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

[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!

[saturday_kid]

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.

[Scrap]

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.

[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

[chip]

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

[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.

[chip]

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