Ringside Boxing Report: Chris Edwards vs. Usman Ahmed II
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Last night at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent, England, Frank Maloney promoted a fight-night headlined by local-man Chris Edwards’ first defence of his British and Commonwealth flyweight titles.
Billed as ‘Lord of the Flys’, Edwards faced Derby boxer Usman ‘Uzzy’ Ahmed in what would turn out to be a ‘gritty’ battle between the two flyweights.
Ahmed, a popular but ‘odd’ little character, dances into the ring ahead of the Champion. As soon as Edwards reaches the ring, Uzzy goes right up to him in a taunting manner but Edwards remains stony-faced and looked at his opponent with ‘distaste’. Edwards has huge support from the local crowd.
An all-action contest right from the start – both men ‘fly’ at each other but Edwards looks more focussed against the less experienced Ahmed and appears ‘solid’ looking against his skinny opponent.
The left hook is predominant from Edwards but he gets his second warning from referee Phil Edwards for hitting back of Ahmed’s head in round two.
A big sweeping left lands to the face of Ahmed mid-way through the second and he waves his arms out wide as if to say ‘what was that?’ Jigging around the ring – he calls Edwards on, but the Stoke man isn’t fazed and keeps concentrated.
At the start of round three, Ahmed slips in Edwards’s corner. Fighting stops momentarily but as it resumes – Edwards goes straight in with a big right to the face of Ahmed. Ahmed skips around the ring keeping at a distance from Edwards for a few seconds.
Just in to the second minute of round three, Ahmed lands a decent right hook and Edwards ‘felt’ it. Edwards targets the body of the Derby man, but seconds later is warned again for hitting back of head.
Ahmed lands a notable left hook but Edwards immediately lands a decent left hook of his own which rocks back the head of his opponent. The closing seconds of the third sees both men slug it out but it’s Edwards’ left hook which again snaps back the Derby man’s head just as the bell signals the end of the round.
Edwards finds himself on the canvas in round four – but it’s just from an accidental ‘shoving’ over and fighting resumes.
Round five and referee Phil Edwards warns Edwards for low punches. But again, once fighting resumes, Edwards wastes no time in landing another solid hook to the face of Ahmed.
Both men keep up the work-rate over the following rounds. Ahmed takes some solid punches from Edwards but proves that he can ‘take a punch’. He starts off round eight better in the opening seconds but Edwards backs him up to the ropes and lands another sweet left hook. Seconds later, Edwards has punched after being told to break.
Referee Phil Edwards deducts a point and Edwards ‘shrugs’ as if to say it was a ‘fair cop’. In the closing half minute of the eighth – Edwards unleashes a barrage of punches and Ahmed is under pressure, then the local-man lands a big right to the face of his opponent, who almost stumbles back from the blow and we wonder if he can last the round.
At the start of the ninth – Ahmed slips again in his opponents corner. Seconds later, he ends up sitting through the ropes!
Ahmed grins and fighting continues. Edwards straight away lands a decent left to the face of Ahmed. Edwards still looks ‘fresh’ while Ahmed looks tired, probably from all the skipping around the ring!
The twelfth and final round is as action-packed as the first! With both men putting in a big effort, Ahmed looks like he might ‘drop’ from exhaustion and is bundled head first into the corner post and wearily continues.
The bell signals the end of the fight and Promoter Frank Maloney raises both men’s arms aloft while the crowd cheers their appreciation.
Chris Edwards wins on points 118-109, 118-109 and 117-111, to retain the British and Commonwealth flyweight titles.
Sky Sports Statistics revealed that Edwards threw just 7 punches more than Ahmed, 731-724, but he had the better success rate of 37% compared to 16% for Ahmed.
The Fenton Manor Sports Complex also saw some great under-card action.
For me – the fight of the night (and possibly the year) was the British Super-Featherweight title eliminator between Gary Sykes of Dewsbury and Anthony Crolla of Manchester.
Sykes – who’d never been past six rounds before got off to a good start against ‘Million Dollar’ Crolla. Crolla kept a nice defensive stance and throws sweeping rights to the head of Sykes who was busy from the first bell. Using a variety of punches to head and body – Sykes looks focussed.
