Yorkshire. Home to proud folk, a lovely cuppa and a bracing stretch of coastline.
It's also the residence of British Super-Featherweight Champion Gary Sykes and a previous owner of that title, Carl Johanneson. Both men square off in Huddersfield on Saturday (March 5) in what is anticipated will be a mouth-watering Yorkshire battle.
Who are the contestants?
Let's look at Sykes first, who boats a record of 17 wins (4 KOs) and one defeat. He possesses good speed in his hands and puts together eye-catching combinations. Perhaps a possible weakness is his footwork, which is not particularly quick nor smooth.
The Dewsbury man had been carving out a nice resume for himself - highlights including victory over current British Lightweight king Anthony Crolla in 2009 and a narrow points victory over Andy Morris in 2010 - before being taken off course in November of last year.
With hindsight Sykes will surely rue putting himself into the Prizefighter tournament, which led to a first round knockout to Gary Buckland in the semi-finals. Fun, frantic and unpredictable, Prizefighter often turns into a lottery - as Sykes found to his cost. No matter, he has a chance to redeem himself in the shape of a fierce Yorkshire rival who boast impressive pedigree.
In a sport full of bombast, showmanship and a whole lot of hot air, Carl Johanneson makes for an interesting antedote to a cliched brash boxer. Shy and awkward, the big puncher from Leeds - whose uncle was the legendary South African Leeds United footballer Albert Johanneson - still seems to be finding his feet back in the sport after nearly two years out the sport between 2008 and 2010. He has picked up three routine wins during the past year to shake off the ring rust.
Johanneson can boast a fine record of 30 wins (19 KOs) and four defeats. After starting his career in America, his best spell was between 2006 and 2007 when he won the British Super-Featherweight title and defended it three times against an unbeaten prospect (Femi Fehintola), a seasoned warhorse (Michael Gomez) and most impressively, a future world champion (Ricky Burns).
In 2008 he put his title on the line against Kevin Mitchell, then 25-0, in what turned out to be a gruelling, fan-friendly contest. Mitchell came out like a train in the first few rounds trying to roll through Carl. However, Johanneson showed his grit and battled back to have Mitchell out on his feet. The tide turned though and Mitchell got a ninth round stoppage. This then led to Johanneson having a break from the sport.
So who wins?
Excuse the cliche, but boxing is a sport of swings and roundabouts. Not too long ago Johanneson was notching up impressive wins, while a young lad in his gym who looked up to him was learning and sparring alongside him. The youngster's name? Gary Sykes.
In 2009 and 2010 Sykes was the man on the up, impressing in front of the Sky TV channels, while Johanneson was out of the picture.
Then in November 2010 Sykes was picking himself up after the first defeat of his career - and a knockout at that. Both fighters now seem to be on a level pegging, or at least that's how it would appear on paper, or the computer screen if you like.
Johanneson's strengths are his power and experience. Carl will consider that if he can catch Sykes on the chin there's a good chance of ending the fight in his favour so expect him to come forward, hands-up trying to walk his man down and pin him to the ropes. He knows Sykes well and maybe the 32-year-old will be feeling like a big brother putting his 27-year-old opponent back in his place.
Sykes, meanwhile, has fluid boxing skills and more variety. He will be aware that as effective as he can be, Johanneson can be one-paced and not always difficult to catch. I would imagine he will look to get in and out pepper his opponent with point-scoring shots, although as seen in the Andy Morris contest, Sykes can be drawn into a war. As long as his confidence has not been badly shaken by his knockout loss last year, Sykes will come to the ring the fresher fighter.
The two most likely outcomes would appear to be either a Johanneson knockout victory or a Sykes points victory. I would plump for the latter and predict Sykes will pull out a close points win after riding out some rocky moments, coming under fierce fire.
* Postscript: In a thrilling encounter Sykes prevailed with a unanimous points decision during a contest in which he had to pick himself off the floor to stay the course . The scores were 116-112, 115-112 and 115-113. Both men deserve praise for putting on a good show, with Johanneson displayiing his power and Sykes demonstating his neat boxing skills. Sykes can look to progress onto the European scene, while Johanneson should bot be disheartened - he can definitely come back again and the British title could soon be vacant if Sykes moves up another level.
