IAN NAPA vs JAMIE McDONNELL

It can be risky looking too far ahead, in boxing and in life. Ian Napa is lined up to challenge for the vacant European bantamweight title but he first makes a defence of his British championship against Jamie McDonnell on Friday, and one hopes he is focused on the immediate task at hand because if he isn’t there could be a problem.

McDonnell is the clear underdog, but he is a tall, competent boxer who is on a bit of a winning run after losing narrowly to Lee Haskins, the British champion at 115 pounds.

Napa is the more experienced man and the superior technician, but he is giving away height and reach – as usual – and McDonnell is in one of those all-to-win, nothing-to-lose situations,

In a previous title bid, in the super flyweight class, McDonnell came close to beating the strong and industrious Chris Edwards. McDonnell seemed in control of the fight in the middle rounds but was outworked in the closing stages. He now knows he can go 12 hard rounds and I think he will be hard to beat in this his second title attempt.

I do feel, though, that Napa is at the stage of his career where he knows he can’t afford another slip after a lacklustre display when he was outpointed by Malik Bouziane last March. Napa was focused and sharp when he outpointed the hard-hitting Gary Davies in their British title bout in October.

Although Napa’s record suggests that he lacks serious hitting power, he had Davies wobbling from some solid right-hand shots. Napa also hurt the Belgian Carmelo Ballone, dropping him with a body shots. He can make opponents miss and hit them with well-timed punches but he usually can’t get the other man out of the fight. His only stoppage win came when Lee Haskins suffered an arm injury. Is Napa “due” another stoppage win, perhaps? It isn’t likely but I consider it a possibility.

McDonnell has the textbook ability to extend Napa but the 31-year-old champion should be too good and too experienced for him. I can picture Napa taking control of the fight and getting in the right hand consistently with his James Toney-like roll-away-and-counter style. I see a win on points by Napa as the probable outcome, but if he is in top form there is, I think, just a chance that he can pull away from McDonnell in the later rounds and punish him sufficiently to gain an unlikely stoppage win.

Note: This preview was written away from base.