Boxing
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Andy Morris says he is ready for action after being called up to fight Gary Sykes for the British Super Featherweight title in Huddersfield on 5th March. He told Hatton TV that he had wind that something like this might happen with Ricky Burns pulling out, so he has been preparing for facing Sykes for some time now.
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A well-matched domestic fight tops the bill on Sky Sports on Friday when undefeated Gary Sykes meets Andy Morris for the vacant British super featherweight title.
Each man was an ABA (English national) champion in the amateurs, while Morris won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal. Sykes will be on home ground at Huddersfield in Yorkshire but Morris is expected to have good support from his hometown of Manchester, which is only about 30 miles away.
Morris once seemed to be one of the rising stars of British boxing. He won the British featherweight title by soundly outpointing the capable John Simpson and then won a unanimous decision over unbeaten southpaw Rendall Munroe in a title defence. The Munroe win now looks an outstanding result considering Munroe’s European championship success in the super bantam division.
When Morris lost his title in a rematch with Simpson it was an unlucky defeat because he was winning the fight only to be stopped due to a cut over the eye in the fifth round.
Morris lost in alarming fashion in a third fight with Simpson, though, when he was knocked out in the seventh round. It was a fight in which Morris didn’t look anything like his normal classy self. It seems that Morris struggled to make the 126-pound limit, and he was inactive for 18 months before coming back as a 130-pounder. He has easily won three fights since his return to the ring.
Although Morris comes in as a substitute he was in training for another fight. Both boxers are 26, but Sykes has the look of slightly the fresher fighter, Morris more of the veteran.
Sykes gave an excellent performance last May when he outpointed Anthony Crolla in a British title eliminator. I was impressed with Sykes’s enthusiasm and energy. Sykes looked the stronger man and he had Crolla under heavy pressure in the fifth round. Crolla rallied, but Sykes finished the stronger fighter. He is a pressure fighter with good hand speed and he goes to the body well.
Morris is also a good body puncher, and at his best he is a classy boxer-fighter.
I make the odds dead-level in a fight that could go either way. Morris has fought at a higher level but Sykes has the confidence of an unbeaten fighter who has dominated everyone he has met with the possible exception of Anthony Crolla. I think that Morris at his best is probably a better all-around boxer than Sykes, but the crushing loss to Simpson concerns me.
Defeats such as that can take something out of a fighter, and even though Morris has come back well after his layoff he hasn’t face anyone with Sykes’s ability or workrate. Tentatively, I’m going with Sykes to win on points.
Each man was an ABA (English national) champion in the amateurs, while Morris won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal. Sykes will be on home ground at Huddersfield in Yorkshire but Morris is expected to have good support from his hometown of Manchester, which is only about 30 miles away.
Morris once seemed to be one of the rising stars of British boxing. He won the British featherweight title by soundly outpointing the capable John Simpson and then won a unanimous decision over unbeaten southpaw Rendall Munroe in a title defence. The Munroe win now looks an outstanding result considering Munroe’s European championship success in the super bantam division.
When Morris lost his title in a rematch with Simpson it was an unlucky defeat because he was winning the fight only to be stopped due to a cut over the eye in the fifth round.
Morris lost in alarming fashion in a third fight with Simpson, though, when he was knocked out in the seventh round. It was a fight in which Morris didn’t look anything like his normal classy self. It seems that Morris struggled to make the 126-pound limit, and he was inactive for 18 months before coming back as a 130-pounder. He has easily won three fights since his return to the ring.
Although Morris comes in as a substitute he was in training for another fight. Both boxers are 26, but Sykes has the look of slightly the fresher fighter, Morris more of the veteran.
Sykes gave an excellent performance last May when he outpointed Anthony Crolla in a British title eliminator. I was impressed with Sykes’s enthusiasm and energy. Sykes looked the stronger man and he had Crolla under heavy pressure in the fifth round. Crolla rallied, but Sykes finished the stronger fighter. He is a pressure fighter with good hand speed and he goes to the body well.
Morris is also a good body puncher, and at his best he is a classy boxer-fighter.
I make the odds dead-level in a fight that could go either way. Morris has fought at a higher level but Sykes has the confidence of an unbeaten fighter who has dominated everyone he has met with the possible exception of Anthony Crolla. I think that Morris at his best is probably a better all-around boxer than Sykes, but the crushing loss to Simpson concerns me.
Defeats such as that can take something out of a fighter, and even though Morris has come back well after his layoff he hasn’t face anyone with Sykes’s ability or workrate. Tentatively, I’m going with Sykes to win on points.
Match scheduled:
Last updated: 05-03-2010 from 23:00 until 01:00 (GMT)
Gary Sykes v Andy Morris for the vacant British Super-featherweight title. Sykes is putting his 14-fight unbeaten record on the line.
Disaster struck Morris the following year when he lost his British title in five rounds in a rematch with Simpson due to a cut above his eye. The pair met in a rubber-match in September 2007. There had been rumors that Morris was struggling to make featherweight, and certainly in this fight he seemed to have very little resistance to the talented Simpson, who dominated throughout, knocking out Morris in the seventh.
The loss obviously took some getting over, and Morris didn't box at all in 2008. He fought three times in 2009, finishing the year with a decision over useful Frenchman Pierre Francois Bonicel.
Sykes is a Frank Maloney fighter, which in itself is a testament to his potential, as the former manager of Lennox Lewis certainly knows his boxers. Sykes win over Crolla was a thriller, which highlighted Sykes boxing ability and stamina.
Sykes and Morris have similar ring styles; both have good engines, throw a lot of punches, but with a combined ten knockouts between them, neither man can claim to be a big puncher.
The question will be how much the knockout loss to Simpson has ultimately taken out of Morris. Expect an all action, high-tempo encounter between these two, with ultimately Sykes prevailing by either unanimous decision or late stoppage to claim the British super-featherweight title.
The question will be how much the knockout loss to Simpson has ultimately taken out of Morris. Expect an all action, high-tempo encounter between these two, with ultimately Sykes prevailing by either unanimous decision or late stoppage to claim the British super-featherweight title.
