Boxing Betting: Is Ian Napa just too small to defeat Jamie McDonnell?

Boxing Betting / Ralph Ellis / 22 January 2010 / Leave a Comment

Ian Napa (background) works his magic against Carmelo Ballone back in 2008

"I'm not sure Napa has been one of our best talents. Just one look at his record - just 6-4 in his favour in title bouts - shows you he can be inconsistent and if McDonnell comes out all guns blazing in the early rounds he could easily be caught."

Napa is the 'Mighty Midget' of UK boxing but is he coming up against too much in the figure of Jamie McDonnell? Ralph Ellis reports

When David Haye became world heavyweight champion he also disproved the old theory that "a good big'un will always beat a good little'un". I was one of many who couldn't see how the Bermondsey boxer could possibly overcome nearly 11 inches difference in height between himself and Nikolai Valuev, and Haye provided the answer.

So maybe I should know better before Ian Napa meets Jamie McDonnell to defend his British bantamweight title tonight, but I can't help thinking that this is another chance to lay the favourite. Napa is priced between [1.39] and [1.51] to win the fight, and between [1.59] and [1.79] to do it inside the distance, in a contest that will be live on Sky.

In relative terms, you see, there's even more difference in reach between these two as there was when Haye, at 6ft 3ins tall, met the giant 7ft 2ins figure of Valuev. Napa, at 31 and at the back end of an inconsistent career, is boxing's mighty midget at just 5ft 1ins tall. McDonnell is one of those lean and lanky bantamweights, though, and at 5ft 8ins will have a considerable advantage.

Haye won with traditional David and Goliath tactics. His opponent was just too big and cumbersome and by moving nimbly himself was able to sling in his own punches when it counted. That might be fine for the heavyweight category where Valuev was just lumbering around the ring. But McDonnell is a different creature entirely, at 22 capable of being lighter on his feet and presenting less of a target.

Napa has all the pressure. After giving up his European title with a meek defence against Frenchman Malik Bouziane he's already got another shot to regain that crown lined up against Jerome Arnould in France, but only if he wins this fight.

As a sign of his commitment he's paid out of his own purse to move into a hotel with gym facilities so he could keep running on a treadmill during the bad weather that left too much snow and ice around his Clapton home. And promoter Frank Warren is dangling the carrot of an eventual world title bid in front of him. "Ian would hate to retire having been one of British boxing's best talents never to challenge for a world title," says Warren.

But I'm not sure Napa has been one of our best talents. Just one look at his record - just 6-4 in his favour in title bouts - shows you he can be inconsistent and if McDonnell comes out all guns blazing in the early rounds he could easily be caught.

Okay, so I was wrong about Haye. And I hope I'm not making the same mistake. But a nerveless young McDonnell with nothing to lose might just be too big a problem for the little man.

Five things you might not know about Ian Napa

5. As well as his prize he had to give up his British title for that fight. When he lost the European crown in his first defence he then regained the British belt beating Gary Davies in Liverpool