Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea Predictions: The wait is over for continental crown chance

Shakan Pitters finally gets his shot at the European light heavyweight championship this Saturday, June 28 as he takes on fellow Englishman Bradley Rea. The title tussle takes place at the Connexion Arena in Hull. DAZN will screen the event live, as the UK lead-in to the overnight Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight/circus/debacle (delete where applicable).

Here are my Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea predictions ahead of a fight that comes with a complicated backstory.

 Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea Odds

Pitters is the underdog at 6/4, which is a contrast from his originally-scheduled European tilt. Rea is 8/15 to pull this off while the draw is 14/1.

Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea Fight Preview

To borrow one of the most-used jokes in modern internet humour, we really got Shakan Pitters’ mandatory European title shot before GTA 6.

While the West Midlands stylist has not been waiting as long as gamers have for the sixth instalment of Rockstar’s iconic smash-and-grab franchises, it has still been a lengthy and storied saga.

Pitters was supposed to fight then-champion Daniel Dos Santos in February, before the Frenchman withdrew at the 11th hour after failing the brain scan portion of his medical. Pitters had to sate himself with a meaningless second-round knockout win over journeyman Bahadur Karami.

The fight was rescheduled for April, but the doomed date never came. Pitters was the pull-out this time, a fight-week injury kiboshing his chance. The Solihull-born boxer’s replacement was one Bradley Rea. But Dos Santos withdrew hours before the bout due to illness. This was a double-kick in Rea’s teeth, given the fact Constantino Nanga’s withdrawal had cost him a chance to fight on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol II undercard in February.

Doubts surrounding his health led the European Boxing Union (EBU) to strip Dos Santos of his title. Now the two men left sidelined finally get their chance to box for the famous blue belt. 

While these men deserve their opportunity after recent disappointments and cancellations, this is a contradictory fight in many ways. Neither Pitters nor Rea can really claim to be the best light heavyweight in Europe. Britain alone boasts seven men in the world-rankings at 175lb. None of those men are Pitters or Rea.

But the European title, and any regional, national or continental championship, serves as one of three things. A springboard to bigger and better things, a career-high for those not blessed to trouble the world’s best and a gold clock for those heading towards the exit of their careers. 

Pitters is 35 and a former British champion. His two losses came against Dan Azeez and Craig Richards, two quality fighters and champions in their own right. At his age it his hard to see the 20-2 Birmingham star reaching a point where he can trouble the likes of Beterbiev and Bivol. For Pitters, winning this title would be an incredible cherry on the top of the career cake.

Rea is at the other end of the spectrum. 20-1 and 27 years old, there is still a feeling he has it all to do. A fine fighter, there is a feeling the brakes have been on since his 2022 loss to Tyler Denny, the excellent former European middleweight champion.

Rea ditched 160lbs after that loss for the English title, making the unusual step of skipping super middleweight and landing up at light-heavy. It has been a good look for him. Six wins with five knockouts have followed. The opponents have largely been beneath him, it has to be said. Pitters offers far more threat.

You do feel for Pitters here. Here at Betfred we had him as a slight favourite for the Dos Santos scrap. But he’s the underdog for this one. A frustrating wait followed by a tougher opponent? One wonders if there is a broken mirror somewhere in the Pitters household.

The card has been hurt by the injury withdrawal of Hughie Fury. Not as good as his older cousin Tyson, though not as bad as his younger cousin Tommy, ‘The Fist of Fury’ shifts tickets and draws eyeballs on DAZN. Without him this becomes a tougher sell. But the main event is a decent scrap, well-matched and well-deserved. 

Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea Full Card

Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea

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Shakan Pitters vs Bradley Rea Prediction

Neither men are massive punchers here. Pitters is brains over brawn, as his seven knockouts in 20 wins reflect. Rea has 10 stoppages from his own 20 victories. But it must be said, Pitters has fought at a higher level than his co-challenger.

Pitters has the experience advantage, with titles won and lost against quality names. But another advantage he usually enjoys is slightly nullified. Pitters is 6’6, massive for a light heavyweight. But Rea is 6’4, only two inches smaller. It is mind-boggling to think that the Lancashire lad was boiling himself down to middleweight. To put that into perspective, both men are taller than reigning heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk while Pitters is also an inch bigger than the Ukrainian’s next opponent, Daniel Dubois.

Beyond hoping the Connexion Arena has a high ceiling, what else can we look for here? For me it is the improvement in Rea since the move up in weight. Able to fill out and avoid draining weight cuts, his strength seems to have increased in a new division.

Pitters is tricky and even his losses took a lot out of the men who have beaten him. Azeez outscored him comfortably on the cards. But if you watch that fight, you can see the almighty struggle ‘Super’ Dan had to endure. 

When the shots flow, it is hard to take Pitters out of his stride. But the coolly-delivered left straight that Rea threw out of the southpaw stance to put down Lukasz Ndafoluma could do it. The punch was thrown so textbook-short that it was barely perceptible as an offensive motion. Rea almost attracted his opponent’s chin like a magnet. Proof that boxing footwork is not about dancing or running, it is about knowing exactly where your opponent is going to be.

Pitters will be wise to that stuff. He is an able and fluid technician. But Rea’s ability to summon power from nowhere is enough of a weapon to interrupt Shakan’s flow. Ask Denny, who even in victory took an almighty shellacking, nearly going in the ninth round.

I have gone back and forth on this one. I like Pitters’ veteran smarts and willingness to enter the trenches. But ultimately, I feel like his willingness to engage will be the end of his dream. I’m taking Rea to pull out the victory and leave with the belt at 8/15. But my other prediction, one too imprecise to offer a market for, is that we are in for an absolute barnburner here.

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