Thursday 14 July 2016 13:58, UK
Kell Brook's big decision, Charlie Edwards' early shot, Sergey Kovalev's awkward defence and targeting bigger boys... here's Jamie.
I'd say Kell Brook has probably outgrown the welterweight division. There had already been rumours about him moving up to light-middleweight so it's not as big a step up as people might think. The massive ask is the opponent. There's moving up to middleweight and boxing one of the top guys and then there's moving up to middleweight to box Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin is a different kettle of fish altogether. I think Kell will be better suited at that weight than he was at welterweight but I think that ideally he'd have had a go at super-welterweight. I just think that it's not so much the weight issue but the talent of Golovkin that could prove the decisive factor.
It's an audacious move. He's only had seven fights as it stands and that's no sort of experience heading into a world title shot. He's going in there with a good champion as well - I saw John Riel Casimero beat Amnat Ruenroeng and was very impressed with him. Edwards is a good fighter in his own right but remains untested at anything like that level so it's a bold choice.
It's a shot worth taking because it's for a world title. The problem is at flyweight that you struggle to gain experience before you step up. Very often, we see fighters boxing for domestic titles early on in their career. It's not usual for someone to box for a world title after seven or eight fights so I take my hat off to Edwards; he's showing a lot of mettle, bravery and I hope he can pull it off.
I think Isaac Chilemba is underrated and he adjusted to the effectiveness of Kovalev very well. Chilemba has always had that negative, awkward style. He likes to come in and make you miss and make you look bad, and facing him was never going to be an easy task.
Ward will probably take more from watching that fight than Kovalev has taken from being in it. Ward is as slippery if not even more slippery than Chilemba, plus he's much more effective offensively. He's probably taken a bit of confidence from seeing how much success Chilemba had and also, Kovalev's performance may adversely affect his own confidence heading towards the unification clash.
No, I don't think so. As a fighter, you're used to being goaded and having people try to intimidate you. You get used to it and what Allen should be more worried about is the fact that Whyte is a very good fighter. I think Whyte will be able to back up a lot of what he's said. I wouldn't say he's managed to intimidate Allen but I do think the Doncaster man will have his hands full on fight night.
Again, Allen obviously has a lot of belief in his own ability and I applaud that. He wants to challenge himself and maybe he saw something in Whyte's defeat to Anthony Joshua that he thinks he can exploit. He must be confident to go in there and he's got a lot less to lose than Whyte has. Allen can go in with no pressure on him. If he wins then it'll be a massive upset but if he loses, it'll be an experience and he won't be worse off.
My absolute boxing hero was Nigel Benn and it would have been a privilege to share a ring with him. Also, he punched so hard that I've always wondered what it would have been like to take a shot off him. Whether I'd have enjoyed the experience, I don't know, but I'd have liked to have get in there with him and mixed it.
I often used to think about moving up in weight. I always remember that one of Brian Magee's opponents pulled out when he was IBO champion and I offered my services for the fight. I was always good against southpaws so I was fancied I'd be able to step up two divisions. I believe I could've beaten him.
