GABRIEL CAMPILLO vs BEIBUT SHUMENOV

Rematches are especially intriguing when the result of the initial bout is in dispute. Such a rematch takes place in Las Vegas on Friday, with Fox Sports televising, when Spain’s Gabriel Campillo defends his WBA light-heavy title against Beibut Shumenov.

The first fight between them, on Shumenov’s home turf in Kazakhstan last August, was a close call, with Campillo winning by majority decision.

Shumenov is on home ground again on Friday, as he trains in Las Vegas. He has enlisted the services of veteran trainer and fitness expert Kevin Barry, who lives in Las Vegas and is best known for his long association with David Tua as manager and at times trainer of the heavyweight big hitter. Barry has expressed enthusiasm for Shumenov’s talent and work ethic and has high hopes for a reversal of fortune in Friday’s bout.

In the first meeting, Campillo was down in the ninth but dropped Shumenov in the 12th. The Spanish boxer won the fight with a strong finish: two of the judges had Campillo sweeping the last three rounds. The knockdown scored by Campillo in the last round gave him his slim margin of victory.

I haven’t seen a video of the first fight. It appears that Campillo was dropped heavily in round nine while a tiring Shumenov apparently went down from a body blow in the 12th.

The Shumenov side has released CompuBox statistics showing that their man landed more punches. Campillo’s trainer and manager, Ricardo Sanchez Atocha, responded this week, saying in an interview on Fightnews.com that Campillo in reality not only won soundly but had Shumenov on the verge of being stopped in the closing stages.

With each faction promising a decisive victory this time the scene is set for what should be a fiercely entertaining bout, one that is the highlight of a busy Friday night TV schedule.

The oddsmakers opened the fight at essentially even money, but the players like Shumenov, who has been bet up to a clear favourite.

I can understand this. The first fight was very close on the cards. With improved conditioning — which is where Kevin Barry comes in — Shumenov should, in theory, be able to finish strongly this time and thus turn the tables. I’m not so sure.

Shumenov has the amateur pedigree — he boxed in the 2004 Olympics — and he has been on a fast track as a professional, having challenged for the title in only his ninth bout. Campillo, though, is a smart southpaw who seemed to come almost from nowhere to shock Hugo Hernan Garay and capture the WBA title in Argentina last June.

I was very impressed with Campillo’s boxing ability and hand speed in the fight with Garay. He was giving the rugged Argentinean a pasting in the middle rounds after withstanding an early onslaught. A weary and probably weight-drained Garay made a last-ditch effort in the 12th but he had lost too many rounds.

Campillo is no stranger to boxing away from home. He beat the dangerous veteran Lolenga Mock in Denmark while his only two losses were in Ukraine and Germany respectively.

My one reservation about Campillo concerns his durability. He was knocked out by Vyacheslav Uzelkov in Kiev — in a fight he apparently was winning — and he was dropped by Mock (flash knockdown) and Shumenov. Still, he came back strongly after Shumenov floored him, and I think that at his core he is a true fighter.

Shumenov is the physically stronger, heavier handed fighter. He dominated everyone he met before meeting Campillo, including a widely scored points win over Montell Griffin although the 38-year-old former champion was at the end of his career and never boxed again. Shumenov easily outpointed former world title challenger Epifanio Mendoza and he showed impressive power when banging out the still-dangerous Byron Mitchell in four rounds, although the Kazakh was much the bigger man in that fight. I thought that Shumenov had a bit of a Carl Froch look about him in the Mitchell bout — strong and tough, hands low, very confident in his ability to hurt his opponent, explosive with bursts of punches but not what you could call an elegant fighter. Campillo strikes me as being more stylish and more of a smooth technician as well as being a bit faster and busier.

This is something of a boxer-puncher match. Campillo will be looking to get in his punches and get out, while Shumenov will be stalking him and seeking to land his more powerful blows. Shumenov can afford to make mistakes, because Campillo clearly is not a seriously hard hitter. Campillo will have to box one of those perfect (or near-perfect) fights because he is in the ring with a man who knocked him down in the last meeting and is capable of doing it again.

One thing I particularly like about Campillo is that he is accustomed to going the championship distance and he knows how to win rounds. His camp says that he encountered hostility in Kazakhstan; in Las Vegas Campillo might feel he is in more of a neutral setting even though Shumenov has the local connection.

I think that Campillo’s biggest danger in this fight will come if he gets too bold in his attempt to win beyond doubt and runs into a big shot. I’m going against the betting trend here.

If Campillo fights a steady, disciplined fight, ever-watchful, I think he can pick up enough points to run out a close winner again — but it is a selection made with considerable uncertainty.