Boxing News Boxing News
© Lawrence Lustig
In the opening bout of the televised card on the Sky Sports on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, Polish Middleweight star Greorgz Proska was making the maiden defence of his European title, which he won against Sebastian Sylvester in Germany stopping the former IBF Champion in three rounds, against Welshman Kerry Hope.
In the opening two rounds of bout, Proska demonstrated the reasons as to why he has been widely talked about as one of the best middleweight prospects in Europe, displaying an effective combination of elusive footwork and fast hands to score effectively in the opening two rounds of the fight.
However, toward the end of the second round, Proska was cut by an accidental head clash and Hope targeted the cut effectively with some good smart boxing in the third round with a jab, and straight left over the top of it.
In the fourth round, Proksa showed his reputation as a fearsome puncher and displayed superior boxing ability in the fourth through to the six rounds on this writers score to lead it 59-55 at the half way point.
In the second half of the fight, Hope started to come into it using his superior work rate to back Proksa up as Proska was at times looking very ragged after starting quickly in the rounds before tiring out towards hearing the bell at the end of the round.
Hope’s own pace and tempo remained consistent, targeting Proska’s severely cut eye and succeeded in turning right side of the Pole’s face into a complete mask of claret. At times Proska looked very rugged and nearly swung himself off his feet trying to land a big left hook to try and turn the fight back in his favour.
Hope continued to worked hard but was deducted a point at the end of the 8th round when he decided that to rub his face into Proska’s cut.
Through the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds, Hope kept at boxing and it backed Proska onto the ropes and scored effectively throughout the world as Proska began to tire but still held on to hear the final bell at the end of what was a thrilling back and forth fight to take to the scorecards.
Marcus McDonnell 114-114 Even
Howard Foster 115-112 Hope
Dave Parris 114-113 Hope.
Hope is now crowned as European Champion and forced his name into the contention into a bubbling British Middleweight scene which contains the likes of former British and European title holders Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin along with the current British Champion Martin Murray.
This writer agrees with Parris’ scorecard of 114-113.
In the second title fight on the televised card, Commonwealth Super-Bantamweight champion Carl Frampton showed why he is one of the most talked about young talents in British boxing today with a second round knockout of the overmatched Ghanian Proper Ankrah.
Ankrah came into the fight with 18 wins and 13 of them by knockout, however on closer observation, that record can appear rather padded and he has fallen short when faced with a up step in competition.
In the duration of the fight, Frampton measured his opponent well working off the jab and putting his combinations together effectively to put Ankrah down in the second round and the African never looked like he was going to beat referee Howard Foster’s count to mark the end of the contest.
After the fight in the interview with Sky’s Adam Booth, Frampton called out former European Super-Bantam champion Rendall Monroe and current British champion Scott Quigg, who watched the fight for Sky Sports.
Frampton’s promoter Eddie Hearn backed Frampton’s calling out of Quigg, who stated to Sky Sports that he would be happy to fight Frampton and knock him out and he also confirmed that he is currently scheduled to fight Monroe with terms being agreed.
The main course of the evening came in the shape of Kell Brook versus Matthew Hatton, one of the most eagerly anticipated fights that has been made within the trade this year so far.
In the opening two rounds, the younger and less experienced Brook looked very composed and confident fighting in front of his own fans, picking his shots effectively and displaying the superior power and quicker hands which helped him to draw blood from Hatton’s nose.
In the third, Brook continued to cement his dominance by working off his jab. Going into the fourth, Brook stepped up the pressure, forcing Hatton to back up and in the early stages of the round even switched to southpaw to give Hatton even more headaches in trying to solve the Brook puzzle.
In the fifth round, Brook stepped up the pressure even more, forcing Hatton on to the back foot and on to the ropes and put Hatton in the corner landing freely with beautiful combinations to prevent Hatton from getting a further foothold in a round in which he had experienced brief success.
In the sixth round, Brook continued to pick his shots effectively and efficiently and was not looking troubled at all and a baring a brief foray of success from Hatton, was pitching a shut out 60-54 on the card at the half point.
In the seventh, Hatton was business as usual and in the eighth, Matthew had his best around with some effective bodywork and backed up Brook in parts to take the round for this writer.
At the start of the ninth round, Brook dropped an off balanced Hatton with a counter right hook and cemented his dominance to make it a 10-8 round to take the fight further out of the brave Hatton’s grasp.
However in the 10th, Hatton jumped on Brook early and briefly rocked his rival and inspired by this, continued the pressure and scored a tasty left hook and had regularly backed Brook up to take the round on this writer’s card.
In the 11th and 12th rounds, Brook continued to solidify his grip on the fight and in the 12th, succeeded in backing Hatton up on the ropes as he looked to force the stoppage which he failed to get as Hatton showed his determination to hear the final bell.
Brook was rewarded with a dominant points decision to match the brilliant, powerful and stylish performance on scores of 118-109, 118-110 and 118-107 to unify the IBF International and WBA International belts, which had been on the line. This writer had it 118-109 for Brook.
For Brook, the win cemented his status further as the best Welterweight boxer in the country and opens the door for fights against the like Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz and Mike Jones in a competitive Welterweight division.
For the brave Hatton, who loses for the sixth time in his 50th professional bouts, things look slightly unclear but he showed plenty of stamina and guts in the fight, but it was Brook’s superior boxing ability that saw him victorious in this pugilistic War of the Roses.
