Stoke’s Scott Lawton attempts to add his name to the growing list of British fighters winning major honours tonight when facing Leva Kirakosyan for the vacant European super-featherweight title, live on Sky Sports from 10pm.
33 year old Lawton admitted this week that he was as surprised as anyone to be gifted this opportunity but vows to grab his chance with both hands and will have the backing of a capacity crowd at the Fenton Manor sports complex in his home city.
The 5ft 10inch orthodox, ranked 3rd in the UK behind Nicky Cook and Ricky Burns, doesn’t boast a perfect record but a glance through his previous reads like a who’s who of British boxing.
Convincing defeats at the hands of Jon Thaxton, John Murray and Amir Khan have stifled Lawton’s progression whilst his opponents have moved on to compete on the big stage, but a surprise 6th round stoppage win over Derry Mathews in his last outing put his career firmly back on track and he now has the chance to make some serious money from his chosen profession.
With a record of 27 wins, 6 inside the distance, against 5 defeats and 1 draw, bookmakers are taking a somewhat unpatriotic stance, pricing the Englishman up as an 11/8 outsider (Stan James).
Well travelled Russian opponent Leva Kirakosyan makes the trip from his base in France confident that he can regain the title he first laid his hands on back in 2007.
The 5ft 5inch orthodox has been in blistering form of late, halting four of his last five opponents inside the distance, but the 36 year old has been campaigning at a much lower level than he is used to and having had six months out of the sport, there is the potential for another Friday night upset.
Kirakosyan is undoubtedly reaching the end of his career but, having shared a ring with greats of the game such as Giuseppe Lauri, Juan Urango, Michael Gomez and Carl Johanneson, the Russian deserves his 8/13 favourite tag (Skybet).
This one won’t be a classic by any stretch of the imagination and you’ve got to wonder why these fighters have been paired for such an illustrious title, but with bookmakers sitting on the fence, shrewd punters have the chance to deliver another knockout blow to their traders of choice.
Lawton was taken apart by John Murray before beating a Derry Mathews who was on his way out but the Stoke fighter has been much more active of late and having spent most of his career at lightweight, he should bring plenty of strength into this one.
Kirakosyan hasn’t fought anyone of note since his 2007 meeting with Sergey Gulyakevich and should be more than a little rusty at this level, giving Lawton the chance to build up an early lead.
With a massive five inch height advantage, and everyone in the arena on his side, the Stoke favourite should have the skills to pull off a memorable victory if he can avoid the Russian’s big shots.
With Lawton’s lowly knockout ratio of just 18%, the 8/15 (Skybet) about over 7.5 rounds looks appealing whilst small stakes players may consider the 4/1 about a unanimous points win for the home fighter.
