‘RIIDDY’ RULES
Ennis-brown capitalises on Jenkins’ cut to claim a rankingboosting belt
GLOUCESTER’S Akeem “Riiddy” Ennisbrown captured the vacant WBC Youth super-lightweight title on a Neilson Boxing card at the GL1 Leisure Centre after an accidental head clash opened a terrible gash above Welshman Chris Jenkins’ right eye. Referee Victor Loughlin sent the scheduled 10-rounder to a technical decision at 1-29 of the fifth.
Garnant’s Jenkins took the opener on my card as left hooks and body shots stopped Akeem from establishing his jab. Ennisbrown, freakishly tall for a 140lb fighter, responded well as he used his long, rapid straight shots to even the tally in the next.
After the head clash caused the cut in the third, the pair exchanged punches and the venue became a deafening cauldron of noise. Jenkins bravely tried to take the fight to Akeem, but the wound was a brutal target for the local fighter, who’d found his range and rhythm and used jabs and straight rights to worsen the injury over the fourth and the start of the fifth. At 22, Ennis-brown is one of the more suitable ‘Youth’ champions the WBC have crowned in recent years, but Jenkins, at 29, would have been pushing it.
Judges Lee Cook, Lee Every and Shaun Messer scored the contest 39-37, 40-36 and 39-38 for Ennis-brown respectively. Ledbury’s Alex Florence scored a 60-54 shutout over Worcester’s “Mad Man” Michael Mooney on Mr Cook’s card. Mooney was cut in the corner of the left eye early and did well to extend Florence. Alex looks fairly heavy-handed and employed good timing to catch Mooney as he tried to close the gap. Also on Mr Cook’s tally, Newport’s Sean Mcgoldrick bested Evesham’s Brett Fidoe over by 40-37. Sean ventured forward and stalked his man throughout, whereas Fidoe used his experience and lateral movement to get through the sessions. Mcgoldrick seemed to be looking to explode with big shots, but it just didn’t click together for him despite being clearly on top over the first three. Nuneaton’s Kristian Laight extended Hereford’s Dean Evans but ultimately dropped a six-twos 58-56 verdict on Mr Every’s card. Evans built solid attacks consistently and was assertive and busy over the full course.
THE VERDICT Prospect Ennis-brown increases his chances of a world ranking with the WBC.