How good is Bilal Akkawy?

Next Sunday is an important day for Bilal Akkawy (13(11)-0-1). Either he proves his prospect bona fides. Or much like a whole lot of hopefuls recently — Anthony Ogogo being one recent example — he’ll need to go back to the drawing board.

Akkawy has great credentials. His dad is a noteworthy coach, and owns a well-regarded club. Fighters such as Sakio Bika and Zac Awad have come out of his gym. Thus far, Akkawy’s victories over journeymen show his pedigree, and the KOs reflect that.

But, you see, he’s facing Kerry Hope. And if you know a little bit about Hope, you know he’s been a spoiler. Back in 2012, Hope surprised the boxing world by beating Grzegorz Proksa.

(Amusingly enough, Hope made Proksa look so bad, Darren Barker was sitting at ringside and decided right then and there to resume his boxing career.)

There’s many reasons I want Akkawy to win. He’s got power. He never fails to entertain.

But the question, of course, is: how good is he? Here’s a highlight video created two years ago. I doesn’t show the improvements Akkawy made since then. But it does give a sense of why he’s so much fun.