HUMBERTO GUTIERREZ vs VITALI TAJBERT

Styles make fights, they say, and this precept could apply in Saturday’s featherweight title fight on the big Universum show in Germany when Mexico’s Humberto Gutierrez defends his WBC 130-pound title against Vitali Tajbert, the German former amateur star.

Tajbert failed in his first attempt to win this title when he was outpointed by Sergey Gulyakevich last December. The tall, rangy fighter from Belarus was too strong and too busy for Tajbert.

Then, in his first title defence, Gulyakevich was outpointed by Gutierrez in a gruelling fight in Mexico.

On form, then, Gutierrez has to be favoured against Tajbert.

This is where styles come into it, though.

Gutierrez is a capable fighter, a good puncher with either hand from his southpaw stance, and he is taller than the German boxer, but he doesn’t bring the intense pressure that Tajbert had to contend with in the fight with Gulyakevich. Tajbert might be able to score points with his quick, hit-and-get-away style of boxing.

It is probably fair to say that Tajbert has been a disappointment as a professional. He looked classy on the international amateur circuit, winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics and capturing a European championships gold medal and a world championships silver.

His lack of serious punching power has been a drawback in his professional career, though. He is always going to have trouble with the type of fighters who bring fast pressure and throw a high volume of punches, such as Gulyakevich. From what I have seen of Gutierrez, though, he is more of a counter puncher. He is dangerous with either the left hand through the middle or the southpaw right hook, and he hurt Gulyakevich in their fight, early and late, but he isn't a fierce aggressor.

I thought that Gulyakevich’s technique somewhat fell apart in that fight. He knew he was behind after being deducted two points early — one for losing his mouthpiece for the third time, another under the WBC’s head-clash rule when Gutierrez was cut from a collision — and it seemed to me that he went all-out for the stoppage, missing wildly at times and running into punches. Still, the sheer strength and desperation of the man from Belarus had Gutierrez under siege in the later rounds, and it might have been only the passionate support of the Mexican crowd that kept the weary challenger in the fight.

This time, Gutierrez is away from home. He can fight, but I don’t think he has ever met anyone as quick and as elusive as Tajbert. Gutierrez has the power to hurt Tajbert at any moment, though. Tajbert is going to have to gauge things exactly right. If Tajbert is to pull off the upset he will have to box a perfect, disciplined, total-concentration fight.

I can see one of those chess-match, nip-and-tuck fights unfolding here, and I think that Tajbert can win this type of contest. He will have to get in and score and slip away, never staying in one place for too long, and look to edge in front and hopefully steal a decision, to “nick it” as they say in the U.K. I think that Tajbert can do this. Despite the form book’s evidence to the contrary, I’m leaning towards Tajbert to box his way to a narrow but deserved win.