IJAZ AHMED
Ahmed takes his chance to move up the rankings, writes Elliot Worsell
The underdog takes his chance to shine
SUPER-FLYWEIGHTS Quaise Khademi and Ijaz Ahmed were not expecting to headline a show at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday, February 27, but two key withdrawals from the London bill resulted in them filling the void and, in turn, receiving the unlikeliest of opportunities.
If a showcase, it was Ahmed, the underdog, who rose to the occasion, outworking Khademi over 10 rounds to win a decision and claim both Khademi’s WBO European super-flyweight title and the vacant IBF European super-flyweight title. Howard Foster scored 95-95 but was overruled by Bob Williams (96-94) and Michael Alexander (96-95).
Khademi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and has, in one way or another, been fighting for most of his life. Now based in East Ham, he received the bulk of the attention ahead of Saturday’s fight, owing to his backstory and potential, and spoke of winning world titles at some point in the future.
Ahmed, on the other hand, had slipped under the radar and was last seen losing a decision against Harvey Horn down at flyweight. Not only that, with no knockouts from nine professional fights, it was hard to see how Ahmed would be able to threaten a boxer like Khademi who was all about movement, staying out of harm’s way, and outboxing opponents.
Ahmed, though, was a man on a mission and didn’t need to hurt Khademi in order to be a problem. From as early as the opening round, in fact, the Birmingham man was swarming and asking his unbeaten opponent questions with his work-rate, head movement and ability to close the distance with his feet.
In the second round, too, this pattern continued: Ahmed chugging forward, constantly trying to find a home for his right hand, and Khamedi, the slicker of the two, searching for room in which to work. When square on, or backed up, Khademi was frequently caught by right hands, perhaps due to his own left being low, and each time they landed it would give Ahmed plenty of encouragement. When moving, however, as he did in the third, Khademi found success. In that round he used his feet to make Ahmed miss and then countered well with a straight right midway through switching stance.
It was Ahmed’s job to slow Khademi and upset his rhythm, which he managed in the fifth round, arguably his best, when suffocating Khademi against the ropes and landing a good left hook to the head followed by body shots. Khademi, usually slick, now couldn’t get away.
The first half of the fight was impressively clean, with no clinching and the referee, Marcus Mcdonnell, a mere spectator, and this continued into the second half, only now, with Ahmed starting to tire, Khademi was able to pick him off and find more success from range.
In the eighth round, Khademi’s quicker hands went to work and Ahmed now seemed not only tired but also frustrated for the first time. He was more hittable in this round and had become sloppy and wild with his pet punch: the right cross. Khademi even finished the round on the front foot, a position new to him, with Ahmed against the ropes.
The ninth was another good round for Khademi and another round in which Ahmed spent a surprising amount of time on the back foot. Yet, if a lull, it would be only temporary, for Ahmed was soon back to doing all he could to rubberstamp a deserved victory in the 10th and final round. He swung at thin air early but then settled down, tightened his form, and landed well to the body to close out the round, tipping a close, entertaining fight in his favour.
When an undercard fight is bumped to co-main event and then, finally, main event, it typically indicates the rest of the card, having been altered almost beyond recognition, will be underwhelming at best. This unfortunately rang true in the case of the Copper Box show, which, following the postponement of Jamel Herring vs. Carl Frampton and Anthony Cacace vs. Lyon Woodstock (who tested postive for Covid-19), struggled to fill the sizeable gaps.
In what was a pointless exercise, Tommy Fury knocked out Scott Williams, 0-10, inside two rounds at light-heavyweight; Referee Williams finished his count while at 2-50 of the session. At middleweight Nathan Heaney outpointed Ryan Oliver over 10 rounds (Williams scored it 97-92), dropping Oliver in the fifth. Also on the card, the promising Sam Noakes, 5-0 (5), stopped Delmar Thomas in the first round of a scheduled six at superlightweight. Williams called a halt at 1-50 of the round.
THE VERDICT Decent action in the main event but the card suffers as a consequence of this difficult world.