STEEL CITY SHOWDOWN

Sheffield rivals Sheedy and Cameron clash, writes Daniel Herbert

LOCAL derbies are always special occasions in boxing, and there’s a cracker tomorrow (Friday October 13) when Sam Sheedy clashes with Liam Cameron at Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield. Dennis Hobson promotes.

At stake is not only local pride between these two Sheffielders, but also the Commonwealth middleweight title Sheedy won against unheralded Nigerian Abolaji Rasheed back in April.

Southpaw Sam’s jabbing and moving earned him a clear decision against a rugged opponent who bizarrely scaled well inside super-welter, never mind middleweight. That won’t be the case tomorrow because Cameron is coming down from super-middle, where he has already fialed twice in Commonwealth title fights: against Luke Blackledge in 2015 and Zac Dunn (in Australia) last year.

Liam [inset] did turn pro at middle, but the last time he weighed inside 160lbs came in December 2013, when Rod Smith floored him and outscored him over 10 rounds. His six bouts since then have all been at 168lbs, so it remains to be seen if he can stay strong for 12 rounds at the lower weight.

That’s important, because this one is likely to go the distance. Neither is a huge puncher, with Sheedy having just four early wins in his 18-2 record and Cameron a mere seven in his 19-5 ledger.

Also key is how Cameron copes with Sheedy’s portsided stance. Liam does have experience against southpaws, having outpointed Wayne Reed (another Sheffielder) over 10 in 2014, but Sheedy is more skilled than the rugged Reed.

Sam’s defeats both came on split decisions in title bouts, over 10 rounds against Nav Mansouri for the vacant English belt in 2015 and over 12 against Tommy Langford for the British crown last year. That sort of form makes Sheedy the pick to outbox Cameron for a points victory in a tough fight.

THE VERDICT Fans in the Steel City should turn out in numbers for an even fight like this.