DEMOLITION MAN
Okolie wins Commonwealth cruiser title in only his ninth pro fight
Lis going to be a hard man to beat. He has height, reach, genuine power and knows how to put his attributes to use. Smartly he rushed out to the centre of the ring and belted cruiserweight Commonwealth champion, Luke Watkins with that right cross. At once the “Duke” knew Okolie could hurt him but he didn’t know how to get round the long left hand that Lawrence jabbed out and held in his face. Hesitating on the end of that long lever, Watkins found himself stuck. All the while, Okolie had his punishing right coiled and ready to strike for when the Swindon man tried to get inside.
Hackney’s Okolie had him under control. Lawrence planted his jab to the body and whipped a long right hook into Watkins’ side. Luke mustered little in response. A fleeting right cross to the body and a jab pushed through uncertainly. All the while he was taking punishment. The finish, when it came, was unsurprising. He staggered Watkins with the weight behind his right hand. Okolie descended on him swinging hard, knocking Watkins down heavily. Luke rose wearily and Okolie put him out of his misery. His cross struck again and again, slamming Luke back down to the canvas and ending it for referee Michael Alexander at 1-14.
The Commonwealth title also changed hands at featherweight. Watford’s Reece Bellotti steamed forward, ready to unleash salvoes of hard hooks. Gorton’s Ryan Doyle fielded the attacks and struck back. He whipped right hooks over Bellotti’s guard. Time and again Reece stepped into them. In the fifth round a final, devastating right hook struck. Reece reeled away beneath the impact of the blow. His hands dropped, he was out on his feet. Doyle charged in. Bellotti was open for punch after punch as he gradually tumbled over to the canvas.
Referee Howard Foster rushed in to end it at 1-02 of the fifth round. The stoppage was spot on; Bellotti was out on his feet, unable to defend himself and had to be halted then.
The shocking piece of refereeing on the night came when Terry O’connor ruled two consecutive knockdowns as slips as Ted Cheeseman was in the process of overwhelming Paul Upton. It denied Upton a count to recover, and the referee the time to assess his condition, dangerous on a sweltering night at York Hall. The fight finally finished when Bermondsey’s Cheeseman clubbed Upton over conclusively at 2-45 of the fourth round. Throughout Cheeseman had been too strong and too composed for Romford’s Upton. Ted broke through at the start of the fourth with a devastating right uppercut. Upton crumbled to the deck. Even letting his mouthguard fall from his mouth could not buy him enough time to recover. Cheeseman swarmed forward to claim his dramatic victory.
Kazakh southpaw Daniyar Yeleussinov looked like what he is: a topquality amateur who needs to transition to professional boxing. Linking up with trainer John David Jackson will help with that. Yeleussinov picked out clear single shots, striking in firm left crosses to take a 60-54 victory over Hungary’s Zoltan Szabo for referee Robert Williams.
Felix Cash handled muscular
Frenchman Francis Tchoffo with aplomb over eight rounds. The Wokingham middleweight landed clear jabs. He wobbled the solid Frenchman with a left hook in the third round and his right cross slashed down to drop Tchoffo in the sixth. He increased the pressure. In the seventh round he punched the gumshield out of Tchoffo’s mouth, sending it spinning through the ropes on to the commentators’ table. The Frenchman endured but Cash took a 80-71 decision from referee Jeff Hinds.
Danny Dignum was fortunate to get a narrow points win over Anthony Fox. The Bowers Gifford man had a nightmare fourth round. A heavy right hand from Fox hurt and dropped Danny. He rose only to face a ferocious onslaught.
Westbury’s Fox sustained his attacked, putting Dignum down a second time and sustaining the pressure in the fifth round, manhandling Danny at times. Danny showed heart, in fact rallying well in the sixth round with good one-two combinations. That sterling effort looked to be enough to salvage a draw, but referee Williams had Dignum 58-57 up.
Barnstead’s Louie Lynn wobbled Liverpool’s Ricky Starkey with sharp crosses, knocking him off his feet in the first round, bundling him down again in the second until he was pulled out at 2-31. Mr Hinds refereed. Crystal Palace light-heavy Craig
Richards pummelled Croatia’s Bosco Misic to finish him at 1-15 of the third round, while Newport’s Sean Mcgoldrick ground down a defiant Craig Derbyshire over six, beating the Doncaster man 60-54 for referee Hinds.