Tyron Zeuge vs. Isaac Ekpo this Saturday

Boxingnews24.com

By Jim Dower: WBA World super middleweight champion Tyron Zeuge (19-0-1, 11 KOs) will be defending his title this Saturday night against #3 WBA Isaac Ekpo (31-2, 24 KOs) at the MBS Arena in Potsdam, in Brandenburg, Germany. The 24-year-old Zeuge is the favorite in the fight despite him struggling to beat Giovanni De Carolis. In their previous fight, Zeuge had fought to a controversial 12 round draw in July of last year in his home country of Germany.

De Carolis appeared to easily beat Zeuge, who was fighting with an injured shoulder and unable to do much on offense. Surprisingly, the judges scored the fight a draw. It looked like an easy win for De Carolis against a fighter that couldn’t throw punches.

The 34-year-old Ekpo can punch, and he’s going to make it difficult for Zeuge to go the distance with him. The judges may not be able to score this fight. Ekpo is going to knockout Zeuge well before the 12th. Ekpo has lost twice in his career in fights against Robert Stieglitz and Charles Chisamba. Stieglitz beat Ekpo by a wide 12 round decision in 2013. Ekpo looked very raw in terms of boxing skills in that fight.

It was surprising that he was ranked in the top 15, because he looked like someone that was more of an unskilled amateur rather than a contender. However, Ekpo has won his last 9 fights since then against weak opposition. Hopefully, for Ekpo’s sake, he’s improved. If not, then he’s still got his power to possibly help him get past Zeuge.

At 24, Zeuge is seen as having a great future in boxing, but he’s going to need to develop some punching power somewhere. He doesn’t compare to the other top super middleweights in the division in terms of power. At Zeuge’s age, you should already have most of your power that you’re ever going to have. Zeuge will have problems when he faces guys with power that can take the judges out of the equation. Zeuge is likely going to fight most of the time in his home country of Germany during his career. But there some big punchers in the 168lb division that won’t let the fight go to the judges. With his complete lack of power, Zeuge is going to need to go the full distance when he wins his fights.

It’s one thing going 12 rounds against a non- puncher like De Carolia, but it’s different when Zeuge eventually faces guys that can bang like Callum Smith, David Benavidez and George Groves. Those guys are not going to hang around and let the fight to go the scorecards. They’re going to knock Zeuge out. That’s why it’s important for Zeuge to develop his punching power somehow.