by James Slater – The under-card of the June 20th heavyweight championship battle between Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev looks reasonably interesting. Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Alexander Ustinov goes up against the durable Michael Sprott, veteran heavyweight campaigner Cedric Boswell and once-beaten middleweight contender Andy Lee are also in action; and, in the most interesting of the support bouts, Jonathon Banks moves up to heavyweight to take on Paul Butlin..
Last time out, Emanuel Steward-managed Banks was stopped in the 8th round of his challenge of IBF cruiserweight king Tomasz Adamek. The 26-year-old gave a good account of himself up until being dropped and hurt in the bout’s last round, and Banks showed decent skills and heart. But can the now 20-1(14) contender make a serious go of it as a heavyweight?
It’s possible Banks is only taking on the approx 227-pound Butlin up at heavyweight because he is looking for a workout type fight only, and that he will look to drop any excess weight and campaign back at 200-pounds after getting himself a confidence builder. Or maybe the 6’3″ fighter with the 76″ reach is planning on a full time assault on the big men of the sport.
In British heavyweight Butlin, 12-9(3), Banks faces a tough enough and game enough guy. Some fans may remember Butlin for his last fight, back on May 22nd, when he was out-pointed, and bitten, by unbeaten hope Derek Chisora (the infringement causing Chisora’s suspension). Limited in skills he may be, but the 33-year-old is not stopped too often and he will really fancy his chances against a former cruiserweight. If he is looking at the fight as nothing more than a workout and is not in good fighting shape, Banks could well have an uncomfortable night next Saturday in Germany.
Assuming Banks does beat Butlin, though, and assuming he does stick around at heavyweight – what are his chances of doing something notable in the weight division?
Perhaps the 26-year-old has at least partly blamed making weight for the loss to Adamek. Big for a cruiserweight, Banks is no smaller than David Haye, for example. And maybe the Detroit man, if he can maintain his reasonable speed up at around 220 or so, would have a shot at a couple of big names at heavyweight. It’s not really a shock that Banks is moving up to the highest weight class in boxing. Most cruiserweights, after either outgrowing the division or after having achieved all they want there, move up. If he does stay there, we must assume it was because Banks felt drained when making 200-pounds (as was the case with Haye, of course).
Time will tell, but Jonathon banks might be a welcome addition to the heavyweight division.