Ekow Essuman vs Ben Vaughan Predictions: Vaughan steps in the ‘Engine’ room

WBO European welterweight champion Ekow Essuman defends his title against Ben Vaughan this Saturday, November 2. The fight takes place at the BP Pulse Arena in Birmingham on the Liam Davies vs Shabaz Masoud undercard. TNT Sports will televise the event.

Here are my Essuman vs Vaughan predictions ahead of this title 12-rounder.

Essuman is one of those fighters that exists in a sort of purgatory. He has won English, British, Commonwealth belts and sanctioning body versions of the European title on his mantle. But that final kick-on to world level has never arrived. Now, at 35, the ‘Engine’ trundles into a defence of the WBO European strap. 

One wonders if this is the peak of Essuman’s career trajectory. The belt he holds has him ranked ninth in the WBO top 10. But a title shot at Brian Norman Jr. feels like a remote possibility, if it even is one at all. Commercially, eighth-placed Conor Benn is the more likely candidate if the champion delves deep into the rankings. 

Welterweight is a division light on big names since Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. settled their score and moved on. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is the flagbearer, holding the IBF title. The other champions are solid fighters but unknown to all but the most engrossed fan. WBA boss Eimantas Stanionis and WBC counterpart Mario Barrios aren’t going to light up the box office any time soon. 

This suggests a wide-open division, but Essuman will need more than a victory over Vaughan to gatecrash the party. The 10-0 challenger has been in good form, knocking his last two opponents out in a single round each. Intriguingly, they were just Vaughan’s second and third stoppage victories. It seems like ‘The Bomber’ is starting to live up to his moniker.

But Essuman feels too experienced and too canny to fall into any traps. Only Harry Scarff has beaten the 35-year-old. That upset arrived last year, when ‘Horrible’ Harry outscored the veteran to take the British, Commonwealth and IBF European straps. That setback might have capped Essuman’s world title dreams for good. But he should still have too much for Vaughan in this bout.

Ekow Essuman vs Ben Vaughan Fight Odds

Essuman is 4/7 to score a victory in this one. Vaughan is a modest 6/4 underdog while the draw is 16/1.

Ekow Essuman vs Ben Vaughan Full Card

Liam Davies vs Shabaz Masoud 

Chantelle Cameron vs Patricia Berghult

Ekow Essuman vs Ben Vaughan 

Ezra Taylor vs Kristaps Bulmeistars 

Eithan James vs Jermaine Osbourne-Edwards 

Eoghan Lavin vs Remi Scholer 

Bradley Thompson vs Sean Jackson 

Mykyle Ahmed vs Yin Caicedo 

Lewis Williams vs Lamah Griggs

Ekow Essuman vs Ben Vaughan Prediction

I feel confident in Essuman here. Vaughan is on a good run, but the champion is more experienced at this level. The Scarff defeat was a setback but it was a competitive fight. Even at 35, Essuman hasn’t lost his ‘Engine’ quite yet. My pick is Essuman on points at 6/4.

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