LEARNING THE HARD WAY
Brave Cheeseman finds himself in far too deep with the underrated Garcia
IT was savage. Sergio Garcia put in a virtuoso performance to defend his European super-welterweight championship from Ted Cheeseman. The Spaniard’s workrate was scarcely believable but his management of the fight was more impressive. In the first round he stepped to the aggressive Bermondsey fighter, meeting him in the centre of the ring to fire in salvoes of punches to stop Cheeseman’s advance. Then he moved off, judging the distance expertly, landing solid jabs while keeping himself a step clear of Ted’s attacks.
Garcia was dominant. He controlled the action, refusing to slacken the pace of his work. It reduced Cheeseman to trudging after him, clamping his gloves to his head and loading up on big left hooks. He jolted Garcia at times and managed to pressure the champion in the eighth round, clubbing his right uppercut through the Spaniard’s guard.
But it was by no means enough. The intelligent pressure and head movement that Cheeseman had used against Asinia Byfield in their British title fight was absent. Instead he marched grimly forward, even dropping his hands, meeting far too many punches head on. He might have proved his toughness but that will be scant comfort. He finished widely and well beaten.
Garcia was the unanimous victor after 12 intense rounds. Judges Grzegorz Molenda and Robert Laine both scored 119-109, while Massimiliano Bianco had it a much-too-close 115-114. Referee was Giuseppe Quartarone.
Crystal Palace’s Craig “Spider” Richards was a revelation. His clash with Jake Ball was well matched on paper but in the ring Richards took him apart, ruthless in his efficiency. Lightwater’s Ball sidled round him, landing swift jabs. But Craig timed his heavy right cross. The shot dropped Ball before the end of the first round.
He trusted in his power. A vicious right hook scythed into Jake’s body in the second round and forced him to his knees. Richards’ continued to be sharp with his right cross. He put weight into that back hand, dropping him once more in third round. By now every shot was hurting Jack, shaking him badly. As Richards tore into him referee Steve Gray had to stop Ball at 2-27.
Wokingham’s Felix Cash hammered Rasheed Abolaji to win the vacant Commonwealth middleweight title. Cash sent him to the canvas first with a firm jab and poured in vicious punches to finish the Nigerian’s efforts after just 2-45 of the first round. Referee was Marcus Mcdonnell.
Lawrence Okolie was unhurried as he moved around ponderous Hungarian
Tamas Lodi. Keeping his arms loose, he held out a light jab. It was easy for the Hackney cruiserweight. In the second round he leapt in with a left hook, dropping Tamas to the canvas. Lodi could not withstand a further right hook round his guard, hitting the canvas a second time.
In the third round a hefty one-two bounced Lodi off the ropes back to the canvas. Stepping out of a clinch, Okolie dashed another right hand into the Hungarian’s jaw, depositing him on the deck a fourth time. Referee Howard Foster had to end it at 1-13 of the third.
Scott Fitzgerald warmed up for his March 30 clash with Anthony Fowler, quickly hurting Radoslav Mitev. He landed a hard right uppercut. A left hook to the top of head wobbled the Bulgarian and the man from Preston overwhelmed him quickly. After hitting the deck in the first round, Chaz Coakley counted out Mitev at 1-24 of the second.
Scotland’s John Docherty was too big and too strong for Przemyslaw Binienda. He set about the Pole, heavy southpaw lefts knocking Binienda off his feet, prompting referee Chaz Coakley to end it at 1-59 of the first round.
Ipswich heavyweight Fabio Wardley dispatched Morgan Dessaux, halting the Frenchman at just 1-43 of the first round. Hammersmith’s well-supported Dana Zaxo dropped Tayar Mehmed with a right hand to the jaw in the second. The Bulgarian rose to go the four-round distance, losing 40-35. Chaz Coakley refereed.
THE VERDICT Garcia proves to be a level beyond Cheeseman.