BoxRec

Steve Bendall has got a call up to face Sebastian Sylvester this Saturday, for the EBU Middleweight title.

Bendall is going to have to be right on form to upset Sylvester, but he has been in training for another fight before this call up, so is in good shape.

Sylvester isn't a huge puncher and Bendall is coming in off a good 5 round win over Donovan Smillie, If Bendall is in good enough shape to go the 12 rounds then he may be able to sneak a tight points decision, but you'd have to favour Sylvester to be the one with his hand raised at the end.

Ya it's on the Byrd v Wlad card .

Wow, this is a turn up for the books. What a fabulous chance for Bendall to sky-rocket his career.

I thought Bendall was superb against Smillie and turned in one of the most positive performances of 2005 (on a relative basis). So fired up, but still showing some excellent boxing too in the process.

This could be one of those rags to overnight riches stories that boxing produces every so often and I hope Steve does it. If i was pushed for prediction though the money would on be Sylvester.

I've not seen any video of Sylvester , but have read reports that he's a busy boxer wears you down, so Bendall's best chance will be to keep it long and tie him up on the inside. The problem with this tactic is if the Ref doesn't like the holding on the inside.

I was mate. My feeling was the referee was right to dock Mateen points because his holding was persistant, in my view. Holding is a real pet-hate of mine, so I'll probably always be in favour of a referee coming down hard on clinching.

I take it you thought otherwise?

Yep, it will be a major win for Bendall and I'm rooting for him too.

Did you notice Smillie drew against Rob Burton last week? That's not a very good result for Donovan.

Tough ask for Steve, but if his mind is on it he will win on our scorecards at least!!

Trouble with Steve is that he lacks the power to trouble the better class of opponent. Im a big fan of Scott Dann, but i think that if someone is commited to the task and lands a solid punch on his whiskers he will be in trouble. Steve landed and still didnt hurt Scott.

On the plus side Sylvester is no puncher himself and Bendall can take a decent shot, but in Germany and with a world title fight around the corner, one can't see Sylvester being denied.

I think the key could be the way in which the shots are observed. If Steve can land eye-catching punches and workd for the full 3-minutes then they're maybe hope.

Hope he can do, bring a big title to the Midlands.

Tom Podmore.

Podmore_Birmingham wrote:Tough ask for Steve, but if his mind is on it he will win on our scorecards at least!!

Trouble with Steve is that he lacks the power to trouble the better class of opponent. Im a big fan of Scott Dann, but i think that if someone is commited to the task and lands a solid punch on his whiskers he will be in trouble. Steve landed and still didnt hurt Scott.

On the plus side Sylvester is no puncher himself and Bendall can take a decent shot, but in Germany and with a world title fight around the corner, one can't see Sylvester being denied.

I think the key could be the way in which the shots are observed. If Steve can land eye-catching punches and workd for the full 3-minutes then they're maybe hope.

Hope he can do, bring a big title to the Midlands.

Tom Podmore.

Argree with you on this one, hope Bendall can bring the title back to England, would certainly make for an interesting one if he defended it against Elcock. You Brummies need cheering up after the footy this year

Good luck Steve Bendall. With a bit of luck, if Bendall can win on Saturday (though it will be a tough one) maybe he could set up a return with Scott Dann. I know Bendall wasnt happy with his preparation going into their fight.

Bendall's biggest problem is inactivity and inadequate notice when he does get the shout. But I suppose thats one of the disadvantages of not having a top manager/promoter.

topper123 wrote:

Podmore_Birmingham wrote:Tough ask for Steve, but if his mind is on it he will win on our scorecards at least!!

Trouble with Steve is that he lacks the power to trouble the better class of opponent. Im a big fan of Scott Dann, but i think that if someone is commited to the task and lands a solid punch on his whiskers he will be in trouble. Steve landed and still didnt hurt Scott.

On the plus side Sylvester is no puncher himself and Bendall can take a decent shot, but in Germany and with a world title fight around the corner, one can't see Sylvester being denied.

I think the key could be the way in which the shots are observed. If Steve can land eye-catching punches and workd for the full 3-minutes then they're maybe hope.

Hope he can do, bring a big title to the Midlands.

Tom Podmore.

Argree with you on this one, hope Bendall can bring the title back to England, would certainly make for an interesting one if he defended it against Elcock. You Brummies need cheering up after the footy this year

It would be excellent for the Midlands if he he could bring the title back. Elcock would be a slight fav if they were to sqaure off, i may be a tad biased as Wayne's a mate, but i honestly think he can beat any middleweight in the country. His mind was on other things when he fought Dann and lacked the spark to really force the fight, yet he still was competitive.

I digress.

Come on Stevey.

Tom Podmore.

Best of luck to Steve Bendall but from what i have seen of Sylvester this will be a tough ask, will back Sylvester on points but maybe Bendall can put in a career best performance and pull this off

never mind steve

bendall got stopped in the 3rd rd.

1st rd was a slow rd from sylvester and i thought bendall just shaded it. sylvester opened up in rd 2 and was picking bendall off with the jab and right hand.

the stoppage in the 3rd rd was too early i thought. it was one of those where i reckon bendall was getting taken, but it was still to early from the ref.

the ref should have given bendall more of a chance than that in a european title fight.

(Trying to restrain language here...) Wonder if we'll start to see more British boxers being sent to Germany. Think the current situation with Warren/Sky/ITV has anything to do with it?

Bendall must have been well paid for his last minute trip to Germany I would think

On German TV they said they had booked Bendall as sub because they suspected that Dzemski would pull out of the fight. Bendall had been training for 6 weeks for the fight.

bendall lost cause he heard roger tillerman was a judge and it messed with his focus

REAL_DEAL wrote:bendall lost cause he heard roger tillerman was a judge and it messed with his focus

Tilleman is actually a good judge, he´s just a horrible referee, but nothing like giving it a try in a world title fight.

Freiheit wrote:On German TV they said they had booked Bendall as sub because they suspected that Dzemski would pull out of the fight. Bendall had been training for 6 weeks for the fight.

Are you sure he had 6 weeks notice? I saw him on St. Patricks day sinking a few pints and I remember him saying that he had a new manager and that he didnt have anything lined up.

Thats what they said on TV, no idea if its true or not.

Bendall didn't look sharp at all - maybe the travelling took it out of him. I agree - the fight shouldn't have been stopped when it was. Sylvester looked his powerful self, but seemed to get caught from Bendalls hooks.

Blast!!! Thought it unlikely Steve would come home with the title but had hoped he went a few more rounds than this, but if the stoppage was premature that won't have helped the cause.

Surely he can still pursue the British title.

Yes, he will be able to pursue a shot at the British title, as he lost to an international opponent, thus having no effect on his British standing.

Barry Morrison is in the same boat.

Tom Podmore.