In what essentially amounts to a title elimination fight, junior lightweights Jordan Gill and Zelfa Barrett square off on Saturday, April 13 in England. Betting odds suggest a close bout with Barrett listed as the -172 favorite. The Brown Flash is looking to get back in the title picture after suffering a TKO loss to Shavkat Rakhimov for the IBF belt in November 2022. Since then Barrett has defeated a pair of worthy opponents and is looking for a shot at strap holder Joe Cordina.
Gill has his sights set on the same title bout and is feeling good about his chances after upsetting Michael Conlan with a seventh round TKO in his last outing. Gill won the vacant WBA international super featherweight title in the process over a year after losing for only the second time in 30 career professional fights. Gill has taken part in a number of regional title bouts in the past few years, but the match with Barrett is easily the biggest of his career.
Jordan Gill vs. Zelfa Barrett Betting Odds
Jordan Gill +140
Zelfa Barrett -172
The 12-round junior lightweight fight between Jordan Gill ( 28-2-1, 9 KOs ) and Zelfa Barrett ( 30-2, 16 KOs ) will take place on Saturday, April 13, 2024 at AO Arena in Manchester, England and will be streamed on DAZN.
Jordan Gill vs. Zelfa Barrett Fight Preview
As if the sport isn’t confusing enough with four major organizations sanctioning professional fights and a number of different weight classes, let’s also have different titles for the same division. Boxing is popular showing off skill, stamina and toughness in a pure mano a mano setting with the brutality attracting combat sports fans. But it’s hard to keep track of what’s going with all the varying aspects. One that bothers me is same weight class referred to by different names. The junior lightweight division is also called super featherweight, so try to keep up. For fans who like the sport this can be a turnoff, but I digress.
Let’s get back to the point of the article which is that the winner is in line for a shot at the division title. Both boxers have enjoyed success at the regional level with Barrett winning the vacant English super featherweight bet with a KO of Chris Conwell in 2017. He lost for the first time as a pro in his next fight by decision to Ronnie Clark for the IBF European belt. Barrett climbed back up the hill in 2019 winning the Commonwealth super featherweight strap with a unanimous decision over Lyon Woodstock.
Barrett also claimed the IBF intercontinental and European super featherweight titles leading to a showdown with undefeated Shavkat Rakhimov for the vacant IBF belt in 2022. The bout didn’t disappoint with Barrett flooring his opponent in round three only to go down twice himself in later rounds. Often on the defensive Barrett succumbed to the relentless pressure getting KOd late in the ninth round. Nonetheless it was a valiant effort by Barrett, who took that fight on just five weeks notice.
It took some time for Gill to get a chance at a high-profile fight but it was worth the weight. After winning his first 21 fights, Gill won the Commonwealth featherweight title stopping Ryan Doyle in the seventh round in Oct. 2018. Five months later Gill scored a TKO win over Emmanuel Dominguez for the vacant WBA international featherweight belt. In his first title defense Gill suffered his first defeat as a pro with a pounding from Mario Enrique Tinoco. Gill was sent to the canvas three times before his corner threw in the towel before round 8.
More recently Gill bounced back from his second loss beating Michael Conlan with a 7th round TKO last December. Roughly 12 months before that Gill lost to former two class world champion Kiko Martinez with the fight stopped in the fourth round.
Bet Jordan Gill vs. Zelfa Barrett
There certainly won’t be a lack of motivation and both fighters are technically sound. Barrett is a stronger puncher and has shown in previous fights he can take a hit. That’s a good news-bad news scenario, though, since he doesn’t want to absorb too many blows. In his two losses Gill was abused with body shots from iron fists. That’s kind of the style Barrett brings and I can see him attacking and wearing down Gill for the eventual win.
Boxing Odds Pick: Zelfa Barrett / Unanimous Decision
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