MARCHING ON
Joyce continues his advance,
JOE JOYCE can be hit. Bermane Stiverne discovered that, waiting and finding the opening to crack the Londoner with hard right hooks. But the punch has to be very, very hard to dissuade Joyce from marching continuously on. While Stiverne, a former WBC heavyweight champion, might have caught him with single shots, Joe hammered away with salvo after salvo of punches. Joyce was hunting for head shots and neglected attacking Stiverne’s inviting body. But his sustained onslaughts soon exhausted the Haitian.
Joyce pumped out straight shots and as early as the second round wobbled Stiverne badly with a right uppercut. The Briton pressed after him, heaving a right hook into Stiverne’s head after a jab. Another hard right cross in the third round saw Stiverne slump into the ropes. Bermane had to backpedal into the strands, waiting there to try to catch out Joyce with the occasional blow. But he could not repel the marauding Joyce. The Londoner clubbed away at him. After a pounding right hook thumped fully into Stiverne’s head at 2-20 of the sixth round referee Howard Foster finally spared him further punishment.
Joyce retained his Commonwealth title and at just 8-0 continues a rapid ascent.
America’s Omar Douglas gave Lee Selby a rough welcome to the lightweight division. After losing his IBF featherweight title to Josh Warrington last May, Barry’s
Selby returned to action two weight classes higher. Selby manoeuvred from side to side, lining up combinations. But Douglas ploughed into him. Head clashes saw Selby cut by his left eye in the second round and by the right eye in the seventh.
Blood smeared across Selby’s face and Douglas sprang into him, thudding hooks hitting the Welshman’s body and head. He made it hard for the Welshman to settle into a rhythm. Selby slipped out from Douglas’ assault, not allowing himself to be pinned down. Firmly he fired his right cross down, although rarely obliging the American to back off. Confident in his lead, Selby kept himself mobile as the contest wound down, marshalling the threat and taking a unanimous decision. Jerome Lades scored 115-114 and Phil Edwards and Leszek Jankowiak both saw it 116-112. Robert Williams refereed. London light-heavyweight Andre
Sterling took a step towards a shot at the British title when he outscored
Ricky Summers. The Wombourne boxer put Sterling down heavily in the second round, catching the Londoner square on with a flush right hand. But Andre managed to shake of the effects of the impact. As the contest progressed Summers bled from a cut by his right eye and a wound on his nose. Sterling kept himself busy, hammering his body with hooks and launching his right at Ricky. Summers ploughed forward but had less success intercepting the Londoner. Wobbled in the last round, Summers succumbed to a unanimous decision defeat, 97-92 for Michael Alexander and Howard Foster, 97-93 for Terry O’connor.
Belfast’s Anthony Cacace delivered an eight-round points win over Argentina’s
Alan Castillo, winning 79-74 for referee Lee Every. Kent Kauppinen did his best to spoil Chez Nihell’s professional debut. He plunged into Aldershot’s Nihell, looking to disrupt the England Boxing Elite champion with hefty shots swung up from his waist. Chez clipped Swadlincote’s Kauppinen with his southpaw left but did not dissuade the journeyman from attacking in the fourth and last round. Nihell took a 39-37 points win from referee Lee Every.
Seb Eubank was due to box for the first time since his professional debut a year ago but on the night his bout was cancelled. As was Chris Kongo’s contest. It’s a blow for Kongo, a promising welterweight, who had sold hundreds of tickets for a six-rounder with Cedrick Peynaud, the Frenchman who gave Conor Benn so many problems.
THE VERDICT Joyce proves he’s too good for out of shape ex-champions.