Thread: Dean Francis KO's Oakey to take British and Commonwealth Light Heavy straps!

Was anyone else watching the coverage on sky last night of this epic fight....for me it pretty much had everything. It is definitely one of the contenders for British FOTY, and is up there with Johanneson v Gomez and other recent classics, and with it being an unification fight as well makes it even better. Here's my synopsis for those who missed out:

Round 1: Dean Francis comes out strong with a firm jab, keeping Oakey from getting on top of him, and marking under Oakey's right eye with a rare right, but he's already trying to do most of the work with his left, jabbing, and throwing some of his short left hooks, and early doors, he's looking strong and landing well. Oakey comes forward constantly, but isn't getting much luck.

Round 2-5: Oakey takes control after the first minute of the second round, pushing forward and throwing at a rate that Francis just can't match. Nasty cut opened up on the side of Francis' left eye, and the bridge of his nose. The side of the eye cut is spurting blood from the second onwards, and Francis, as the rounds progress seems to be fading as Oakey continues to pummel him. By the fifth, the cut seems to have stabilised, but Francis looks exhausted, his mouth wide open, and no force left in his jab. At this point, I thought Oakey had it. Francis seemed all but spent, and I was expecting perhaps a one-round rush before Francis gave it up.

Round 6-8: At some point, either in Francis' head or his corner, someone told him that there's no point holding anything else back, and that he has to start throwing his right, otherwise he'd be stopped. And what a turnaround it is. Not only does he start finding rights straight down the middle, changing the style throws Oakey off his game, letting more of Francis' lefts through, and Oakey is missing much more, but still manages to rip open a big gash under Francis' right eye.

Round 9: The big one for Francis, he opens up well, following on from the pattern of the past few rounds. Around a minute in Francis puts a jab then a right straight down the middle, then arcs in a superb left hook, and although Oakey simultaneously lands a left of his own, Francis' is a peach, and Oakey is floored spectacularly. Oakey takes the full 8-count to compose himself, and gets up, but another couple of flurries from Francis sees him reeling on the ropes, before the ref rightly steps in to stop it.

Great fight, stunning comeback from a guy who was down and out, and Francis shows he still can use that right shoulder when he needs it, even after the three operations!

Originally Posted by superheavyrhun

Was anyone else watching the coverage on sky last night of this epic fight....for me it pretty much had everything. It is definitely one of the contenders for British FOTY, and is up there with Johanneson v Gomez and other recent classics, and with it being an unification fight as well makes it even better. Here's my synopsis for those who missed out:

Round 1: Dean Francis comes out strong with a firm jab, keeping Oakey from getting on top of him, and marking under Oakey's right eye with a rare right, but he's already trying to do most of the work with his left, jabbing, and throwing some of his short left hooks, and early doors, he's looking strong and landing well. Oakey comes forward constantly, but isn't getting much luck.

Round 2-5: Oakey takes control after the first minute of the second round, pushing forward and throwing at a rate that Francis just can't match. Nasty cut opened up on the side of Francis' left eye, and the bridge of his nose. The side of the eye cut is spurting blood from the second onwards, and Francis, as the rounds progress seems to be fading as Oakey continues to pummel him. By the fifth, the cut seems to have stabilised, but Francis looks exhausted, his mouth wide open, and no force left in his jab. At this point, I thought Oakey had it. Francis seemed all but spent, and I was expecting perhaps a one-round rush before Francis gave it up.

Round 6-8: At some point, either in Francis' head or his corner, someone told him that there's no point holding anything else back, and that he has to start throwing his right, otherwise he'd be stopped. And what a turnaround it is. Not only does he start finding rights straight down the middle, changing the style throws Oakey off his game, letting more of Francis' lefts through, and Oakey is missing much more, but still manages to rip open a big gash under Francis' right eye.

Round 9: The big one for Francis, he opens up well, following on from the pattern of the past few rounds. Around a minute in Francis puts a jab then a right straight down the middle, then arcs in a superb left hook, and although Oakey simultaneously lands a left of his own, Francis' is a peach, and Oakey is floored spectacularly. Oakey takes the full 8-count to compose himself, and gets up, but another couple of flurries from Francis sees him reeling on the ropes, before the ref rightly steps in to stop it.

Great fight, stunning comeback from a guy who was down and out, and Francis shows he still can use that right shoulder when he needs it, even after the three operations!

great post! Sussed up the fight perfect, was a top fight. Watching especially in the earlier rounds when Francis used his right he seemed to flinch a little and I thought he wouldn't be able to keep it up, but he used it sparringly and then seemed to use it more (and with greater affect) in the later rounds, showed great heart.

BTW did you see any of the undercard, was impressed by Henry Castle looked the ebst I'd seen him, looked busy especially in the first 2 rounds, knocked his composure at the end of the 2nd breaking his nose from a head clash, but once he regained his composure bossed the fight again well.

Pleased for Dean hes had some luck, all bad luck . Not what he was understandable, but showed lots of Bottle and character coming through that, pleased for his Dad too.

Good fight that . It reminded me of his fight with Mark Baker abit where in the end his power was too much for the other guys pressure .

