Over the weekend Angelo Leo won the vacant Super Bantamweight world title by unanimous decision. The scores were 117-111, 118-110 and 118-110 and while you could argue these were slightly wide he thoroughly deserved the decision.
His opponent Tremaine Williams started off well countering Leo and making him miss but as the rounds went on Leo’s consistent body work and pressure was clearly tiring Williams out. Williams was preparing for another fight when he got the call so perhaps he wasn’t in the best shape but he clearly started to feel the pace after the 5th round.
I was impressed by how relentless Leo was and enjoyed his work on the inside which led to him winning a clear decision. He is expected to fight Stephen Fulton next who unfortunately had to pull out due to testing positive for Covid-19.
This should be a tune up fight for Anthony Fowler before he moves on to big fights against the likes of Ted Cheeseman and Scott Fitzgerald. If Adam Harper wasn’t coming off a major lay off then this fight would be competitive but he hasn’t fought for well over a year and never proved himself beyond domestic level anyway.
Anthony Fowler has a good jab which seems to have some force behind it though he doesn’t double it up enough and it ends up missing the target a decent amount. I think he works to the body well and does mix up his attacks to an extent though he can get quite predictable. He’ll stalk his opponents down and throw a jab then a right hand to the body or head and loads up with everything he throws. The major criticism I have of him is he seems so tense in the ring that it looks like he burns much more energy than he needs too. Him being so tense also leads to him getting hit more as hes so focused on hurting his opponent he forgets to move his head. It showed in the Scott Fitzgerald fight where he started to slow down a bit after the first three rounds and in his other fights it also shows at different points. If he can relax and work on head movement and cutting off the ring a bit better then I think he has all the tools to make it to world level. I think he has decent power and can clearly hurt opponents at a good domestic level but hasn’t shown hes the massive puncher that he looked like when he first started out. All of this analysis may be for nothing as Fowler has a new coach in Shane Mcguigan which could change how he fights.
Adam Harper is a come forward pressure fighter who has shown in past fights he has a good gas tank and can keep up the pressure. I don’t think we can rely on him still having a good gas tank as he’s been out of the ring for a while and with lock down you don’t know how well hes been able to train. He keeps a high guard when he marches forward and either uses a jab to get into range or just walks in behind nothing. When he gets into range he’ll either throw a right hook or a straight right hand. He doesn’t really throw much in combination which is weird considering hes a pressure fighter. He is very active but its just single shots and then he resets to do it again. He doesn’t turn into his punches either so doesn’t have much power on them and thats shown on his record where he has zero KO’s. His defense is ok but with how much he punches hes not hard to counter especially because he refuses to use feints. He has in the past been completely relentless and is one of those guys that wears people down but I can’t see Fowler being troubled by it.
I think stylistically this is a very good fight for Fowler as he won’t have to chase his opponent around the ring and will have plenty of opportunity to get into exchanges with the less powerful Harper. He’ll be able to land at will versus Harper and in trades will clearly come out on top because Harper isn’t a big puncher or even a puncher at all. I think Fowler gets the stoppage between rounds 6-8 as Harper is tough but trading blows with the heavier handed Fowler won’t end well for him.
This fight hasn’t been announced yet but on the IBF website it says that it will be happening August 22nd. The winner of the fight will move to the number 2 spot and then will presumably be ordered to face the winner of another IBF Eliminator to become mandatory.
I think this is a decent fight because both are clearly past their prime but have shown they can still be in fun fights. I don’t think they’ll be a huge challenge for Caleb Plant or whoever beats him but they are a good name for the resume.
I think the fight will likely be one of the ones announced after the August 8th Jamal James- Thomas Dulorme card.
After what turned out to be a great card i’m going to look towards what the fighters can and perhaps should do next.
In the first fight of the night Jordan Gill comfortably out boxed Reece Bellotti over 10 rounds. I thought he put on a good performance considering the health issues he had been suffering. He’s put himself back on track after the loss he suffered and once lockdown ends could potentially go back to headlining cards versus the likes of Isaac Lowe and Ryan Walsh. Bellotti tried his best but couldn’t get past the superior foot work of Gill to consistently land his big shots. He’s still only 29 but I don’t think there’s much point of him taking an easy fight next and perhaps a rematch with Ryan Doyle could be arranged as both have lost recently.
Dalton Smith proved why he’s being touted as one of the best prospects in the country as he scored a massive KO against the game Nathan Bennett. I think Smith should stick to this level for a few fights and try and pick up an English or Commonwealth title within his next 3 or 4 fights. Bennett should take some time off before pursuing an area title and if he wins that then push on to fighting a higher level of competition again. I thought Dalton did very well and had one of the performances of the night.
Fabio Wardley performed very well considering hes only had around 15 fights in his entire life between the pro ring and white collar boxing. I’d like too see him take his time and fight domestic guys like Tom Little as he’s only 25 and in the heavyweight division theres no rush. I thought he showed a lot of good things in there tonight though. Simon Vallily should either try for some sort of area title or retire because he looked very slow at heavyweight and clearly doesn’t have huge punch resistance.
