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Britain’s Golden Boy Luke Campbell will fight in the Joshua-Klitschko undercard in a bout that has been declared as a Lightweight title eliminator. The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist will fight former world champion Darleys Perez for the right to face WBA Lightweight champion Jorge Linares.
Luke Campbell v Darleys Perez on Joshua-Klitschko undercard. Great fight.
— Declan Taylor (@DeclanTaylor87) April 10, 2017
British Golden Boy
Campbell is Britain’s version of the Golden Boy after capturing gold in both the 2008 European Championships and 2012 Olympics. In winning the latter, Campbell became the first bantamweight from England to win the Olympic Bantamweight gold since 1908. In 2013, he was appointed MBE and turned pro later that year.
As a prize fighter, Campbell has compiled an impressive 16-1 with 13 KOS record. His only blot was a close and controversial split decision loss to Frenchman Yvan Mendy. Campbell has won 10 of his last 11 bouts and he is coming off a 2nd round TKO win over Jairo Lopez last February. Campbell has recorded nine stoppages in his last 10 victories.
His opponent is a man who held the WBA belt Linares now owns. Darleys Perez defended that title three times before losing it to Anthony Crolla. Crolla meanwhile lost the belt to Linares. Perez has won 10 of his last 14 bouts and is coming off a November draw with Maurice Hooker. Six of his last eight victories have been by decision.
The Prediction
Campbell is a solid -500 over Perez who is currently at +350. However, this is no walk in the park for the Briton. Perez is a former world champion who has vast fighting experience. The Columbian is tough,quick and an effective counter puncher. Over the years, Perez has proven that he can absorb punishment and still be in the fight. He’s not going to be intimidated by Campbell and won’t be discouraged by the hometown crowd at Wembley. That’s what Luke Campbell has to be wary about here. He can’t be discouraged if he doesn’t put away Perez early.
Having said that, though, Campbell has to feel confident knowing that Perez got knocked out by Anthony Crolla in his most recent loss because Crolla isn’t known for his punching power. Luke Campbell has tremendous punching power and packs the bigger punches than both Crolla and Perez. He is the far more skilled and polished boxer in this match-up so he can also win this bout on the judges’ scorecards. At the end of the day, it’s going to be a victory for Luke Campbell. Either way, it’s not going to be easy but he will come out of this fight the victor and a better fighter. And well prepared for a possible title shot against Jorge Linares.
We’re picking Luke Campbell to win this fight by late stoppage or unanimous decision.
