his promoter, Rodney Berman, had a winner in Australia when Isaac Hlatshwayo gave welterweight prospect Robert Medley his first loss last year — and then beat him in a rematch in April.

I have seen a few of Dib’s fights, on site and on video. He is certainly fast and flashy, with the unorthodox moves of Naseem Hamed — not surprising as he admits he has patterned his style on the colourful featherweight.

Dib tends to hold his head high and his hands low, but he is so quick and elusive, with such good reflexes, that he can get away with it. He isn’t what you would call a big puncher but he can overwhelm opponents with a high volume of punches that seem to come from all angles.

Yet while Dib is a showboater, he has grit, as he demonstrated when he won a split decision over the tough Edgar Vargas last March. Jeered by the Mexican contingent at Cabazon, California, Dib rallied when under pressure and landed a lot of punches in the ninth round to tip the fight in his favour.

Dib’s best win might have been his widely scored points victory over the durable and dangerous Rogers Mtagwa, when one judge gave the Australian every round. Mtagwa is a solid, capable fighter but he was frustrated by Dib’s movement.

Dib is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in the U.S., and company representative Shane Mosley flew out to Australia in a show of support. There is an air of celebration about the fight, but Marali naturally will be hoping to spoil the party.

I have only seen Marali once, when he surprisingly quit after eight rounds against his fellow-South African Thomas Mashaba four years ago. Marali, a rangy southpaw, won most of the early rounds but seemed to run out of gas and basically folded under Mashaba’s pressure. He has since said that he was unwell that night.

Marali has boxed in the 122-pound division for most of his career and has only been a 130-pounder for two bouts. He doesn’t seem to be very durable; he took a knee in the Mashaba fight, suffered a couple of knockdowns in a South African title bout in 2004 and was heavily dropped by a Colombian named Hevinson Herrera. On a positive note, he has shown that he can overcome adversity.

It appears that Marali can be inconsistent, but he boxed well in his last fight when he dominated and stopped a game but outclassed South African rival named Godfrey Nzimande.

I think that Marali’s height and southpaw stance can set Dib some problems, but the South African will never have faced anyone quite like Dib, who seems to be here, there and everywhere, switching from the orthodox to the southpaw stance and back again, darting in and out and generally leading his opponents a dance.

Marali seems to be a clever boxer — he calls himself “The Untouchable” — but Dib is naturally bigger, having fought his whole career at 130 pounds, and I think the Australian boxer will be much the speedier of the two men.

This is the sort of fight where Marali might find himself losing rounds while he tries to figure out how to catch Dib. Marali seems to be an intelligent fighter, but Dib does such unexpected, freewheeling, improvisational things in the ring that the South African might struggle to solve the puzzle. The other possibility is that Marali just might have sufficient ability and experience to time Dib for the southpaw jab and nail him with left hands and right hooks.

I do think that Marali is a step up from anyone else Dib has fought. The site helps Dib and the fight has been made for him to win, but we have seen a lot of favourites lose their unbeaten records in 2008 — more, in fact, than in any year that I can remember.

I am anticipating a Dib victory, but I make Marali a live underdog. If Dib breezes through this fight he will have made a believer out of me.