Ringside Boxing Report: Tyson Fury vs. John McDermott
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
It was a full house last night at the packed Brentwood Centre in Essex, England for the Frank Maloney promoted Fightnight headlined by the eagerly awaited contest between John McDermott and Tyson Fury.
The night was billed as ‘Colossal’ with McDermott defending his English Heavyweight title against younger, less experienced Fury.
The atmosphere inside the Brentwood Centre was fantasti ! And dancing along to his entrance music – ‘Tonight’s gonna be a good night’ – Fury, as usual, was clearly enjoying the attention.
Unlike his opponent – a mean looking ‘Big Bad John’ McDermott – who ‘plodded’ down the stairway to the ring.
Fighting begins and Mancunian giant Fury lands the first shots; a left and right to the head of McDermott, but Big John comes back with a swinging over-arm right which lands.
Fury keeps up the rate with his long-reaching jab which scores, while McDermott tries for the big right to the head. In the closing seconds of the first frame, both men are up close and McDermott lands another decent right.
He growls with pent-up anger at his taller opponent and as the bell sounds, both men rub foreheads – reluctant to pull apart. McDermott ‘reacts’ and both men ‘go at each other’ having to be separated by referee Terry O’Connor and corner men. The crowd are all on their feet, sensing this will be a real cracker of a contest between these two men.
In the first half minute of the second frame, Fury lands a big right and a split second afterward McDermott replies with the same. Fury swings in with a right hook but McDermott scores with a good left hook.
McDermott loses his gumshield, but as fighting resumes, McDermott turns his back and Fury hits the back of his head – much to the disapproval of the crowd, who boo loudly. McDermott is so ’wound-up’! He drives forward, looking to land a big shot.
Round three sees both men land punch for punch. It gets a bit messy at times as they grapple together. Fury seems bothered by his nose, which he keeps tapping with his gloved hand.
Round four features Fury trying a couple of body shots. Both men grapple together again and as referee O’Connor orders them to ’break’, McDermott throws a punch. Fury’s brother, sat behind me, throws his programme across the ring in disgust but fighting has stopped while O’Connor warns Fury not to hold.
In the closing seconds, McDermott digs in a short body-shot and Fury returns with a short flurry of punches backing the local man on the ropes as the bell ends the round.
Round five sees Fury in unknown territory now – having never been past four. But both men keep up the pace with Fury throwing a decent uppercut in the last minute. Fury is trying to keep McDermott at bay with his long outstretched left arm, but McDermott continues to close the gap between the two.
Sky Sports statistics reveal that though McDermott has thrown less punches, 149 to Fury’s 285, he has had the better success rate, landing 61 as opposed to Furys’ 51, for a 40% connect rate versus Fury’s 17%.
As they come out for the sixth round, McDermott offers his glove to Fury, who acknowledges it, but immediately snaps out the left which catches McDermott.
McDermott gives an expression which says ‘That was a bit cheeky, Tyson!‘ More boos ring out around the Brentwood Centre, but that turns to cheers as the home-boy lands a right.
At the start of the seventh, McDermott pulls away grimacing that he has received a low blow, but fighting resumes. McDermott lands a big right hook which lands clean – but Fury takes it well and returns with a right of his own.
Both promoters – Frank Maloney and Mick Hennessy – are on their feet in round nine urging their ‘men’ to ‘work’. McDermott loses his gumshield again and is taken to the corner where his glove is taped as well.
It’s very scrappy this round as both men tangle together. ‘Come on Tyson – let them go!’, shouts Mick Hennessy ringside. Fury lands a short left hook to the face of McDermott followed by a body-shot and finishes better this round.
The tenth and final round sees Fury lob in an uppercut which just skims the chin of McDermott. Both men are tired now but Fury throws a flurry of punches which sees McDermott running off across the ring with his back to his opponent.
Frank Maloney is shouting at McDermott telling him to get on and box. Fury switches to southpaw and throws in more uppercuts. McDermott finds himself with his back towards Fury again. They seem to desperately throw whatever they’ve got as the bell signals the end of the contest and Tyson Fury’s arm is raised aloft by Terry O’Connor.
There are many in the Brentwood Centre who thought McDermott had won and there were, sadly, some angry scenes between rival fans.
Sky Sports statistics revealed that Fury had landed 104 of 570 punches thrown for an 18% success rate as opposed to McDermott’s 114 of 334 punches, 34%.
Tyson Fury wins on points 98-92
Afterward, Fury told Sky Presenter Ed Robinson, “John McDermott was a lot harder than I thought he would ever be – all credit to him – if he wants a re-match, let’s get it on!”
Fury’s record now stands at 8 wins and no losses.
There was also some great undercard action at the Brentwood Centre.