The Dewsbury man gets more confident over the next couple of rounds and looks a more mature boxer in this contest. He seems to be enjoying the fight and despite Crolla’s tight defence – Sykes’ punches are getting through.
Round five and both men are toe-to-toe as they slug it out centre of ring. Crolla has picked up the pace and is trading punches with Sykes.
But Crolla is in trouble in the last minute of the fifth – as Sykes unloads a barrage of shots while backing Crolla on the ropes. The shots are flying between both men as they stand in the middle of the ring and the crowd are roaring their appreciation.
Round seven and the action is non-stop! Sykes lands hooks and uppercuts then ‘sticks in’ a left to the body which sees Crolla’s knees dip slightly. Crolla throws some body-shots of his own then with both men’s heads touching they stand toe-to-toe trading punch for punch.
It’s an exciting and close contest, but the busier work-rate is from Sykes. It’ll be a case of who can keep it up in the last couple of rounds as both men have worked hard and will be tired.
The tenth and final round is as packed full of punches as the first! Both men ‘dig in’ till the final bell.
As the bell ends the contest – both fighters hug and the entire venue is on their feet applauding a fantastic fight!
Gary Sykes’s arm is raised aloft by referee Richie Davies as Sykes wins on points 97-94 and improves to 12 wins, no losses.
Sky Sports Statistics afterward reveal that amazingly. Sykes has thrown 983 punches with Crolla not far behind at 927, but Sykes had the better success rate at 20%, as opposed to 18% for Crolla.
Bad Luck Crolla, but ten out of ten for the shorts!
Other results included:
Darren Sutherland (Dublin) v Vepkhia Tchilaia (Georgia)
6 x 3 Super Middleweight Contest
Sutherland fought James Degale’s previous opponent – Tchilaia, and was clearly hoping for a good win. He didn’t disappoint. Landing long-reaching solid punches from the start Sutherland forced Tchilaia to spend most of his time defending.
It was obvious from the first bell that this contest wouldn’t last the distance – and after a number of solid thumping body-shots followed by big hooks to the face of Tchilaia – referee John Keane jumps in to stop the contest in round four.
Sutherland’s record improves to 3 wins (3 by KO), no losses.
Scott Haywood (Derby) v Michael Frontin (Edmonton)
6 x 3 Light Welterweight Contest
It was a ‘bad day at the office’ for “Super” Scottie Haywood, who found himself cut on the left brow early on then on the canvas in round five from a right uppercut.
Up till then, despite Haywood.s efforts – Frontin managed to duck or block many of his punches to secure a points win, 58-56.
Frontin improves to 2 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw
Ashley Sexton (Cheshunt) v Delroy Spencer (Wolverhampton)
6 x 3 Flyweight Contest
“Flash Ash” used a variety of punches and combinations to secure a well-deserved win over tough veteran – Spencer, with Sexton Senior providing the verbal encouragement from ringside!
Sexton wins on points 60-54 and improves to 6 wins (3 by KO), no losses.
Paul Edwards (Liverpool) v Francis Croes (Middlesborough)
6 x 3 Flyweight Contest
Popular ‘Eddy’ won convincingly over Croes, 60-54, to secure his fifth win (1 by KO) with no losses.
Lee Selby (Barry) v Samir Mouneimne (Hull)
4 x 3 Featherweight Contest
Counter-punching Mouneimne wins on points 39-37. His record now stands at 2 wins, no losses and 1 draw.
Chris Riley (Middlesborough) v Youssef Al Hamidi (Dewsbury)
4 x 3 Super Bantamweight Contest
Despite ‘touching down’ in the second round – Riley went on to win by points 38-37 and improves to 1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw.
Sadly, the pro-debut of much talked-about boxer Paul Lowe, was cancelled. The pint-size boxer, actor and stuntman stands just 4 feet 8 inches tall and was due to face another debutant – Kyle Anthony King. But at the last minute weighin – King came in 6 lbs over so Team Lowe understandably pulled their man out.