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Sat on the canvas straight after eight hard fought rounds for the Commonwealth Featherweight belt on January 16 of this year, John Simpson and Paul Truscott were conducting an interview for Sky Sports and had agreed
that a rematch should be put into place, after the referee had stopped the fight due to cuts suffered by Truscott.
The rematch is due for tonight and after the first fight, we should have a good scrap on our hands with these two.
Simpson 19-6 (7), and is a tough little pressure fighter, and has fought some good opposition like Derry Matthews and Paul Appleby, albeit both of which he lost, but the experience is good to have under his belt.
Paul Truscott 13-1 (1), is a fast, flashy boxer who is good on the counter and can give some opponents trouble but looking at his record, it’s plain to see where the experience lies in this rematch
In the first fight, just as it was stopped, the contest seemed to have turned a corner and was going into Simpson territory, Truscott having only been the full 12 rounds once in his career.
Of course, we never got to see that as there was some bad swelling under, and not a massive cut but a cut all the same, over Truscott’s right eye, leading the referee to the doctor, who confirmed the stoppage.
The first bout was a good fight, with Truscott controlling a lot of the pace with his jab and catching Simpson coming in with quick straight rights, flashy hooks and uppercuts.
Simpson, as usual, continued to pace forward, continually closing the ring down and putting the pressure on.
As soon as he cut down the distance and moved inside, he was landing with some solid shots upstairs and down.
Truscott continued to use the distance to his advantage, boxing from the outside, trying to keep Simpson out of range and doing a good job of it.
Obviously, the record states that he doesn’t have KO power in his hands, and this showed because even when he caught Simpson with really good looking shots, and he did this a lot, Simpson just walked through them to get to his own target.
Truscott utilized his movement well and every time Simpson backed him up against the ropes or had him in the corner, he never stayed there long, always turning his man efficiently.
You could see Truscott was just getting that little bit more tired than Simpson, but he was by no means spent, just tiring.
There were plenty of exchanges in the unbeknown final few rounds leading to a few head clashes, of which Truscott came off worse, the cut was caused by a head clash but the swelling was caused by Simpson’s left hand.
The stoppage came at the beginning of the eighth, and both wanted the rematch, which is always good to see.
Since that time, Truscott has had a six rounder, winning on points over Andrey Kostin while Simpson has been out of the ring.
We should have a repeat of the first fight, with ‘Trussy’ looking to control the distance whilst Simpson will be trying to close it. Truscott has something to prove and will want redemption so will be fired up for this one, but with the experience, grit and determination of Simpson we could have the same Commonwealth Featherweight champ at the end of the night.
However, if Truscott can stay on the outside and not get dragged into a brawl in the later rounds, something he has been known to do, then he could win by staying smart and outboxing Simpson.
Either way, we should be in for a great fight as these two fighters are probably going to go at it hammer and tongs…again!
