Ringside Boxing Report: Munroe Retains European Title In Martinez Rematch
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Last night at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England Frank Maloney hosted a fight night billed as “Sublime Skill vs. Brute Forceâ€, headlined by the clash between Rendall Munroe of Leicester, England and Kiko Martinez of Alicante, Spain.
“Boxing Binman” or “2Tone” Munroe would face Spaniard ‘La Sensation’ Martinez for the fourth defence of his European Super Bantamweight belt which he won from Martinez in March last year.
There was a great atmosphere at the Metrodome as a sea of fluorescent tabbards awaited the entrance of popular Munroe. The taller Leicester man looked in fantastic shape as he waited to hear the bell signalling the start of the fight.
Straight away, both boxers get to work, with Martinez starting fast and targeting the body of Munroe. Mid-way through the first round, Martinez already has a cut to the right eye and Munroe also has blood to the face.
The Spaniard scores with the left hook and Munroe tucks in tight as he goes for the body again. As he goes back to the corner, it’s clear that Munroe has a cut to the left brow and a nick on the head.
Round two sees Munroe settle in to the fight, adopting a confident swagger. He goes for body-shots, but smaller Martinez tucks in tight. Munroe whips out an uppercut which misses its mark.
Into the second minute of round three, Munroe forces ‘La Sensation’ back into the corner with a barrage of shots. Martinez is under pressure but he punches his way out, switching positions with Munroe. It’s been another busy round with SkySports statistics revealing that so far, Martinez is landing more punches.
In the opening minute of round five, Martinez ends up ‘sat’ in between the ropes. Getting out of the ropes, the Spaniard resumes fighting and looks undeterred by the interruption as he continues with the work-rate and drives forward.
But in the closing minute of the round, Martinez is backed up to the ropes again as Munroe piles on the pressure, pushing forward and using a variety of shots.
The following rounds were close with Munroe starting to get busier. Fight stats showed that Munroe was throwing more punches now, 525 to 431, but Martinez had the better success rate of 20% to 18%.
Mid-way through round ten, Martinez’s head rocks back from some of Munroe’s punches which includes a big left hook to the face. A good round for Munroe.
Mid-way through round eleven, Munroe pressures Martinez back against the ropes again. Martinez is looking tired and holds around Munroe’s waist momentarily. Munroe overpowers Martinez, who is now throwing little back in return. Forcing him back in to the corner, Munroe unleashes a barrage of shots and Martinez looks about to drop.
The twelfth and final round begins with Munroe landing a right followed by a sweeping left to the face of Martinez, who stumbles backward from the blow. With two minutes still remaining, Martinez is in trouble again – forced back in the corner as Munroe smothers him with shots and referee Daniel Van de Wiele keeps a close eye on the Spaniard.
The two men lock together in the corner for a full minute before the referee calls them to break. Martinez looks exhausted now but still manages to throw the odd shot.
Martinez must be relieved to hear the bell end the contest, but Munroe wins by unanimous decision 116-112, 116-113 and 118-110. His record now stands at 18 wins and 1 loss.
Last night also saw the pro-debut of British Olympic Bronze Medal winner Tony ‘Jaffa’ Jeffries.
There was big support for the likable Sunderland man as the red and white stripes of Sunderland FC Shirts were predominant in the Metrodome. Sutherland’s stablemates John and Joe Murray were clearly enjoying the occasion as they paraded the Sunderland flag around the ring.
But the pre-fight introductions took longer than the contest! Jeffries was impressive in making short work of Belorussian opponent Aliaksandr Vayavoda.
Scheduled to be a four round light heavyweight contest, tall Jeffries dominated from the bell – landing long reaching and heavy punches which reddened the face of the Belarusean in the opening half minute.
Clubbing rights to the head, left jabs and powerful body shots wobbled the legs of Vayavoda and referee Howard Foster stops the fight with 18 seconds remaining of the first round.
Jeffries wins by TKO round one on his pro-debut. Afterward, he told Sky Presenter Ed Robinson, “I felt brilliant and I really enjoyed it“.
Other undercard action:
London based Nigerian Ajose Olusegan put his Commonwealth Light Welterweight title at risk against English Champion Scott Haywood of Derby and Olusegan proved too strong for “Super Scotty”.
Sustaining a cut in round six, Haywood was then down on the canvas in round seven. He got up from the count but referee John Keane stopped the contest.
Olusegan notches up his 26th win, 13 by KO.
Gary Buckland of Cardiff, Wales faced Craig Docherty of Glasgow, Scotland for the vacant Celtic Lightweight title. This ‘Battle of the Nations’ proved a real cracker of a fight with ‘Dynamo’ Buckland winning the title on points.
Buckland improves to 15-1 (5).
Dublin’s Paul Hyland met Nikita Lukin of Ukraine in a six round bantamweight contest. Hyland had a tough fight against the Ukrainian but won on points to secure his 14th win against one loss.
Light welter Dave Ryan of Derby faced off against Jamie Way of Newport, Wale, which turned out to be a messy contest with ‘Rockin’ Ryan winning on points after six rounds.
Ryan improves to 8-1 (1).
Lightweight Tyrone Nurse of Huddersfield met veteran Baz Carey of Coventry in a four rounder. Nurse did well against tough opponent Carey – notching up his sixth straight win against no losses.
Ross Burkinshaw of Sheffield squared off against Mike Robinson of Liverpool at bantamweight. It was a good clash between “Ross the Boss” and “Robbo”, which saw Burkinshaw cut on the left brow during the first round. Both men slugged it out to get a draw.
Burkinshaw goes to 5-1-2 (3) with Robinson at 4-0-1 (0).
Super feather Lee Selby of Barry, Wales, met Craig Johnson of Grassmoor and walked away with a hard fought points verdict after four frames to improve to 3-0 (0).