SEBASTIAN ZBIK vs DOMENICO SPADA

Sebastian Zbik barely defeated Domenico Spada last July, and the Italian boxer gets a much deserved rematch for the WBC interim middleweight title on Saturday’s big show in Magdeburg. As ever in return bouts, the question will be which boxer can improve most on his previous performance.

In the first meeting, Spada was tough and aggressive while Zbik moved and countered and, it must be said, did a considerable amount of clinching to slow down Spada’s charge.

It was a very close fight, with Zbik winning by one point on all three judges’ cards. One judge gave Spada the 12th, the other two had the round even. If all three judges had scored the 12th in Spada’s favour, the fight would have been a draw.

Zbik made some nice moves, making Spada miss and blocking a lot of the Italian’s punches. The German boxer was the more precise, with Spada getting wild with his punches, missing and getting frustrated. It seemed to me that Spada was looking very strong at the midway point in the fight and Zbik used something of a punch and hold style in the later rounds. Zbik did seem to hurt Spada with a right uppercut in the 11th but Spada fought the harder of the two in 12th although I noted at the time that “Z.’s clinching shuts him down somewhat.”

Spada made a bit of a commotion when he came face to face with Zbik at a press conference this week, promising to win by a knockout. Zbik asserts that he wasn’t at his best last time, having undergone an eardrum operation that limited his preparation time. He says that this time he will be much better.

I think that Spada fought to the limit of his ability last time and I doubt if he can improve on that showing. There is a quiet confidence about Zbik, and I don’t like it when a fighter gets confrontational with his opponent and starts making fairly outrageous comments the way that Spada did this week — they usually lose. Another long, competitive fight looks likely but I am expecting Zbik to be better prepared and box his way to a points win.