Sam ‘The Savage’ Eggington (20-3) vs. Ceferino Rodriguez (24-1)
Welterweight
Ceferino Rodriguez is looking make his first EBU European welterweight title defense this weekend against Sam Eggington in Birmingham. The Spaniard is fighting in the UK for the first time in his career against a tough challenge in Eggington.
‘The Savage’ is a highly touted promising boxer who in his last fight defeated the veteran Paulie Malignaggi via TKO. Eggington really stays true to his nickname. At times he can be ruthless in the ring albeit not a knockout artist but does pack punching power. He is always ready to take one to give two. Meaning he might drop his hands and eat shots just to prove a point to his opponent. On top of the iron chin, Eggington can box as well. He has a nasty right hand and can cause serious trouble against the ropes if he gets the opportunity to do so. Eggington has won via stoppage six times in his last eight bouts. He enters this fight with three straight stoppages, one via KO and two by TKO.
Rodriguez is a bit more experienced and he can be a tough nut to crack. ‘Ferino’ relies mostly on strong counters, such as uppercuts and hooks. He likes to stick and move a lot, especially back and forth. He does not like brawl that much and tries to stay away from brutal exchanges. If he does get into one, then he proceeds to use his best sways and ducks a lot. Rodriguez can be dropped and stopped, but the opposing fighter must apply constant pressure to do so.
If a fighter has a weak chin then Rodriguez will cause damage with his counters but strong chinned fighters, like Eggington, should be able to take the Spaniard’s shots. Eggington must bully and brawl but also box to the best of his abilities to catch Rodriguez. If Eggington can walk him down against the ropes, Rodriguez is in trouble. The Spaniard will do his best to stay away from Eggington’s pressure. The deciding factors will be Eggington’s power, chin and grit. Also home field advantage doesn’t hurt.
The pick is Eggington via technical knockout in round 9.