We have a long list of young prospects with the same goal of rising through the ranks with a win at Queensberry’s card in London. In one of the more exciting bouts, we have Aloys Youmbi against Oronzo Birardi for the IBO Continental Cruiserweight title. Here is our Junior vs Birardi prediction.
Junior vs Birardi Prediction: The Future of the Cruiserweight Division is Bright
Aloys Junior Preview
When you get compared to Mike Tyson at such an early age, you know that the expectations are set high. Aloys Junior has not yet achieved much in the ring but is already well-known for his devastating punching power.
The 21-year-old Londoner, nicknamed “The Animal”, started his professional debut with a decision loss to Michal Soczynski in 2021. Since then, he has won all 7 fights by knockouts, most recently taking out Pablo Oscar Natalio Farias.
More importantly, the youngster has a brilliant team behind him with Ben Davidson as his trainer. Davidson is also the one who trained Anthony Joshua, so you know the experience is there. Junior has been improving with every showing but he has also never faced such a tough opponent in his young career.
Before we can give a confident Junior vs Birardi prediction, we have to look at his opponent.
Oronzo Birardi Preview
The 24-year-old German with Italian roots recently signed a contract with Frank Warren, making him the first German signing in history at Queensberry Promotions.
Birardi also made his professional debut in 2021 and has won all 8 of his fights to date, scoring 6 knockouts on the way here. More importantly, “Lo Stallone Barese” can look back on a strong amateur career, something that his opponent doesn’t have.
He became the European Junior Champion in 2015 and also won the German championship six times. In total, the stats say he won 130 of his 140 fights as an amateur.
Junior will be fighting at home but Birardi already has experience fighting in London and the hostile crowd will not faze him.
After an injury, he was able to make his long-awaited UK debut in December 2023, stopping Israel Duffus in the first round. His second fight in London followed in May when he faced Milans Volkovs and defeated him on points. But it is a fact that this will be his toughest challenge yet.
Our Aloys Junior vs Oronzo Birardi Prediction: A Knockout in 4-5 Rounds
Bookmakers see Junior as a clear favorite, which is quite surprising as Birardi is generally far more experienced and has a better amateur background.
In addition, Junior has never gone beyond 4 rounds in his career, while Birardi has already fought full 6 and 8-round fights. In terms of fitness, Birardi could therefore gain the upper hand in the later rounds, depending on how the fight goes.
But we generally doubt that Aloys will allow this fight to reach past the middle rounds. His aggressive style is hard to handle and his devastating power makes it even worse.
We have to side with the Englishman for our Junior vs Birardi prediction, and the only logical option is the knockout market. There is no value in the moneyline odds, so if you are not sure about that knockout, we suggest skipping this bout.