In the Co-main event James Tennyson continued his rampage through the British Lightweight scene as he broke Gavin Gwynne down over 6 rounds. Gywnne was competitive and held his own at times but eventually Tennyson’s power showed and the referee had to step in as Gwynne was clearly done. I thought it was a decent performance from Tennyson though I’d like him to tighten up his defense more as at a higher level they may pick him apart. They’ve talked about him moving on from British level now and fighting Patera however if he wants the European title he’ll need to fight the winner of Edis Tatli and Gianluca Ceglia. I think Tatli will win that fight and while it’ll be a hard fight for Tennyson I believe he can win it. Gavin Gwynne showed he can compete at this level and should try for the British title again because honestly hes just been unlucky he’s come up against Tennyson and Joe Cordina.
The main event was likely one of the best fights I’ve seen this year and I thought round 12 was clearly the current round of the year. I thought both fighters showed heart and grit and surprisingly Eggington showed some decent head movement at times. Ted Cheeseman won but I wouldn’t have been mad if Eggington had won and being from the Midlands my bias may have come through and I actually scored the fight for him. Ted Cheeseman should try and fight James Metcalf in a final eliminator to fight for the IBF title at Super Welterweight as he’ll likely take Eggingtons spot at at 5th. Metcalf is ranked fourth and third is Jarrett Hurd who is unlikely to get involved in an eliminator considering his status as a former champ and its also unknown if hes staying at Super Welterweight or not. The number one is Bakhram Murtazaliev who is already Mandatory so Metcalf and Cheeseman could fight for who becomes the mandatory after Murtazaliev. Eggington showed he’s at this level and could fight any of the domestic guys like Anthony Fowler, Scott Fitzgerald and Kieron Conway or even perhaps Troy Williamson.
I really enjoyed this card and while I originally thought the whole fighting in the back garden idea was a bit stupid I think it worked out extremely well. Thank you too all the boxers who fought tonight and also to Matchroom for putting on a real show.
This is a step up fight for Fabio Wardley who looks to pick up his first title over 10 rounds tonight. Vallily needs to win this fight or he’ll forever be a domestic gatekeeper at heavyweight.
Fabio Wardley has good uppercuts and does everything to a decent level though he does have a bit of an unorthodox style. He isn’t that hard to get hit but thats not unusual for the heavyweight division. It looks like he has some decent power but he hasn’t faced anyone good yet so we don’t know how real his power is yet.
Simon Vallily should be the better technical boxer but he gets into wars to easily and throws away his boxing skills. He doesn’t have a bad chin but hes so easy to hit that people break him down over time. He has good technical skills but I don’t think he’ll use them in this fight and will try and get in a slug fest and chin check Wardley who hasn’t been tested yet.
I think Wardley likely wins unless he has a glass chin but if Vallily can get back to his boxing I can see him out pointing Wardley over 10 rounds in a very competitive fight.
While Jordan Gill is technically coming off a win both of these fighters are really coming off a loss and are looking to use each other to boost them back to where they were before they lost. Gill took a bad loss where he was expected to win due to illness and not being 100% on the night however we don’t know how true this is until he steps into the ring tonight. Bellotti has lost every step up fight since he was unexpectedly KO’d by Ryan Doyle.
Jordan Gill is a good technical boxer who has very good foot work which he uses to set his shots up from different angles though I think he could do this a bit more and it would be even more effective. He has a good jab and varies up his combinations well. He also has good defence and feints well. He was weak to the body last time out but that was according to an illness if you go by what he’s said. He doesn’t have the most power in the world and KO’s his opponents through a combination of timing and volume over multiple rounds
There’s not a huge amount of footage online of Reece Bellotti but from what I remember hes a come forward slugger who’s not afraid to take one to give one. He is a bigger punch than Gill but lacks the timing to land his power consistently on high level opponents. He has been caught following his opponents in fights rather than trying to cut them off. He works the body well and you can tell that these hurt opponents so if Gill is weak to the body then he could pull off the win doing that. He has shown that he can be out boxed and this is a major weakness of his.
I think Jordan Gill should win this because stylistically he should be a nightmare for Bellotti who’s shown he doesn’t deal with technical boxers very well. I think it’ll likely be a Gill points victory as he won’t take too many risks knowing the power that Bellotti holds.
This is one of those fights where it’s never really been brought up but once it gets made it makes a lot of sense. Rungvisai is the most successful active fighter from Thailand right now and Ruenroeng is likely the second though he is well past his best. Rungvisai is coming off a loss to Estrada where he boxed a strange fight by turning orthodox when hes a natural southpaw. Ruenroeng is coming off a few tune up bouts but hasn’t faced top level competition for a while.
Rungvisai is an absolute machine and holds a lot of power in his hands. Like most guys at the lower weight classes he throws in combination and he throws often. I’m not going to go into as huge breakdown simply because I think he wins this fight very comfortably.