It's also the residence of British Super-Featherweight Champion Gary Sykes and a previous owner of that title, Carl Johanneson. Both men square off in Huddersfield on Saturday (March 5) in what is anticipated will be a mouth-watering Yorkshire battle.
Who are the contestants?
Let's look at Sykes first, who boats a record of 17 wins (4 KOs) and one defeat. He possesses good speed in his hands and puts together eye-catching combinations. Perhaps a possible weakness is his footwork, which is not particularly quick nor smooth.
The Dewsbury man had been carving out a nice resume for himself - highlights including victory over current British Lightweight king Anthony Crolla in 2009 and a narrow points victory over Andy Morris in 2010 - before being taken off course in November of last year.
With hindsight Sykes will surely rue putting himself into the Prizefighter tournament, which led to a first round knockout to Gary Buckland in the semi-finals. Fun, frantic and unpredictable, Prizefighter often turns into a lottery - as Sykes found to his cost. No matter, he has a chance to redeem himself in the shape of a fierce Yorkshire rival who boast impressive pedigree.
In a sport full of bombast, showmanship and a whole lot of hot air, Carl Johanneson makes for an interesting antedote to a cliched brash boxer. Shy and awkward, the big puncher from Leeds - whose uncle was the legendary South African Leeds United footballer Albert Johanneson - still seems to be finding his feet back in the sport after nearly two years out the sport between 2008 and 2010. He has picked up three routine wins during the past year to shake off the ring rust.
Johanneson can boast a fine record of 30 wins (19 KOs) and four defeats. After starting his career in America, his best spell was between 2006 and 2007 when he won the British Super-Featherweight title and defended it three times against an unbeaten prospect (Femi Fehintola), a seasoned warhorse (Michael Gomez) and most impressively, a future world champion (Ricky Burns).
In 2008 he put his title on the line against Kevin Mitchell, then 25-0, in what turned out to be a gruelling, fan-friendly contest. Mitchell came out like a train in the first few rounds trying to roll through Carl. However, Johanneson showed his grit and battled back to have Mitchell out on his feet. The tide turned though and Mitchell got a ninth round stoppage. This then led to Johanneson having a break from the sport.
So who wins?
Excuse the cliche, but boxing is a sport of swings and roundabouts. Not too long ago Johanneson was notching up impressive wins, while a young lad in his gym who looked up to him was learning and sparring alongside him. The youngster's name? Gary Sykes.
In 2009 and 2010 Sykes was the man on the up, impressing in front of the Sky TV channels, while Johanneson was out of the picture.
Then in November 2010 Sykes was picking himself up after the first defeat of his career - and a knockout at that. Both fighters now seem to be on a level pegging, or at least that's how it would appear on paper, or the computer screen if you like.
Johanneson's strengths are his power and experience. Carl will consider that if he can catch Sykes on the chin there's a good chance of ending the fight in his favour so expect him to come forward, hands-up trying to walk his man down and pin him to the ropes. He knows Sykes well and maybe the 32-year-old will be feeling like a big brother putting his 27-year-old opponent back in his place.
Sykes, meanwhile, has fluid boxing skills and more variety. He will be aware that as effective as he can be, Johanneson can be one-paced and not always difficult to catch. I would imagine he will look to get in and out pepper his opponent with point-scoring shots, although as seen in the Andy Morris contest, Sykes can be drawn into a war. As long as his confidence has not been badly shaken by his knockout loss last year, Sykes will come to the ring the fresher fighter.
The two most likely outcomes would appear to be either a Johanneson knockout victory or a Sykes points victory. I would plump for the latter and predict Sykes will pull out a close points win after riding out some rocky moments, coming under fierce fire.
* Postscript: In a thrilling encounter Sykes prevailed with a unanimous points decision during a contest in which he had to pick himself off the floor to stay the course . The scores were 116-112, 115-112 and 115-113. Both men deserve praise for putting on a good show, with Johanneson displayiing his power and Sykes demonstating his neat boxing skills. Sykes can look to progress onto the European scene, while Johanneson should bot be disheartened - he can definitely come back again and the British title could soon be vacant if Sykes moves up another level.
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