Ringside Boxing Report: Clinton Woods – Jason DeLisle

Click for larger image © James Slater / Saddo Boxing

Clinton Woods KO’s Jason DeLisle in Sixth Round Of Rematch!

Sheffield’s Clinton Woods had yet another great night in front of his home town fans this evening at the Ponds Forge Arena, as he successfully defended his IBF light heavyweight title for the second time. In a rematch of a 2004 thriller with Australia’s tough Jason “The Nailer” DeLisle, Woods delighted his loyal following with a devastating sixth round knockout on a Fight Academy promotion televised by Sky Sports. Clinton had predicted a win in seven rounds beforehand yet got the job done one round quicker than he’d anticipated. In doing so he paved the way for huge and attractive fights against the likes of Glen Johnson (Woods’ mandatory challenger), Roy Jones Jnr and, perhaps, the winner of the Antonio Tarver and Bernard Hopkins match.

Round one started as expected, with the challenger coming out aggressively and immediately going on the front foot. The defending champion answered the first bell with a high and tight guard before letting go with his accurate and hard left jab. It wasn’t long before Clinton started launching his right uppercut – a very dangerous looking weapon that brought roars from the crowd. On one occasion DeLisle appeared to feel the weight of it and his legs gave a slight shudder. Clinton’s round.

Round two and the Australian carried on with his aggressive style and landed a decent left early on in the session. Woods once again let loose with his right uppercut – clearly a punch he has been working on in the gym. Already the fight was shaping up as another exciting encounter. Jason had certainly come here to take Clinton’s title! Woods used his jab to good effect again though and boxed with composure. Despite the fact that he was having his first fight for eight months, Woods was showing no ring rust. He was picking his spots well, then towards the round’s end he opened up with an eye catching burst of punches. Again it was Clinton’s round.

Round three, and it was starting to look like the best ever performance of Woods’ career to date. He was boxing like a true world champion and it was evident to all how much he had improved since the loss to Glenn Johnson. DeLisle was still gamely pursuing, however, and the pace of the fight was quite startling. Clinton dominated most of the action to take his third round in a row.

Round four, and Jason had a touch of success with his own jab for the first time. He also landed some hard body work and a pretty good right hand. It was his best round yet and he needed to get a foothold in the bout. He deserves credit for doing so when it had almost looked as though Clinton would pitch a shut out. The challenger’s round.

Round five, and DeLisle was loading up on his left hook. Woods went on the back foot and the pace slowed somewhat. Clinton landed an inside right uppercut but Jason came back with a strong body punch. The body work he was doing was his best and most effective. Woods finished strong enough to just shade the round.

Round six, and some great action unfolded! Woods began the session circling his man before being backed up once again. He then hit home with still another big right uppercut and then he suddenly exploded in a frenzied attack. He pinned DeLisle on the ropes and threw a ton of shots. The Australian showed heart and came back with a couple of his own blows but then, in awesome fashion, Clinton finished the job. He found his opponent’s chin with a crunching right uppercut and this time DeLisle hit the canvas. Bravely he tried to get up and continue but the referee, Dave Parris waved his arms and signalled the end without even administering a count. There were no complaints. It was over. Clinton Woods had scored a sensational KO win!

Woods moves to 39-3-1 (34) while Jason DeLisle drops to 18-5-2 (9).