King Khan conqueror Breidis Prescott will attempt to knock out another U.K. Junior Welterweight
On September 10, 2011, Prescott and McCloskey will meet in a WBA junior welterweight title eliminator fight that should turn out to be a good fight given Prescott’s power and McCloskey’s slicker and more defensive boxing. This fight will take place at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Both fighters will benefit immensely with a win as the prize will probably be facing off against the ever so tough and dangerous Marcos “El Chino” Maidana for the WBA junior welterweight crown at stake.
Long term, a win for Prescott can not only get him another title shot, but also inch him closer to yet another showdown with his old friend and one of the best junior welterweights in the world, Amir Khan. As for McCloskey, a win would increase his status as one of the best in the division given that his only lost was to the best in the division, Amir Khan. Of course, McCloskey would also love to angle himself towards another shot at Khan.
Tale of the Tape
Paul “Dudey” McCloskey is 32 years old, with a great professional boxing record consisting of 22 wins, 1 loss, and 12 wins coming by way of knockout. He stands at 5 feet 8 and one half inches tall, fighting out of the southpaw stance.
Breidis Prescott is 28 years old and he also has a great professional boxing record consisting of 24 wins, 2 losses, and 19 wins coming by way of knockout. He stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall, fighting out of the orthodox stance.
Paul McCloskey vs. Breidis Prescott Preview
Irishman Paul McCloskey is a defensive fighter known for his good counterpunching boxing skills. He has a good amateur background as a three-time Irish champion, and a five-time senior Ulster champion as a lightweight. He did not, however, qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
After that missed opportunity, McCloskey turned professional in 2005 and won all of his fights up until his last fight against Amir Khan by outboxing most of his opponents en route to a lot of unanimous decision victories.
In his last fight, McCloskey challenged Khan, and Khan’s unbelievable speed and combinations overwhelmed him for the entire fight. The fight ended up being stopped in the sixth round due to an unintentional clash of heads by the two fighters which left a cut above the eye of McCloskey. Khan was awarded the sixth round technical decision.
Breidis Prescott is currently a light welterweight contender. The Columbian born Prescott is known for his devastating punching power, which was of course best demonstrated against Khan. It was his 54 second destruction of the then undefeated lightweight Khan that put him on the scene and dented Khan’s hopes at the time. Prescott knocked down King Khan twice with devastating left hooks en route to the upset first round knockout victory.
McCloskey vs. Prescott Prediction
This is one of those fights where the winner could sneak up on the boxing world and become a big name regardless of their record against the elite, because of their excitement value and penchant for potential upset wins.
McCloskey has all of the technical boxing skills to keep the powerful Prescott off of him. I expect for McCloskey to stay behind his defense and jab and use to whole ring to avoid those big punches that Prescott can land.
All of Prescott’s knockout victories have come inside of five rounds, so if a knockout is going to take place, this fight will not last long. I do not feel that Prescott has the boxing skills to outpoint McCloskey, so he’ll need that early KO if he’s going to win. If McCloskey gets into a war with Prescott, it will be a short night for Mr. Dudey. This is where my heart lies for this fight given that a Prescott win can possibly set up a potential Khan fight, a rematch some boxing fans have been very interested in. My head though says that McCloskey will run the whole night and box Prescott, while avoiding the big shots, and he will outpoint Prescott.
In my opinion, this can be considered a toss-up fight given the two styles, but I’ll take McCloskey’s superior skill-set to win the day.
Prediction: Paul McCloskey by twelve round unanimous decision.
