Undercard discussion time for me now...

Kevin Mitchell vs. Carl Johanneson

I was looking forward to this one around the time I heard Carl was booked in for a fight with Gomez, and I'm so glad the fight got postponed in January because it means I now have a shit hot undercard fight to watch. Carls performance against Gomez was a cracker. He looked seasoned, he didn't panic and he used his head, picking his punches perfectly before grinding Gomez down. This showed tremendous heart and discipline and will only help his confidence going into this one. Mitchell though, has yet to taste defeat and looks like he could be on his way to very big things. He packs a decent punch, and looks fairly calculated when in the ring. I predict he'll use this as a stepping stone and stop Carl in around 6 in a firecracker of a fight.

Being from Liverpool, I'm really happy that I get to see Paul Smith live. Smith has a decent future, although I'm unsure if going on the contender helped or hindered him yet. He has a shot at the vacant English Middlewight title against Cello Renda, who I must confess I know very little about. Smith is 22-0-0, and on that record you'd be hoping he'd be in line for a British shot soon but he needs a test to prove he's ready. Renda has a record of 14-5-1 (9 by stoppage), is coming off the back of two wins, although has notable losses to Prince Arron on points, and was knocked out by Nathan Cleverly victims Ayittey Powers & Joey Vegas. Smith should be on another level to him and should force the stoppage by the midway stage.

Souleymane M'Baye also continues his comeback from losing his WBA 140 title to Gavin Rees last July. He faces Dominican Jose Soto (22-4-2) in a ten rounder. M'Baye's only losses have come against Rees and Junior "The Prick" Witter victim Vivian Harris. 3 of Soto's four losses have come by KO, and M'Baye is the classiest opposition he will have faced so I see no reason why he can't follow suit.