Having made the 185 mile journey from SW London to Sheffield, I was really in need of an entertaining night of boxing to keep my interest levels high, and with all eyes focused on the world title eliminators between Jamie Mcdonnell vs Darwin Zamora, and Hector Saldivia vs Kell Brook, I was not disappointed.
The fights which preceded showed some of the rising talent currently within UK boxing, some of whom are already displaying the skills and the hunger to want to succeed long term. Shafiq ‘Chubzy’ Asif improved his winning streak to 5-0, by beating Billy Smith and keeping a perfect record of not dropping a single round to date. He displayed clean and sharp attacks, good lateral movement and perfectly executed combinations. Look forward to seeing Chubzy in action soon, perhaps for a 6 rounder next time.
Tyrone Nurse took on Santos Medrano. To be honest the first four rounds were so deadly boring I found it difficult to focus on anything interesting to report. However, from round 5 onwards, Tyrone seemed to find success with the Jab and towards the last two rounds was having success with the straight right. Shame the fight couldn’t have been at the tempo demonstrated from rounds 5 -8, but congratulations to Nurse for redeeming himself in the later rounds and improving his record to 24-1.
Scotty Cardle took on what seemed for the first three rounds a dormant Karim Alilice. Scotty was landing at will and controlling the ring to his complete advantage countering at will and improving his record to 7-0. Although Alilice was game from rounds 4-6, Scotty never really came out of first gear. I would like to see him tested within the next 12 months as I think he has a lot to show to the British boxing public.
The Anderson vs Reid fight was a one sided and at times messy affair. With the exception of the last 20 seconds of the first round, the rest of the round was spent with both fighters wrestling and being warned by referee Ian John Lewis for either low blows or holding. In fact he actually pulled them together and said “Are you going to fight?” Reid way past his best was hoping to gain the British title, but it was never to be as Anderson stuck to his game plan by throwing out a stiff jab and then unloading as the cracks started to appear on Reid. Alex Arthur was sitting behind me and was delighted with his performance, saying ‘the jab was the success to that win’. Although Reid managed to successfully land the overhand right, which many years earlier had caused Joe Calzaghe all kinds of problems, the venom was no longer there. Not sure what Reid’s plan’s are now, but I would hope he doesn’t keep on fighting until it starts to take off the shine of what has been a very respectable journey over the years, including being a world champion. Good luck to Anderson as he improves his record to 18-1.
Kal Yafai is certainly one to watch. Lightning hand speed, pin point accuracy and lots of power. He made swift work of Scott Gladwin, scoring three knockdowns in round one and then stopping him quickly into round two. Although this was only his 4th fight (4-0), it’s evident the 2008 Olympian is in need of stiffer opposition to show how good he really is. A pleasure to watch and certainly one to keep an eye out for as a future champion at international level.
Although Kell Brook was the headliner, Jamie Mcdonell did not fail to impress as he took on a very game and tough opponent by way of Darwin Zamora, to see who would fight for the IBF Bantamweight World Championship. Jamie was landing some incredibly accurate combinations and had the better of Zamora for the whole fight. However, the heart of Zamora was incredible as Jamie kept landing massive shots with success and Zamora just kept coming back and firing his own shots off. By round six the volume of shots were starting to take their toll and at the end of round eight Zamora had quit on his stool. Jamie Mcdonell extends his record to 20-2-1.
The main event of the event proved to be a complete contrast to Kell Brook’s previous fight against Carson Jones. Talk of Kell needing to address the demons from the previous fight were certainly resolved as he stopped Hector Saldivia in 28 seconds of round three. Kell entered the ring in peak physical condition. Not an ounce of body fight in sight. Early stages of the first round saw both fighters trying to find their distance, but Kell saw an opening and landed clean to hand his first knockdown to Saldivia. The damage was now done and major swelling under the right eye was already appearing. Round two was all Kell’s way. Reach, power and precision were all perfect, but Saldivia provides a mini shock as he landed with three punches just before the end of the round. Kell was in no danger. Round three – ding, ding – boom boom. Over in 28 seconds. Kell has shown he is worthy of world class opposition now and if this performance was anything to go by, a world title should be his in 2013.
The post fight press conference showed a very relaxed, composed and focused Brook. The banter with Khan certainly seems to be on his mind though and when I had the opportunity to ask Kell the question, “Who’s going to get Schooled if you and Khan meet?” Kell calmly replied, “Khan is going to get schooled, there is no question. He will be taken out really quickly. He gives it the chat for a long time, but when we get in, I will be on him, relentless, and take him out”.
Daily Sport Says – Fingers crossed this one happens. Has the making of a great domestic tear up.
