QUICKSILVER
Khan demolishes the outgunned Lo Greco in under 40 seconds
KHAN’S ABILITY AT THE TOP LEVEL? LO GRECO COULD NOT ANSWER Lo Greco woefully equipped to provide the answers we needed but Khan gets the job done
Arenaissance was never going to be as grand as Sugar Ray Leonard returning to dethrone Marvin Hagler in 1987, nor was it intended to be as farcical as Peter Mcneeley arriving at the slaughterhouse to be Mike Tyson’s first victim upon his release from prison in 1995.
As it turned out, Phil Lo Greco belonged closer to Mcneeley territory after he was stopped in just 39 seconds. Khan’s rapid start and right hand brought a knockdown almost immediately, and when a dazed Lo Greco got up, he wasn’t given a single moment to search for his senses as Khan, making his first start since being knocked out by Canelo Alvarez in 2016, attacked with menace. As the Canadian fell to the floor again, third man Victor Loughlin intervened to send Khan and his ardent supporters into a frenzy.
Many questions had been asked about Khan in the build-up to this bout, but the fight’s rapid finish left several unanswered. The Bolton star still possesses the godly hand speed that took him to world titles at 140lbs, and he remains a massive draw, as evidenced by the number of tickets sold at the Liverpool Echo Arena, but as for his ability at the very top level, the most important question of all, Lo Greco was not the opponent to provide the answer.
Another fighter breathing life into a career that seemed to be going off track is Hull’s Tommy Coyle, who turned in a career-best performance to rip the Commonwealth lightweight title from Sean Dodd. The entire boxing trade appeared split on who would take the honours in this fascinating encounter, but Coyle made a mockery of those backing the Birkenhead hero, as he dominated. Dodd seemed reluctant to be first, with his only successes coming when fighting back against the barrage of assaults that Coyle was unleashing. When the fight was in the middle of the ring, it was Coyle using feints and a busy jab to gain authority and he received just that when a right hand dropped “Masher” in the fourth session. Coyle landed the same shot two rounds later, and this time he refused to let his opponent off lightly. Further attacks in the neutral corner prompted Dodd’s corner to send in the towel, which landed in the ring as Bob Williams was about to halt proceedings anyway. The stoppage came at 2-13.
Natasha Jonas was provided with a stern test from France’s Taoussy L’hadji, but she responded brilliantly to score a sickening stoppage in the seventh round. Jonas was always the dominant figure in the fight as she landed a number of telling blows that deterred L’hadji at several points. The French import fought back at times, and landed some eyecatching shots that grabbed the attention of Jonas, but as the fight wore on, the fresher “Miss GB” landed with more frequency and the finishing sequence, which included several heavy shots to the head, forced Michael Alexander to halt proceedings at 1-44. The WBA International super-featherweight strap marked her trainer Joe Gallagher’s 80th success from 100 title fights.
Show promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Anthony Fowler and Scott Fitzgerald are on a collision course, and both impressed here. Liverpool’s Fowler stalked Northolt’s Ryan
Toms throughout the fight’s early going and his intent was rewarded as a sapping body shot dropped the former Southern Area champion for Mark Lyson’s full count at 2-49 of the second round. Preston’s Fitzgerald had fun against Hungarian import, Laszlo Fazekas, going through his full repertoire to earn an 80-71 verdict from Alexander, which included a heavy knockdown in round three thanks to a well-placed left hook to the body. Sam Eggington wasted no time in stopping the seriously over-matched Achilles Szabo. The Birmingham man was relentless from the opening bell and was hurting his Hungarian opponent with almost every shot. Szabo was down twice in the second stanza and that was enough to force an intervention from Alexander at 1-41. Local favourite Tom Farrell continued his rehabilitation from his loss to O’hara Davies last year, and he looked sensational stopping Chichester based Zambian, Mwenya Chisanga, at 2-30 of round three. Farrell had been caught with some needless shots, but he found an almighty right hand to stagger Chisanga, and once that landed he displayed a ruthlessness to finish the job. Lyson stepped in to prevent Chisanga from taking more punishment. Conor Benn’s aggressiveness has never been in doubt, but it now looks like the Essex fighter, is becoming a little more rounded as he showed glimpses of patience as he looked for the right shots against Birmingham’s Chris Truman.a well timed uppercut 1-17 into the fourth dropped Truman, and Lyson waved it off when he returned to his feet.
Craig Glover opened the show with a devastating knockout over Edinburg based Fijian, Ratu Latianara, after only 20 seconds. The Liverpool cruiserweight is on an impressive run of stoppages since joining Derry Mathews’ gym, and he added to that tonight with a frightening display of power as Latianara was stopped the moment he hit the floor.
Manchester’s Bilal Rehman kept it long to frustrate and outpoint Lithuania’s
Edvinas Puplauskas 60-55 according to Lyson, and former Team GB standout
Qais Ashfaq made it two wins from as many contests as defeated Liverpool’s
Ricky Starkey, 40-36, over four. The contest was a messy one throughout as the Leeds prospect had to endure several spoiling tactic from his opponent, but he was always able to land the cleaner work, which impressed Alexander.
The show closer, long after Khan had been victorious, saw Bolton’s Osman Aslam take a 40-36 verdict off Lyson as he defeated Nicaragua’s Jose Hernandez.
THE VERDICT Rapid-fire Khan wins at a canter against poor Lo Greco.
TALKING POINT KELL BROOK was predictably positioned at ringside yet the two did not engage in any serious posturing afterwards. In a nutshell, Khan said he’d beat Brook, Brook said Khan was scared, and Eddie Hearn insists he wants to make the fight.