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© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Last night, Danny Williams made his first defence of the British Heavyweight title against John McDermott at a packed, and very warm, Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, England.
In his words – promoter Frank Maloney brought us ‘517 lbs of Raw Power on a Collision Course’.
Williams, of Brixton, London, now aged 35, had his most notable win over Iron Mike Tyson – but ‘Big Bad John‘ of Hornden, is looking to take the British title.
The majority of support sounded to be from the John McDermott fans in attendance, with very few cheers for Williams. McDermott entered the ring first – wearing shiny blue shorts with matching hooded robe, alongside trainer CJ Hussein.
Williams, wearing glittery silver shorts and matching trainers, looks serious as he enters the ring with new trainer David Perera. Despite being the heavier man at 18 stone 13 [265 lb], Williams has the better physique.
Williams goes straight to work in round one while McDermott seems to want to suss it out first. Williams already is ooking to land a big punch in the opening seconds.
Williams does lands a big right punch in the opening seconds of round three and McDermott is startled by the shot, but stands firm against the Brixton man. Referee Dave Parrish stops to warn Williams for hitting back of head and moments later, time is called again for Parrish to secure the loose tape on Williams’s glove. It’s another cautious round for McDermott, who has not been busy enough in these first three frames and it‘s not a positive mood in his corner.
McDermott doesn’t look any more confident as he comes out for the fourth round and a body-shot from Williams gives Big John a ‘taste’ of Danny’s power.
In the opening minute of round five, McDermott lands a left hook followed by a big right uppercut and Williams is under pressure. He subjects Williams to an onslaught, but the champion does well to hang on, as the crowds are standing and cheering all around the venue.
McDermott continues the onslaught and Williams is struggling – looking as though he will be on the canvas any second. Still, McDermott keeps up the pressure and Williams is not throwing anything back!
The tape on Williams’s glove is flying around and at ringside, we wonder when the referee will stop proceedings to attend to it – because it could be a crucial moment in the fight.
With a minute of the round to go – Williams looks dazed and unsteady as he takes further punches from McDermott, but he keeps upright and gets to the end of the round.
In the last minute of round six, another uppercut from McDermott lands on Williams, but the Brixton man responds with some head and body shots of his own.
In the opening minute of round nine, Williams is warned for low blows. Both men ‘bob’ from side-to-side as they wait for their opponent to make a move. McDermott has gone back to ‘tentative-mode’.
Frank Maloney is leaning through the ropes to John McDermott during the intermission. “Two rounds and the fight of your life!” Maloney urges to McDermott.
Sky Sports’ stats show that McDermott has thrown the more punches, 267 to 241 for Williams, and has the better success rate at 24% to 18%.
Not a busy round ten! Williams’s gumshield falls out and it is the opposing corner who return it, little did we know that Williams’s gumshield would be significant!
McDermott’s corner are frustrated and can be heard shouting at their charge during the interval between rounds ten and eleven. McDermott has picked away with some light jabs.
With a minute of the eleventh frame remaining, referee Parrish deducts a point from Williams for low blows. McDermott has sustained a cut to the left eye this round. With half a minute remaining, Parrish calls for both boxers to ‘break’ and as the two men part – Williams pushes his glove in the face of McDermott. Parrish gestures to deduct another point from Williams for the incident.
Williams’s gumshield is out again and he is led back to his corner to retrieve it. As the bell sounds the end of the round, Boo’s ring out around the arena.
The twelfth and final round begins and Williams’s gumshield comes out again before the end of the first minute. Mid-way through the round, McDermott lands an uppercut, but moments later Williams comes back with some shots of his own.
As the two men hang on to each other, Williams is clearly seen spitting out the gumshield and referee Parrish deducts another point. While they are retrieving the gumshield in Williams’s corner, Parrish can be heard reprimanding Williams over the number of times he’s lost his gumshield.
After the round ends and the scores are tallied, MC Michael Pass announces a win for Williams by majority decision 113-113; 114-111 and 114-113.
Team McDermott, Frank Maloney and many onlookers are in uproar at the decision, believing that McDermott had clearly won. I didn’t see Williams smile after the announcement – he looked quite negative.
Afterward, Williams suggested to Sky Sports Presenter Ed Robinson that the referee had not been fair with him and said he wasn’t really hurt in round five.
McDermott admitted that his rib was sore in round three and that he thought he had won the fight. He also gave credit to Williams.
Danny Williams improves to 40-6 (31), retaining his British title while McDermott, 25-4 (16), sees a six fight win streak snapped.
