Ringside Boxing Report: Gary Davies vs. Matthew Edmonds
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Friday night at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, Matchroom Sports presented an all-action fight card headlined by the British Bantamweight title clash between St. Helens boxer Gary Davies and Matthew Edmonds of Newport, Wales.
Davies gets straight to work in the opening minute of the first round – keeping busy, but staying calm.He makes full use of long-reaching shots with a four inch reach advantage over his Welsh opponent.
Round two sees Edmonds start to settle in – landing the right jab to the face of Davies, who looks undeterred. At the end of the round – Davies gives a satisfied nod as he walks confidently back to his corner.
In round three, Edmonds lands a notable left to the face of Davies, who must have ‘felt’ it, but looks unfazed. It’s a better round for Edmonds.
In the closing minute of round four, Edmonds lands a good left hook but seconds later Davies catches him with a right and Edmonds is in trouble. Davies keeps up the pressure and Edmonds tried to hold-on to his opponent, but he sees it out to the end of the round.
Davies looks to land a big shot as they begin round five. After a minute of the frame has gone – the St. Helens man lands a solid right to the face of Edmonds, who looks ‘wobbled’ by it. In the second half of the round, Davies lands an uppercut followed by a right ‘over-the-top’ but Edmonds hangs in till the end of the round.
Davies’s right eye is bruised and swollen by the end of the fifth.
As both men trade punches in the opening half of round seven – Edmonds gets through with a couple of good shots and moments later he lands more shots which see s Davies looking ‘surprised’ from the onslaught.
Forcing Davies back against the ropes – Edmonds unleashes a barrage of shots, but Davies lands a peach of a right punch as he springs off the ropes and Edmonds half-falls head first through the ropes.
Edmonds is unsteady and Davies goes after him, sending the Welshman to the canvas again, which looked to be more of a bundling over. Moments later, Edmonds is down again and referee Dave Parris waves the contest off.
A jubilant Gary Davies celebrates as the new British Bantamweight Champion by seventh round TKO. Davies’ record now stands at 9-2-1 (7).
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Other undercard action:
Michael Lomax (Chingford) v Yoann Camonin (France)
8 round welterweight contest
Prizefighter winner Lomax, had a tough contest against awkward , lanky, Frenchman Camonin, who had an unusual style of boxing which saw him fighting while looking at a 45 degree angle away from his opponent!
Michael ‘The Look’ Lomax wins on points 79-77 and improves to 15-1-1 (2).
Nigel Wright (Crook, Co. Durham) v Arek Malek (Poland)
6 round light welterweight contest
Wright wins on points to notch his record up to 20-5-1 (9).
Ricky Owen (Swansea) v James Ancliff (Aberdeen)
6 round super bantamweight contest
It was a bloody bout with Ancliff sustaining a cut to the head during round two and Owen sustaining a nasty cut to the left eye in round three. Oddly, Owen was taken back to his corner three times by the referee to get the cut inspected, but survived the contest to secure the points win.
Owens record now stands at 11-0 (4).
Scott Jordan (Belfast) v Lukasz Wawrzyczek (Hungary, Polish-born)
6 round light middleweight contest
Wawryyczek wins on points and improves to 9-1-1 (1).
Nick MacDonald (Liverpool) v Andrey Kostin (Russia)
6 round super bantamweight contest
Nick “2 Slick” MacDonald won on points over Russian boxer Kostin and his record now stands at 3-1 (2).
Jon ‘Rocco’ Hussey (Bolton) v Graham Fearn (York)
6 round light welterweight contest
‘Rocco’ wins on points and improves to 13-1 (2).