Sains vs Coleman Predictions: Top prospect gets Bangkok-honed banger

Unbeaten prospect Jimmy Sains takes a tough test in Troy Coleman for the vacant English middleweight title on Friday, October 17. The bout serves as chief support for George Liddard’s British and Commonwealth title challenge in the same division against Kieron Conway. 

DAZN will broadcast all the action live from York Hall in Bethnal Green. Read on for my Sains vs Coleman predictions.

Sains vs Coleman Odds

Sains is a big favourite for this one at 1/16. Coleman is no stranger to the underdog role and will not blink at being priced 8/1. The draw is up at 25/1. We also have a price boost available on a Sains points win, with 13/5 boosted to 3/1.

Sains vs Coleman Fight Preview

This chief support bout carries many of the hallmarks of the main event at York Hall. Sains, like top-liner Liddard, is an undefeated middleweight prospect. Coleman, like Conway, is a robust sort who has upset the applecart more than once. 

Coleman is an interesting case study and far from the usual trial horse drafted in to give a 10-0 kid some questions to answer. Still only 30, ‘The Hawk’ won six, four-round fights on points to kick off a career that started in 2018.

River Wilson-Bent put paid to that progress when he knocked Coleman out in three rounds in December 2020. Losing that Midlands Area title fight saw Troy go back to the drawing board. But not in a typical way. Rather than trying to rebuild his record with soft-touches before a second assault on regional belts, the Lichfield man upped sticks and moved to Thailand.

A fighting hotbed, albeit known more for Muay Thai than the Queensbury Rules, Coleman did not struggle to find opposition. Four stoppage wins followed the move, with ‘The Hawk’ becoming a rare British holder of the WBA Asia Continental title.  

A points defeat to Yan Marcos, who was 7-0 at the time, in Dubai, halted Coleman’s. But the Cuban slickster is now 14-0 and tipped for bigger things, so that is not a horrendous loss to take. Two more Thai victories followed before Coleman’s bad luck outside the nation once again reared its ugly head. Former Australian middleweight champion Issac Hardman had him out in five rounds.

Coleman returned to England a year ago, shocking undefeated Tom Cowling to capture the Midlands Area middleweight crown that had eluded him in his last UK outing. A four-round draw with journeyman Robbie Chapman was a strange interruption. Coleman’s corner felt their man had won every round, but referee Ryan Churchill disagreed.

Normal service resumed when Coleman stained his second spotless record in a row. I was ringside for his seven-round TKO upset over 12-0 Bradley Goldsmith back in April. A journey that had taken in Walsall Town Hall, Singmanassak Muaythai School and Dubai’s Cuban Boxing Club reached a crescendo at the BP Pulse Arena in Birmingham.

A bumper crowd saw Coleman stop the hot prospect Goldsmith in seven rounds, retaining the Midlands belt that has coloured much of his professional journey. After beating two undefeated fighters in his last two title bouts, ‘The Hawk’ now tries to soar over another in Sains.

The Romford-born Sains can bang. Nine knockouts from his 10 fights speak of a middleweight with mighty fists. But is it telling that his one distance fight was his sole step-up from journeyman class? 

Gideon Onyenanni took the southpaw starlet the full 10 for the vacant Southern Area strap last time out. Admittedly, Sains did not lose a round on two of the cards and won eight of the 10 on the outlier. The title win showed he can go the distance with class.

Class is the word here. Coleman is definitely a step-up in that metric. There is little that the 30-year-old has not seen in his unconventional career. Wilson-Bent and Hardman showed that Coleman has vulnerabilities. It is up to Sains to exploit them.

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Jimmy Sains vs Troy Coleman Predictions

Coleman is made of tough stuff. You have to be to globe-trot with the success he has. Cowling and Goldsmith (great name for a solicitors) found out that ‘The Hawk’s wings are not as easily-clipped as Wilson-Bent and Hardman made it look.

But Coleman can be got to and I feel like Sains might have the pop in his shots to do it. There are exploits for his style. That lead left is held awfully low and he is a bit wide-and-wild when he throws. But he is an overwhelming swarmer with enough power to close the show when those big swings land.

I reckon Sains gets this done by knockout. Coleman is experienced and game, but I believe his opponent is too fresh and too strong. Sains can finish this in rounds 7-8 and 9/2. 

Image: Mark Robinson?Matchroom Boxing

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