Ringside Boxing Report: Lenny Daws – Colin Lynes

Click for larger image © Simon Shaw Saddo Boxing

Unbeaten light welterweight Lenny Daws from Morden earned the right to fight for the British title when former IBO Champion Colin Lynes retired on his stool after the ninth round of an exciting tussle on the excellent Hennessy Sports promoted show at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. It was the win of his career for Daws, who took a gamble on paper against the much more experienced Lynes, of Hornchurch, and remained undefeated in his thirteenth

contest. The atmosphere, as always at the York Hall, was fantastic, with the majority of the support being for Daws, who made the better start. Both came out looking to get as many shots of as possible but Daws was more effective with his punches and Lynes a bit scrappier.

Rounds two and three were very hard to score as both fighters matched each other on the inside. Daws seemed to be landing the greater volume of punches but Lynes looked more composed and looked to pick the classier shots with his better accuracy. Lynes had his best round of the fight in the fourth when he backed Daws to the ropes and unload with four hard body shots. Daws, whose face was beginning to mark up, looked worried as Lynes bustled his way forward. Lynes had gained control in the round but it wasn’t to last long as Daws responded well in the fifth with his busy inside attacks.

At times the action was scrappy, but a strong finish from the crowd favourite swayed things his way. Daws opened round six with a quick burst. His face was now looking battered but he had begun to set a pattern in the fight which would remain until the finish. Every time Lynes tried to bully his way in, he was being picked off and as the rounds went on, that became more frequent and more punishing.

The Hornchurch man seemed unable to change his tactics that were clearly failing him. Despite being behind on the scorecards of journalists at ringside, it still came as a surprise when referee Marcus McDonnell signaled the end of the bout before the bell for round ten. It seemed unclear why Lynes was pulled out, as he was still in the fight and was at no point in danger of being floored or seriously hurt, but trainer Paul Cook told the ringside press that his fighter was having trouble breathing and knew something was wrong.

Daws was ecstatic with the victory as were his supporters. Its an excellent win for the upcoming Hennessy star and he is now right in the mix of the British light welterweight scene.

Show opener of this excellent bill saw welterweight John O’Donnell put on a superb performance in completely annihilating the much more experienced Matt Scriven inside four rounds. O’Donnell, from Shepherds Bush, made it eight out of eight and looks a definite future star. Working behind his southpaw stance, O’Donnell battered Scriven for every second of the four rounds it lasted. His combination punches were excellent, as was his variety and accuracy. It appeared that his corner should have pulled him out after the third as it was clear there would only be one winner. Still the stoppage was a good one and O’Donnell certainly looks one to watch.

Highly touted light middleweight Darren Barker scored an unimpressive 79-73 points win over rugged survivor Richard Mazurek over eight dull, repetitive rounds. Still, the win delighted his fans who roared him to victory. It looked as if Barker would take his foe out early as he loaded up looking for the one big shot, but it was never to be as Mazurek held his way through without ever putting Barker under any serious pressure. Mazurek was a bloody mess by round five and lookedtired, but Barker could never capitalise.

Barker doesn’t waste many punches, but the general feeling is if he had threw his punches in combinations rather than loading up for the single shots, he would have had better success. Still, a workman like performance from Barker which improves his record to 8-0.

Super featherweight Billy “The Kid” Corcoran took his record to 14-1-1 with a hard fought points win over game Frenchman, Frederic Bonifai. Referee Ken Curtis’ scorecard of 80-74 seemed a bit harsh on the Frenchman, who was definitely in the fight early on. There was nothing in the first session as both exchanged body shots in a close fight but Bonifai seemed to get the better of things in the second, landing some solid uppercuts and finished the stronger. Round three again was close and very difficult to score as they were matching each other punch for punch.

Corcoran found his form in round four and set the pattern for the rest of the fight. Bonifai was tiring and his work was becoming scrappy whereas Corcoran was looking stronger and more confident. Corcoran’s punches were of the better quality and he deserved the win in a good learning fight.

In an absolute thriller, Bermondsey’s popular Matthew Thirwall scored a brutal one punch knockout over Bradford’s alarmingly brave Donovan Smillie in a fight which seemed to be always in the balance. This super middleweight contest ended in the ninth round when Thirwall unleashed a right hand which dropped Smillie like he had been shot. The crowd, which were mainly Thirwall supporters, roared when the final blow landed, but soon a silence fell around the famous arena when the seriousness of the knockout became clear and the ambulance crew rushed to the aid of the fallen warrior. Thankfully, Smillie was fine and left the ring of his own accord to a standing ovation from a crowd enthralled from his remarkable effort.

The contest, billed as an eliminator for the English Super Middleweight title, was full of action from the first bell. Thirwall started better, landing the harder shots. A particularly good right hit Smillie flush, but it was the Bermondsey man who finished the round with a bloody nose, due to some precise left jabbing from Smillie.

Round two was much like the first, with Smillie looking to jab and Thirwall to drop in the right hand. The action again was exciting and the crowd loved it. Smillie was finding the range with his jab in round three, but Thirwall’s work was still the more eye-catching and a cracking left to the body seemed to hurt the Bradford fighter near the end of the session.
Round four is certainly an early contender for round of the year. Thirwall began stalking his man around the ring. Suddenly a booming right hand shook Smillie to the soles of his boots. Thirwall wasted no time and stormed into his opponent with pulverising hooks to the head. Smillie showed amazing bravery to survive the onslaught and incredibly, began to fight back.

But again Thirwall connected with another huge right and this time the Bradford man fell to the canvas. Smillie rose and was ordered to box on but his legs were all over the place when the bell saved him. Thirwall continued to dominate in round five but without the same edge as in the previous four. Smillie took some more thudding hooks downstairs but his wild swings back were discouraging Thirwall.

The sixth proved to be a good round for Smillie, who came on strong and his jabs were now snapping his opponents head back. A cut appeared on Smillie’s right eye halfway through the round, fortunately the blood was streaming down the side of his face and wasn’t affecting his vision. A cracking right uppercut hurt Thirwall in the closing seconds of the round and the Bradford man was now right back in the fight.

Thirwall was finding it impossible to slip the jab in the seventh and two heavy ones really jarred him. But Thirwall turned the fight back his way when a left hook caught Smillie high on the temple and sent him into orbit. Once again,Smillie showed tremendous bravery to survive to the end of the round.

In round eight Thirwall resorted to in and out tactics as he began to tire. Smillie sensed this and tagged him with a hard right hand but Thirwall’s response was two land two hard digs to the body which brought a pained expression across Smillie’s face. And so to the dramatic finale which was the ninth round. Smillie came out appearing strong as Thirwall was really looking shattered. A thunderous right heavily staggered Thirwall, who was now in big trouble. Smillie piled it on as his opponent looked completely out of it. Then with about twenty seconds remaining Thirwall unleashed that ferocious right which brought a dramatic conclusion to stunning fight.

Click for larger image © Simon Shaw / Saddo Boxing