British Middleweight Title on the line
With today’s attention firmly placed on the Semi Final of the World Boxing Super Series between George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr the undercard has gone under the radar, that is less for the two men that will contest for the British Middleweight Title this afternoon.
Tommy Langford (19-1, 6KO’s) will make the first defence of the title he won against Sam Sheedy in 2016 against number one contender Jack Arnfield (25-2, 6KO’s). Langford has been fairly inactive following his knockout loss to Avdantil Khurtsidze for the vacant WBO middleweight interim title last year. He has fought a single six round fight since then, which he won on points.
By contrast Arnfield career has picked up pace since a disastrous 2015 where he lost to domestic hopefuls Cello Renda and Nick Blackwell. Since then he has reeled off six consecutive wins, most notably against John Ryder and Brian Rose. I had the chance to speak with Arnfield at the weigh-ins yesterday. [link below]
“Camps gone top, im in good shape in the gym, good shape out the gym. Im just looking forward to getting in there and performing well”
“I keep myself in the gym even when I’m out of camp. I’m in three or four times a week, just ticking over. Keeping my brain sharp and my boxing sharp. I’m feeling really good at the moment.”
“Neither of us are big punchers, and I never go for the knockout, I go for the win. Obviously if the knockout is there I go for it”
This for me is as much of a 50/50 fight as the main event. I firmly expect this to be battle of the jab as both use it very well. Both men are very technically astute boxers which makes up for each man’s lack of punch power. Langford is the physically bigger of the two and I can’t see Arnfield being able to push him back, so the challenger may well have to box off of the back foot. But make no mistake about it this will be an all action fight as both men’s work rates are as good as any that you will see domestically.
May the best man win.
By: Aaron Cooper
