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Yesterday at London's York Hall, the comeback trail of Welsh lightweight Dean Phillips hit an unexpected obstacle in the form of ex-European Super Featherweight Champion Tontcho Tontchev's left fist. In front of a packed house, Phillips never recovered and was knocked out in the first round on a well supported Maloney promotions bill.
Phillips had been going strong in the early seconds of the round, dictating the pace of the fight and forcing Tontchev to use his boxing skills. However, those skills came to fruition as Phillips swung a left hook to the body. Simultaneously Tontchev launched his own left hook which met the Welshman's chin with painful accuracy and the combined power of the two punches caused Phillips' head to swivel violently on its axis. Phillips' body seemed to stiffen and straighten slightly, as he fell backwards to the mat like a tree at the hands of a lumberjack.
The stricken man was out cold and the paramedics entered the ring at the referee's command. It was at least 60 seconds before he regained consciousness and was eventually helped to his feet and back to the corner by the medical staff. The standing ovation rapturously given by the crowd will have helped the 30-year-old Welshman to recover only the slightest amount.
Phillips did not fight for 15 months after his last defeat and had taken a five-year break until 2003 after a points defeat to Steve Conway in April 1998. Manager Frank Maloney may have a tough task getting Phillips back into the ring quickly.
Thirty-three year old Tontchev certainly comes with qualifications; Olympic Lightweight Silver Medallist in 1996 and a former WBU Lightweight Champion, European Super Featherweight Champion, WBC and WBA International Super Featherweight Champion.
A former Maloney Promotions golden boy, Tontchev will want to continue to re-build his own career as he suffered two loses in his previous four bouts before this emphatic display of power against the well tipped Phillips.
Dean Phillips - Tontcho Tontchev
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On the undercard, well supported Albanian middleweight Kreshnik Qato won on points 55-66 against France's Laurent Goury over six rounds. Goury proved a difficult opponent, using his silky boxing skills well, but Qato's power and brute force proved to be the trump card despite
both men exchanging heavy blows. London's Albanian community had turned out in force, including the Albanian ambassador to the UK and the vocal support no doubt helped Qato towards his victory.
Kreshnik Qato - Laurent Goury
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Making his professional debut at middleweight, Mervin Wallace beat Simon Lucas with a TKO in the fourth round. Wallace had been winning the earlier rounds but his professional inexperience showed. After knocking Lucas down for eight – Lucas seemed to flop to the canvas in delayed reaction to a Wallace right hand – he tried just a little too hard to finish off his opponent, instead leaving himself out of breath and with Lucas looking to clear his head by knocking off his opponent's. Lucas never looked likely to withstand Wallace's power and it was a left right combination that eventually left him counted out for ten in the fourth and final round.
Mervin Wallace - Simon Lucas
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Light middleweights Paul Porter and Steve Anwing drew their four two- minute rounds 38-38 in an exciting fight that had the crowd on its feat and baying for more. Anwing pushed forward throwing a lot of punches as he forced Porter back onto the ropes. Porter countered and met fire with fire, landing meaningful hits every time Anwing was unable to connect with his own. The fight got faster and more ferocious as the rounds wore on and perhaps the short two-minute sessions helped the fighters sustain the high tempo. Some sections of the crowd were not happy with the referee’s final decision but a draw was a fair result.
Paul Porter - Steve Anwing
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Leo O'Reilly drew with Silence Saheed 58-58 in a lightweight contest that saw Saheed entered late on the bill. Despite Saheed's lack of training time for the fight, he fought as he always does; at a ferocious pace. Each man landed heavy shots and throughout the fight Saheed's style of attempting to overwhelm his opponent brought out the best in O'Reilly. Saheed lost his gum shield twice during the fight, the first time it was about a minute before the referee ordered it to be replaced. This was the fight that really started the crowds raucous support, at one point before the Qato vs. Goury bout, the ring announcer felt the need to tell the crowd in no uncertain terms to settle down – but the atmosphere did not turn threatening at any point.
Leo O’Reilly - Silence Saheed
Click for larger image © Stefan Christou / Saddo Boxing
The first fight of the evening was lightweight Lee Cook's 37-40 points victory over Rakhim Mingaleev. Cook punched hard from behind his high guard and kept a classic stance throughout the fight with Mingaleev reduced to trying to brawl his opponent by the later rounds. Mingaleev threw good combinations to the head and body but Cook's powerful and measured performance proved too much for the 38-year-old Ukrainian.
Lee Cook - Rakhim Mingaleev
Click for larger image © Stefan Christou / Saddo Boxing
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