TBH I changed my prediction in round 2 cuz I saw Deans mouth open and I thought he wouldnt last . I was wrong he managed to comeback pretty impressivley . I remeber all those years back in his first loss Zafaru balugoo stopped him cuz Dean gassed out . It looked liek a similar thing would happen here but what a great knockdown that started the trouble.

Happy for Dean . 1st man to stop Oakey

Great fight edge of seat stuff, summed to a tee with the post above. Dean showed heart to come back from earlier rounds. FAB fight

Originally Posted by GAME

Good fight that . It reminded me of his fight with Mark Baker abit where in the end his power was too much for the other guys pressure .

TBH I changed my prediction in round 2 cuz I saw Deans mouth open and I thought he wouldnt last . I was wrong he managed to comeback pretty impressivley . I remeber all those years back in his first loss Zafaru balugoo stopped him cuz Dean gassed out . It looked liek a similar thing would happen here but what a great knockdown that started the trouble.

Happy for Dean . 1st man to stop Oakey

Wish i could have changed my prediction i had Oakey on points in the comp but worth it as best man on night won

Originally Posted by chip

Originally Posted by GAME

Good fight that . It reminded me of his fight with Mark Baker abit where in the end his power was too much for the other guys pressure .

TBH I changed my prediction in round 2 cuz I saw Deans mouth open and I thought he wouldnt last . I was wrong he managed to comeback pretty impressivley . I remeber all those years back in his first loss Zafaru balugoo stopped him cuz Dean gassed out . It looked liek a similar thing would happen here but what a great knockdown that started the trouble.

Happy for Dean . 1st man to stop Oakey

Wish i could have changed my prediction i had Oakey on points in the comp but worth it as best man on night won

Its a good job we cant change predictions during the fight . Cuz pre fight I thought Dean would win by late stoppage being the classier guy with more power but as soon as it started I changed my mind, cuz Oakeys tactics stopped Dean from keeping to his gameplan . I thought we were in for an Oakey win but the body shots from Dean played a very big part . They stopped Tony from charging in and from then on Deans better boxing was the big factor.

I totally lost track of time last night and missed the live coverage but I caught the re-run at 1:30am and was very glad i did so. Was a great fight, and a real turnaround!

When it comes to the prediction comp, I had Dean Francis by KO in the 10th, but in my mind it was just a build up of hard shots, rather than the bloody battle that it actually turned out to be. Still think Oakey will be kicking himself for letting his workrate dip, and his accuracy dropping off too.

If he'd held on for one more round, my prediction comp score would be looking much tidier for this week though.

Good pick, Rhun. I was pretty confident Francis would win (bookies made him underdog - big mistake ), unfortunately muffed my prediction score by going for a safety PTS.


Seemed to me Oakey FORCED Francis into throwing the right hand early (much more than in recent showings), which maybe gave him confidence to let it go more as the fight went on. Oakey's pace combined with Francis continual left to the body was the big factor.. I thought.

But for brief spells, I never thought Francis was in as much trouble as Watt was calling.. or your write up Rhun

Originally Posted by Fenster

Good pick, Rhun. I was pretty confident Francis would win (bookies made him underdog - big mistake ), unfortunately muffed my prediction score by going for a safety PTS.


Seemed to me Oakey FORCED Francis into throwing the right hand early (much more than in recent showings), which maybe gave him confidence to let it go more as the fight went on. Oakey's pace combined with Francis continual left to the body was the big factor.. I thought.

But for brief spells, I never thought Francis was in as much trouble as Watt was calling.. or your write up Rhun

Trust me....I know the bookies odds' weren't the smartest thing they've done, which is why i had a fiver on Francis by KO at 11/2. However, it was his inability to stop Oakey with the left which meant he had to utilise that right, and get over his fear that he'll dislocate it again. As for being in trouble, the doctor was constantly having a look at that cut, and unless he was playing rope a dope, he seemed exhausted between 3-5 in my view, his jab at some points had the pawing quality of a prime Audley Harrison.

I watched this fight in me local pub on friday night and i was a top draw slug fest,Their were people i know who are not advid boxing fans in the local appaulding and cheering during the 10rounder due to the fight being a "FIGHT".A great display!!!!!

I am a fan of Dean, he was genuinely world class when he was beating the likes of Starie, when Joe Calzaghe could not even stop him. I have not got Sky but this is one fight on their channel that I wanted to watch. Glad he won, Oakey is a tough and durable fighter who I thought could never be stopped.

Maybe this is a rude or improper thing to say, but i was in Dublin for stag do at weeked and missed this. Sounds good,

Anyone know where i could find a download link for this fight??

MCH

Originally Posted by Master

I am a fan of Dean, he was genuinely world class when he was beating the likes of Starie, when Joe Calzaghe could not even stop him. I have not got Sky but this is one fight on their channel that I wanted to watch. Glad he won, Oakey is a tough and durable fighter who I thought could never be stopped.

Yeah Starie beat him in the ametueres and Dean got revenge on the Nas - Cabrerra card . Hit him on the emple and his legs went then finished him off with body shots and David tried to roll out the way. Starie wasnt a bad fighter he had close decisions with Joe and Otke and he beat Clinton Woods.

TBH Dean looked alot older vs Oakey , you could see it in his movement and he was breathing heavy from round 2 but the result itself speaks volumes.

Bring on Francis vs Woods.