Ashley Sexton (Cheshunt) v Darli Goncalves Pires (Brazil)
10 x 3 Flyweight Contest
‘Flash’ Ash got off to a quick start as usual, keeping busy, though he did take a couple of wild shots from the Brazilian.
But in the last forty seconds of the first round, a decent left to the face of Pires sees him sink to his knees. Shaking his head while he kneels on the canvas, Pires rises slowly but looks uncomfortable and referee Marcus McDonnell waves a halt to the contest.
Sexton wins by first round TKO and improves to 8 wins (4 by KO) and no losses.
Martin Power (Kentish Town) v Stuart “Stuey” Hall (Darlington)
8 x 3 Bantamweight Contest
Originally scheduled to face Matthew Edmonds in a British title eliminator, Power was forced to take late opponent Stuey Hall. Hall fought just one week ago when he won on points against Jason Thomas in Middlesbrough.
It was a busy contest right from the start with both men landing some cracking shots. Hall looked very confident against the former British Champion, the far more experienced Martin ‘Too Much’ Power.
It’s a great first round for Hall, but he sustains a cut high on the forehead in the closing seconds. Hall seems to be landing decent rights to the head with regularity as the fight continues and he continues to walk forward.
Power has struggled to settle in and looks ‘smothered’ by the shots but has a better round five. Hall hasn’t been past six rounds before, but it doesn’t show as he uses the big right to the head with success in round seven.
Just inside the first minute of round eight, Hall lands another big right to the head which sees Power ‘wobble’. He remains upright but is clearly shaken by the shot. Seconds later, another right lands.
Power is smothered by shots as he is backed up in the corner, but bravely digs in to throw a couple of punches. He survives this barrage but more rights to the head sees Power backed up on the ropes looking exhausted.
Referee Marcus McDonnell stops the contest in 1:39 of round eight. Hall wins by TKO and improves to 6 wins (3 by KO) and 1 draw.
Gary Woolcombe (Welling) v Roman Dzhuman (Ukraine)
8 x 3 Light Middleweight Contest
Woolcombe picked himself up off the canvas in round one to win on points, 77-76. He improves to 28 wins (10 by KO) and 2 losses.
Tom Dallas (Chatham) v Mihaly Nemet (Hungary)
6 x 3 Heavyweight Contest
In the opening seconds of the first round, Nemet was on the back foot after a left hook to the body. Seconds later, a big left hook to the head sent the Hungarian to his knees.
He took the standing eight count but Dallas immediately launches at him with an uppercut followed by a right to the face and Nemet is back on the canvas. After another count, Nemet is unable to get away from Dallas’ shots and is stopped by referee Ken Curtis when he falls to the canvas again.
Tom ‘The Bomb’ Dallas wins by first round TKO and his record now stands at 7 wins (5 by KO) and no losses.
Scott Woolford (Margate) v William Warburton (Middleton)
6 x 3 Welterweight Contest
Warburton got off to a good start against experienced Woolford, but a right hand shot in the fifth round sees the young Middleton man on the canvas – his nose bloodied – and the fight is halted by referee Ken Curtis.
Woolford wins by fifth round TKO and improves to 9 wins (2 by KO) and 4 losses (1 by KO).
Tyrone Nurse (Huddersfield) v Daniel Thorpe (Sheffield)
4 x 3 Light Welterweight Contest
Nurse continues his winning record with a points win over experienced Thorpe, 40-36, improving to 8 wins and no losses.
Eric Ochieng (Tottenham) v Matt Scriven (Mansfield)
4 x 3 Light Middleweight Contest
Debutant Ochieng notched up his first pro win on points, 40-36, against experienced Scriven.
Larry Olubamiwo (Hackney) v Norbert Sallai (Hungary)
4 x 3 Heavyweight Contest
‘War Machine’ Olubamiwo subjected Sallai to a flurry of shots just inside the first minute of the contest before digging in a right to the body which sees the Hungarian on the canvas.
The Hungarian can only ‘cover up’ to shield himself from Olubamiwo’s barrage of shots before dropping to the canvas again, midway through the round. He reluctantly gets up at ‘8’ but – still blowing – looks like he doesn’t want to continue.
Referee Ken Curtis calls a halt to the contest as Olubamiwo wins by first round TKO. His record now stands at 5 wins (5 by KO) and 1 loss.
Martin Welsh (Swanley) v Vinnie Woolford (Margate)
4 x 3 Welterweight Contest
Welsh puts Woolford on the canvas in round one and goes on to win on points. His record now stands at 2 wins and no losses.
Tony Hill (Southampton) v Stuart Barr (Kingston)
4 x 3 Middleweight Contest
It was a quick night’s work for debutant Hill, who scored a first round TKO against Barr.