Brad Foster vs James Beech Jr – who wins?
Foster-Beech fight will kick off Queensberry Promotions' summer season
Mid-June, promoter Frank Warren announced his plans for five TV shows from July 10, starting with a British bantamweight championship fight between unbeaten champion Brad Foster (12-0-2, 5KOs) and undefeated challenger James Beech Jr (12-0, 2KOs), live from the BT Sport Studios in Stratford. Both boxers were born in Walsall and one of their 0's has got to go!
BBN, reliable as always, immediately asked their panel of experts who they believe will win the battle of the unbeaten between Foster and Beech:
Louis Fielding
Two-time Midlands Area title contender
"Brad's my stablemate and I boxed Beech for the Midlands super featherweight title with 10 days notice with the Foster team (who I now work with).
It's good for the Midlands, Beech finally got his opportunity for a crack at Brad; however, having boxed Beech and work alongside Brad, in my eyes, there's only one winner – #andstill #outright."
Kieran Gething
Welsh Area super lightweight champion
"I feel Brad Foster will have a little too much experience and know-how for Beech. It would be a big step up for him if he did pull it off though!"
Steve Wood
Promoter and Manager
"Have to go with Brad Foster here as he seems to be improving whilst gaining experiences of championship fights, and will have to much in his locker overall against an untested Beech."
Tim Rickson
Sports Agent
"Brad Foster hugely impressed me in his last fight, where I really thought Lucien Reid had his number. But he proved his worth as the champion by recognising his mistakes from the first fight, correcting them brilliantly, and coming back stronger to force a stoppage/retirement before round seven. That really was impressive stuff.
James Beech Jr is a good boxer, but he's only operated at Midlands Area level and I expect the task of stepping up to this level at a new, lower weight class is going to be too tough for him. I believe he will give a good account of himself and return back to this level during his career, but for the first time of asking, I don't expect him to pull off the win, not with Foster's vaster experience at British Championship level. Plus, the champion's confidence will be sky high after his career-best win in February. And, the prospect of winning the Lonsdale belt outright is a further incentive and added drive for him. It's been his ambition for a while, so he will be putting his everything into this fight.
I think Foster wins on points, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he forces a stoppage through sheer work rate."
Tino Bellot
Three-weight National amateur champion
"I think this is a really good domestic match up. I saw Brad Foster in both fights against Lucien Reid and I was really impressed with what I saw. He looks like a really tidy operator, especially in the rematch when he was able to force a stoppage. He knows he could’ve won their first meeting, but he went back to the gym and worked on his craft, and won the second bout in great fashion, and to me, that’s the sign of a good fighter.
As for James Beech, I haven’t seen too much of him, but from what I have seen, he’s looked good in comparison to his opponents. That being said, he's only operated at Midlands Area level and I just can’t see him stepping up to British level, at a lower weight than usual and getting the win. I don’t want to write him off just yet, but he’s definitely an underdog going into this fight.
I’m predicting a Brad Foster win via late stoppage."
Anish Parekh
Boxing Writer
"It's great to have boxing back and I think Frank Warren has done the right thing by making competitive and compelling matchups between up and coming boxers. We saw the return of some Top Rank fighters but the matchmaking was so poor, that there was no intrigue or incentive for fans to watch.
The Brad Foster vs James Beech Jr clash is interesting. Beech comes into the contest undefeated and will feel confident but it's hard to truly gauge his talent as most of his victims have been journeyman unable to test him.
Foster on the other hand was scintillating in his last outing, as he shone on ITV in his hotly anticipated rematch with a stoppage win over Lucien Reid.
Foster looks like he has improved and the momentum gathered from his victory over Reid will continue as he demonstrates the difference in class over his less experienced adversary.
Foster to KO Beech Jr."
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