A lot of fight fans view
last year's Nate Campbell's knockout
loss to Robbie Peden as one of the most bizarre in recent memory. After a fairly
even first four rounds of their bout, Nate Campbell took control of most of the
5th round landing a crushing right hand rip to the body with 1 minute 20 seconds
left in the round that virtually paralyzed Peden for a few seconds and Campbell
went in for the kill. What most people did not witness was the fact that Peden
evaded most of Campbell’s follow up punches as Nate pursued the knockout. Just
when everyone thought the tone of the fight had been set in Campbell’s favour,
Peden landed a reasonable left hook with 50 seconds left on the clock and
Campbell dropped his hands arrogantly, with a look of distain on his face
towards Peden. What still puzzles me is that he dropped his hands for an
extended period of time (about 5 seconds, an eternity in boxing where split
seconds can mean the difference between a win or loss) and offered Peden a free
shot which Robbie gladly took launching and landing a hybrid left hook-upper cut
(Razor Ruddock style) with everything behind it and with 45 seconds remaining and
Campbell was counted out with 35 seconds till the end of the round.
Ever since he regained his senses, Nate Campbell has whined,
complained and made excuses. Just yesterday things became very heated leading up
to the rematch, with Campbell trash talking with some truly low life comments
such as “I am going to beat you like you stole something. You are going to be
brain dead when I’m finished with you.” Comments like this make Sharmba
Mitchell’s trash talk before his rematch with Kostya Tszyu look classy. I just
hope Peden does to Campbell what Tszyu did to Mitchell and shuts Campbell’s
mouth with another KO. I think it would be sweet poetic justice to see Campbell
crying again after Wednesday night’s bout in Melbourne.
The odds are in Campbell’s favour to extract revenge against
Peden this time. I can’t see why as the first bout was fairly even in the first
four rounds. Campbell picked up the pace and dominated most of the 5th round.
The big difference is the fact that Peden took Campbell’s best shots in that
round including a devastating body punch and Robbie recovered to knock Campbell
out a mere 35 seconds after absorbing one of the best body punches of 2004.
For my part, I think this bout will go into the later rounds,
perhaps the distance and it’s a bit too close for me to call with any certainty.
I’m going to predict an 11th round TKO to Robbie Peden as I feel Campbell is
making up for some fear and self doubt after his last bout with Peden. I guess
that is just the biased Aussie coming out in me. The more likely scenario is a
12 round decision to Peden as it will be hard for Campbell to win on points if
the fight is close. I will speak up if I feel a home town decision is awarded
regardless of how much I dislike Nate Campbell.
