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When Hunger Speaks
By Ewa Turalska
Ultimate Boxxer tournament took place on 27 April at
Manchester Arena. Eight unbeaten pro welterweights went head
to head in an exhilarating spectacle for life changing money
and contracts. Event was promoted and supported by Paulie
Malignaggi and Ricky Hatton with the prize worth of
£50000.The tournament consisted four quarter finals, two
semi finals and the final. Every fight had last three rounds
of three minutes each.
Ringside Report
QUARTER FINAL 1: DREW BROWN (10-0, 1 KO) VS JIMMY COOPER
(6-1-1)
Cooper started from heavy body shots but Brown was too
determinate and thrown excellent an uppercut - body -
uppercut combination and finished by a short right hand that
sent Cooper on canvas. Although the stoppage at 2:23 was not
quite fair, as I believe Jimmy was able to fight afterwards.
But it is what it is. First quarter final started with a bit
of controversy.
QUARTER FINAL 2: KAISEE BENJAMIN (4-1, 1 KO) VS SAM EVANS
(10-1-1, 3 KOS)
Evans was controlling the first round, trapping Benjamin on
the ropes although Kaisee was not really handling the
tension. Second round was also mostly in favour of Evans as
he find the way to break slightly Benjamin’s peek-a-boo
defense. Very aligned fight with switching the action. In
third round Evans also looked more engaged at throwing
punches in bunches, even not many of them clearly landed on
his opponent. Judges fairly awarded Sam Evans a unanimous
decision with scores of 29-28 on all 3 cards.
QUARTER FINAL 3: TOM YOUNG (6-1, 1 KO) VS BEN ELAND (4-1-1)
Young from the first seconds of the first round was
absolutely relentless in his attacks. Eland was tying him
instead protecting himself by throwing jabs. Second round
still worked for hyperactive Young, who throw nasty
combinations, which made Ben to wake up and try to switch
his defense into short jabs, but he made no harm and nothing
special landed. Round three was better for whom Young was a
bit faster and more engaged; therefore he won with unanimous
decision with scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28.
QUARTER FINAL 4: ISAAC MAC LEOD (11-1, 3 KOS) VS ANDY
KREMNER (9-1, 2 KOS)
Strong body shots by Mac Leod confused Kremner from the
first seconds of round one. His fists were useless in terms
of punching back, he chooses to defense and protect himself
which trapped him completely and left no space to box. He
looked more confident in round two - there was more jabbing
and few good uppercuts. Build up hype finished with a cut of
Isaac head - when they clashed the heads. It was good back
and forth action. It was, fair contest which finished with
scores being 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 in Isaac’s favor.
SEMI FINAL 1: DREW BROWN VS SAM EVANS
Beginning of the fight was difficult for Brown who seemed
much fresher then in his last fight although he could not
keep up with Evans and his hooks. He was disoriented. In
second round Drew started using the jabs effectively, few
strong headshots let him control the action and stay in the
middle of the ring. But still the bout was not decided and
clear who is better. Sam’s clean hooks in round three gave
us some more clarity who is closer the final, but Drew fired
up and throw few great jabs which gave him a win via a split
decision with scores of 28-29 and twice 29-28.
SEMI FINAL 2: ISAAC MAC LEOD VS TOM YOUNG
The last bout before final literally made the public get up
from their seats; it was the hottest bout of the night. The
seconds after first gong a right hand of Young sent Mac Leod
to the canvas. Although he was able to beat the count, he
had lost his balance and moments later a left hook on the
chin knocked him down again. Referee stops the fight at 1:15
of round 1.
FINAL: DREW BROWN VS TOM YOUNG
Both fighters started the fight with aggressive will. Clean
head and body shots were landing on both, without clarity
who has a bigger hunger to win. Second round was completely
relentless - they went into fire blindly. It was a of minute
toe to toe exchange of uppercuts and body shots, where
Brown took over control on situation with his right cross.
Round three was again exchange of nasty jabs, but Drew shots
have been more powerful and he looked like he was
controlling the dance. Brown won with unanimous decision
with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
Drew Brown the painter and decorator from Northampton said
before the fight that many people don’t know his hometown.
But he will make it recognizable by winning the tournament.
He kept the promise and he made Northampton proud.
Undercard results:
Sam Hyde (13-0-1, 6 kos) vs Dmitrij Kalinovskij (13-44-4, 5
kos), TKO 5th round (Scheduled 6×3, Cruiserweight).
Ryan Oliver (3-1) vs Dale Arrowsmith (1-15-1, 1 ko), PTS
40-36 (4×3, Welterweight).
Ben Sheedy (10-0-1, 4 kos) vs Emanuel Moussinga (4-11-0, 1
ko), PTS 39-37 (4×3 Middleweight)
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