Ruenroeng is unorthodox and when fighters put him under pressure he starts fouling and throwing people to the canvas so I can see this fight getting ugly when Rungvisai puts on the pressure. Unfortunately I think he’s completely washed and at 40 doesn’t have to much left to give apart from a name on a record and some tune up rounds for Rungvisai.
I think Rungvisai will win by KO or potentially DQ as Ruenroeng won’t be able to deal with his pressure at the age of 40.
Dalton Smith had a good amateur career and turned pro last year under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom boxing. He’s had 5 fights since against Journeymen and tomorrow night takes his first big step up. Nathan Bennet is a solid pro who’s only loss came to Ben Fields who is much better than his record suggests. Both guys deserve credit for stepping up as both could have not fought and then taken easier fights later. This fight will advance the winners career much more than those easier fights though.
I’m going to start off with Nathan Bennet because I don’t have a huge amount to write about him. His team have taken all his fights down from youtube and so I can’t refresh my knowledge on his fighting style. I did watch his fight versus Ben Fields live on youtube which is the only reason I can do this breakdown. From what I remember he was pushed back to the ropes for the majority of the 6 rounds and was solidly outworked.
He seems to have a decent amount of grit as he pushed through a few hard moments in that fight where it looked like he was on the way to getting stopped. He’s a competent boxer and did respond well in a few of the rounds especially the 6th where he found his second wind however he’d given away to much by then to win the fight. He isn’t hard to hit and retreats on the back foot when put under pressure.
Dalton Smith has so far showed that he works the body well which is good too see from a prospect early in their career. When his opponents twitch to throw their shots he’ll send a hook down to their body after ducking slightly to one side. He has a good jab which he throws a lot and sets up most of his shots behind it. He doesn’t always throw in combination but this is purposeful as he throws a hook and then when they respond by throwing something back he unleashes a second salvo which usually connects with more force. It’s almost impossible to judge how good his defense is because he hasn’t been in with anyone that will test him and show if he has defensive flaws.
I think Dalton Smith should win due to his amateur pedigree and having the faster hands of the two. I think if he pressures Nathan Bennet early then he should stop him but if he lets him get into the fight then he’ll likely win a competitive decision.
Lyndon Arthur looked much improved as he comfortably beat Spelman on points. The majority of the things I said he did bad in his last fight he improved massively on and full credit to him. I thought his jab was very impressive and had a bit more power on it than in his last fight where Emmanuel Anim ignored it and pressed forwards. I thought Arthur also did a much better job fighting off the ropes and the back foot. He wasn’t just waiting for Spelman to finish punching and punched inbetween Spelman’s shots which again is a big improvement from his last fight. He just looked much more comfortable than he did before and I think this really shows the benefit of having good tests and hard fights as it’s the best way for fighters to improve.
He said he was a bit disappointed with his performance but I think hes being a bit harsh on himself considering how tough Spelman is and that he hurt his hand early. Another 12 rounds will likely see him improve even more and this is what he needs at this stage of his career.
He’s expected to fight Anthony Yarde next in October though I think it’s likely that show will be cancelled. I think he has a better chance in that fight than people will give him credit for as hes beaten two good fighters in Anim and Spelman and outside of the Kovalev fight Yarde hasn’t fought anybody that has pushed him.
I’d like to say good job to Arthur on a really impressive performance where he showed how much he learn’t from his last fight and hopefully his next fight will be the massive showdown with Anthony Yarde.
James Tennyson has been putting a good run of domestic wins together since moving up to Lightweight and will be looking to add another scalp to his already impressive resume. Gwynne’s only loss was to Joe Cordina who looks like one of the best prospects in the UK so it’s hard to take too much from it. This fight will be for the vacant British Lightweight title and the winner will likely look towards a European title within the next 12 months.
James Tennyson has real power and throws everything with the intention of KO’ing his opponent. He walks his opponents down and when he gets into range will almost always throw in combination by going both to the body and head. He has good hooks and also uppercuts which seem to have a lot of force behind them because they normally either KO his opponents or damage their eye etc. He has in the past been weak to the body and Craig Evans showed that if your competent boxing on the back foot (and have a great chin) then you can have success. I don’t think he’ll be as weak to the body at Lightweight as he doesn’t have to drain himself as much as he used too. He isn’t the hardest to hit however and his defensive skills mostly amount to absorbing blows on his gloves before unleashing his own as well as using a few faints before he throws combinations.
Gavin Gwynne is big for the weight but surprisingly seems to lack power. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a lot of footage available online but from when I watched him live he has a decent jab and right hand. He’s ok defensively but Tennyson won’t struggle huge amounts to land shots on him. He does have a good chin as Cordina couldn’t break him down though he was soundly beaten.
I’m picking Tennyson by late stoppage or competitive points win as I think Gwynne can use his height to make it awkward early on before slowly being broken down by Tennyson’s pressure and power.
Boxing Fulcrum 