***MASSIVE EXCLUSIVE PHOTO GALLERY***
| In a scheduled eight round contest tonight at the United Counties Showground in Carmarthen, Wales, rising heavyweight contender Scott Gammer won his 14th bout without a loss by putting on a sparkling performance and outboxing former British Champion Julius Francis on a very well run Paul Boyce promotion. SaddoBoxing was ringside at this |
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© Matthew Voyle
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important domestic fightcard and presents the following exclusive round by round account of the main event complete with an action packed photo gallery. Coverage of the undercard will follow shortly.
In a bid to advance the career prospects of 28 year old Pembroke heavyweight Scott Gammer, matchmaker Jim Evans sought out the very durable ex- British and Commonwealth Champion Julius Francis. With the 40 year old Francis having lost his last dozen fights over the previous two and a half years, it was hard to see what such a talent like Scott Gammer would take from the pairing. Nevertheless, with the possibility of a British title shot for Gammer against the winner of mid-December’s Danny Williams v Matt Skelton matchup, a loss to Francis would be devastating to the Welshman.
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After a long camp and good sparring with the likes of Swansea’s WBU Cruiserweight beltholder Enzo Macarrinelli, Scott was looking in great shape for the fight. The same couldn’t be said of the 6 foot 2 inch, 20st 3lb (283lbs) Francis.
The first round saw the very positive Julius Francis and the hometown fighter failing to rise to the warmth of the boisterous and atmospheric 1300 person strong partisan crowd Gammer stuck behind his jab and spent the first half reading Francis, who was flicking out an active, stiff left jab. Gammer then took control of the ring and gave Francis a taste of Welsh power in the form of three and four punch combinations. Francis’ defence held up well but the Englishman spent the latter part of the first frame receiving left hooks to the head and body that came whipping in from all angles. Only Francis’ jab kept Gammer at bay.
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The second round saw Gammer step up the pace and unleash cringing body attacks that Francis seemed to have difficulty avoiding. Again Francis did enough poking about to warrant himself being there, but by now seemed to have lost interest. He appeared to absorb the shots well and his emotionless temperament never twitched once, but a heavy left jab towards the end of the round brought a trickle of blood from Gammer’s right nostril that became more apparent as the bell sounded.
A jaded Francis made his way to the centre of the ring for the third round and began to hold and tie up his rival against the ropes. Gammer moved around the ring well and kept Francis from getting set, picking the older man off on the way in. By now Gammer’s class was showing through. The hometown fighter threw uppercuts, left hooks, right crosses; you name it and he was doing it. Francis pressured him to the ropes many times but had little to offer in the form of anything that might trouble the confident Welshman.
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Francis came out for the fourth looking positive and brought the fight to Scott. The experienced campaigner took it to the ropes and threw good single shots that seemed to land cleanly and blow out Gammer’s nose. However, this didn’t last and Gammer was working effectively with his back to the ropes, seeming to handle the pressure with ease. He found it easy to manoeuvre around Francis, firing rapid hooks and solid body shots that brought the veteran back down to his previous jaded attitude. A slip by Francis on the canvass heard roars from the very exited crowd but it was not ruled a knockdown. By now the referee was starting to have his work cut out for him.
Shields up for round five. Francis was by now looking more and more like he had nothing left. He’d seemed to have no way of keeping Scott off him and went into survival mode. He was fairly active throughout the round, but Gammer was busier and more aggressive than ever. The undefeated Welshman was finding it harder to land shots but continued to use the jab in order to raise Francis’ hands so as to work the body. Francis could offer nothing more than a journeyman’s ability to absorb punishment and was taking considerable body abuse.
This pattern continued through rounds six and seven with Gammer dictating the style and pacing of the fight.
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Round eight began with a show of respect from the combatants and a very anxious crowd cheering on their fighter. Scott tried to deliver but his punches weren’t landing cleanly due to Francis still being in safe mode. As Gammer’s blows began to get through, the older man tied him up close and taped his rib cage before the referee intervened. This went on for a good part of the round until the last minute and a half when Francis mounted a last ditch effort behind a couple of hay makers that were either blocked or avoided by Gammer, who responded with good clean punches that sealed the fight and simply reiterated what had been happening during the entire contest.
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The referee scored the bout 80 -72 in favor of Scott Gammer, as did SaddoBoxing.
With the win Gammer improves his record to 14-0-1 (8), while Francis falls to 23-23-1 (12).
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