Boxing Betting: Back Neil Dawson to triumph in Betfair Prizefighter - The Cruiserweights III

16May 2013

Betfair

Neil Dawson is favourite for the third instalment of Betfair Prizefighter - The Cruiserweights this weekend, and Luke Moore agrees with that assessment...

For the first time since 2010, the cruiserweights are back to compete in Prizefighter. Eight boxers will enter the ring at York Hall in Bethnal Green, looking to emulate previous champions Ovill Mackenzie and Jon-Lewis Dickinson. All eight men keenly focused on getting through the three fights it'll take to be crowned the third Prizefighter - The Cruiserweights champion.

This year's line-up consists of Canning Town's Wadi Camacho, the unbeaten Nathan Owens, Nottinghamshire's Shane McPhilbin, Welshman Hari Miles, Conall Carmichael, Tony Conquest, Danny McIntosh and Neil Dawson.

The immediate thing that jumps out from that list of fighters is that it potentially matches Neil Dawson and Tony Conquest up again, less than six months after the former knocked the latter out inside a round for the WBO International title. Both men started that fight quite positively, but Dawson came through a bit of an early onslaught from Conquest before putting him on the canvas with a sweet one-two combination which left the man from Romford unable to get up.

That defeat to Dawson is the only blemish on Conquest's record and he's looked pretty solid apart from that, albeit facing opponents of limited ability. At 28, and with 11 fights under his belt, he'll be looking to avenge that defeat and make a serious mark on this competition.

Norwich's Danny McIntosh is worth a second look, given that he's probably the only fighter in this tournament that's been in with genuine world class opposition, failing a pretty tough examination (which ended in defeat courtesy of a fifth round stoppage) at the hands of Tony Bellew, a man with realistic world title ambitions at this weight.

It would be remiss to write off 27-year-old Shane McPhilbin however, who came off second best in a barnburner against Enzo Maccarinelli early last year. McPhilbin put Maccarinelli on the canvas twice in that fight but was also knocked down himself in round nine on the way to a points defeat to the Welshman. Keen followers of Prizefighter will also remember him being soundly beaten by Michael Sprott in the Heavyweights IV Prizefighter back in 2010.

McPhilbin also comes into this tournament on the back of four straight defeats and it remains to be seen whether he can ever get his career back on track. He's only 27, so there's time, but he's badly stuttered in his last few fights and suffered a few heavy knockdowns at the hands of the up-and-coming Chris Keane which could have taken a lot out of him.

Wadi 'Machoman' Camacho suffered a reversal against China Clarke last time out when fighting for the English title, but he has beaten fellow contender in this event Hari Miles in the past, dispatching him with a sweet body shot which could prove to be a potent weapon in this tournament if used properly. He did cut up quite badly against Clarke though and was put down in the sixth before retiring and it remains to be seen how badly that's affected him coming into this event.

Conall Carmichael and Nathan Owens are still at the very start of their pro careers (despite Carmichael already being 34 years old) and so they have to be considered slightly unknown quantities at this stage. Both are undefeated however, and at just 24, Nathan Owens best years are surely in front of him.

Whatever happens it's sure to be explosive, so strap yourself in and get ready for seven fights in one night to crown the third cruiserweight Prizerfighter champion. To my mind it looks most likely to be Neil Dawson. Danny McIntosh hasn't actually won a fight for too long now and that Bellew fight seems to have taken far too much out of him. There's money to be made in backing him to lay at 7.2 provided he doesn't draw Dawson in the first round, but for an outright winner I'll back Neil Dawson. 2.66 isn't a massive price, but he's a strong lad with a long reach. Outpointing the rest of this field shouldn't be a problem for him.