This coming Saturday at the O2 Arena, London, two top-level pugilists will be putting it all on the line in a clash that will define exactly who has the right to fight Evgeny Gradovich for his IBF World Featherweight Title.
The Australian, Joel Brunker, has fought twenty-seven men so far and he’s beaten every single one of them. Brunker’s last victory was in Atlantic City, USA, over the respected Mike Oliver whom Brunker beat comfortably, as indicated by the unanimous decision. In support of Brunker’s unblemished professional record is his supreme level of fitness and conditioning which is a result of his sheer hard work and dedication to being the best that he can possibly be. The IBF ranks Brunker at number 3 in the world.
The Welshman, Lee Selby, has fought nineteen men so far and barring one hiccup early on in his career, he’s beaten them all. Selby’s fistic finesse has seen him score recent victories over solid opposition in the form of Viorel Simion, Rendall Munroe and most recently, the resilient and gutsy Romulo Koasicha. The IBF ranks Selby at number 6 in the world.
The paths to world domination are often long and winding so it’s no surprise that both Selby’s and Brunker’s paths have crossed already, around three years ago and in the USA, where they sparred each other for about eighteen rounds in total. After eighteen competitive rounds of sparring it’s reasonable to say they know each other, as fighters, fairly well, but still they are both equally confident of winning on October 11th.
Perhaps both fighters were holding back quite a lot in the sparring and feel that on fight night, when they bring it ALL into the ring, it’ll be too much for the other? Or maybe both feel they’ve developed and improved since those hazy, far-off days when they were learning their trade?
Whatever the case, their life’s work has taken them this far along the path that leads to warrior nirvana and Saturday night offers up a golden ticket that’ll take one of them direct to their dream destination. Rest assured, this ticket’s going to be hotly contested and sparks are going to fly as both fighters go through the gears and let it all hang out to see who rightfully deserves to complete their journey.
