REECE LIGHTNING
Belotti puts his pedal to the metal after he slips behind early
REECE BELOTTI turned in a starmaking performance just when it mattered to clinch the Commonwealth featherweight title at a packed-out York Hall.
Despite slipping behind early on against slick southpaw champion Jason Cunningham, 26-year-old Belotti thundered back with a harrowing sixthround stoppage in what is perhaps the best performance we’ve seen on one of Matchroom’s ‘NXTGEN’ shows.
In many ways it was the type of fight upon which York Hall has been built: an exciting, popular man from Greater London with enough draw to tempt a champion to defend against him here in Bethnal Green.
And while it was the badge of Watford FC adorning his shorts, it was Roy of the Rovers stuff for Belotti in front of his legion of noisy fans inside the iconic old hall.
A few of them might have been concerned after an opening few rounds in which Cunningham looked composed and measured in the face of Belotti’s relentless volume punching. Although it was the South Oxhey man who set the pace and forced Cunningham onto the back foot, the champion was comfortable counter-punching with sharp uppercuts and straight backhands.
With just six stoppages in his 23 victories, Doncaster’s Cunningham is not a noted puncher but his precision seemed to be giving Belotti second thoughts and the challenger’s nose was badly bloodied by the fourth.
But Belotti, circling away to the left, refused to slow the pace and found a startling breakthrough in the closing moments of the fifth, flooring Cunningham hard with a short right hook. The champion somehow beat the count but there would be no let up after the break.
The finish was hard to watch as Belotti rained down hooks on Cunningham, whose legs, for some reason, were refusing to give up on him. There were
‘I SAID IT WOULD BE TRICKY TO START WITH - THE AIM WAS TO GET HIM LATE’
just 40 seconds of round six gone when Bob Williams jumped in to end the punishment.
Belotti moves onto 11-0 with 10 early. That record had already marked him out as a decent puncher but stopping journeymen and turning a title fight on its head with a single punch are two very different things. Belotti can do both.
“I said it would be tricky to start with,” he said. “My aim was to get him late if I could – I thought I’d get him in the end and that’s what happened.”
Another man who moved to 11-0 was Ted Cheeseman, who produced the best performance of the undercard to stop Mallorca-based Aristides
Quintero in the fifth round of their lightmiddleweight eight-rounder.
In truth, Bermondsey’s Cheeseman gave the visitor a schooling for much of the contest. Up close he was landing at will with right uppercuts before rolling away and coming back with hooks.
The finish, when it came, was little short of sublime as Cheeseman produced a lighting three-punch combination lifting his opponent’s head with a right uppercut before a left hook-right hand sent him floorwards.
He failed to beat Chas Coakley’s count with the finish timed at 2-51 of the fifth.
At only 22 the former Fisher ABC favourite must be considered one of the most promising youngsters in the country and, for want of a better word, Cheeseman appears to be maturing perfectly.
“Tonight my opponent had 20 wins with 17 KOS so I knew he could punch a bit,” he said. “He gave me a test and he brought out the best in me.”
In the biggest surprise of the night, debutant Eric Israel knocked highly touted William Webber out cold after 1-01 in the third (of four).
When Nigerian Israel, who trains under Michael Ballingall in Portsmouth, came over to Britain to study he had no friends or family. But after excelling in boxing he decided to put his Masters on hold and turn professional – although he admitted afterwards his parents don’t even know he boxes.
Outsiders would have given him little chance against Essex southpaw Webber, an amateur standout, but he stuck to his task well and dropped his opponent heavily with a short left hook in the closing stages of the second.
The pair went to war in the third with both men swinging in heavy shots in centre ring. Muscle-bound Israel looked visibly tired but that did not stop him landing another left hand.
Webber appeared to touch down again but referee Coakley did not spot it and Israel chased after the youngster, ending the contest with a chilling right hook.
Meanwhile, Brighton superwelterweight Harlem Eubank had to settle for a points win on his first appearance on a Matchroom promotion. His cousin Chris Jnr watched on from ringside as Eubank won all four rounds on Jeff Hinds’ card against Coventry’s far taller Michael Green.
There was no stoppage either for Epsom super-flyweight Charlie
Edwards who won a shut-out after eight rounds against Craig Derbyshire according to Hinds. Edwards stopped the Yorkshireman in the fourth round of his professional debut back in January 2015 but had to make do with a decision here. Liverpool super-featherweight Tasha
Jonas made light work of the badly overmatched Hungarian Marianna
Gulyas. “Miss GB” dropped Gulyas momentarily in the second then wiped her out after 1-23 of the third with a vicious one-two from her southpaw stance which was enough to convince Hinds to wave it off.
Earlier, Isaac Chamberlain stopped fellow Londoner Ossie Jervier after 2-06 of round six in their scheduled eight rounder. Jervier, who had been dropped by Chamberlain, managed to reach his feet in time but Hinds had seen enough.
THE VERDICT Belotti saves an otherwise underwhelming card with memorable comeback win.