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Lynes, Qato & Dingsdale Victorious; Kasiulevicius,
McCarthy, Lama & Pettitt Impress Big Time
Report & Photos By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
On Saturday evening, at the York Hall in London, TRAD TKO
supremo Johnny Eames made his long awaited debut as a
promoter, and boy did he do it in style.
The esteemed Mr. Eames pulled out all the stops to ensure
the fans in attendance a night of boxing they are likely
never to forget.
The mouth watering line up was headed up by former two
weight British and World Champion Colin Lynes, against Beka
Sutidze, with current English Middleweight Champion and
former World Champ Qato Kreshnik, in a titanic battle with
former British title challenger Max Maxwell, as main
support.
The undercard was featured some of the UKs top prospects,
including Lewis Pettitt, Adam Dingsdale, Matt McCarthy and
Festim Lama, as well as the pro debut of two time Lithuanian
Amateur Heavyweight Champion Paulius Kasiulevicius.
There would have also been further top prospects in action,
but the sensational Freddie Turner had to pull out due to a
chest infection and exciting heavyweight Tom Little didnt
get medical clearance in time to fight.
Anyway enough scene setting, believe me this show was that
good it doesnt need any.
Its been a year since Colin Lynes was last in action, so his
legion of action starved fans raucously greeted him before
breaking into a chorus of Lyno, Lyno, Lyno.
Which was in complete contrast to the reception Beka Sutidze
received on his ring walk, which consisted of some polite
clapping but not much else.
Round one started slow, with both protagonists taking a
little time to feel out their opponent. The first real
action came about midway through, when Lynes followed a
stiff jab with a cracking right to the body.
Sutidze responds with a big right that Lynes ducks under
before punishing the Georgian with another body shot.
Sutidze decides to go on the back foot, big mistake as this
allows Lynes to control the proceedings with some excellent
jabbing and the occasional combination, dont get me wrong it
wasnt all one way traffic, just Sutidze was being outclassed
by Lynes.
Round two is more of the same, although Sutidze does manage
to stand his ground more, even catching the elusive Lynes
once or twice. By midway through though Lynes began to exert
his authority, seemingly landed crisp jabs and bruising body
shots at will.
In the later part of the round Sutidze became more forceful
in his attacks, even going toe-to-toe with Lynes for about
five seconds or so, when Lynes lands a wickedly fast body
shot that clearly hurts the Georgian.
Round three sees Sutidze taking more punishment, as Lynes
gives an exhibition of his exquisite boxing skills, picking
off the youngster at will.
Round four sees a change of tactics from Sutidze, which
results in two public warnings for the youngster, the first
for a head-butt and the second following his constant
holding and pushing.
Lynes reaction is to calmly pick him off with solid jabs and
the occasional right, however thats as far as it would get
before Sutidze would grab hold, before leaning in and
pushing Lynes back to the ropes.
At the end of the round referee Ritchie Davies made it clear
that any more of the same and he will disqualify the
Georgian.
Lynes puts in another round of exquisite boxing, even when
Sutidze starts grabbing hold again, Lynes just steps around
him and picks him off once more. This goes on for about
three quarters of the round, when Sutidzes frustration gets
the better of him and he starts the holding and pushing
tactics once more.
Ritchie Davies is less than amused, finally pulling the
youngster up for yet another public warning after what can
only be described as a desperate attempt to push Lynes
though the corner post!
I know that sounds a strange description but Sutidze grabs
Lynes, after the Hornchurch man lands a beautiful
combination, and literally rushes into him, pushing Lynes
back quarterback style at speed into the corner.
It came as no surprise when Ritchie Davies patience finally
came to an end in the sixth, instead of heeding the warnings
issued earlier in the bout Sutidze constantly grabbed and
held Lynes throughout the early part of the round, even so
Lynes had still managed to land a few cracking shots to get
the crowd up and cheering.
Its a real shame the fight had to end this way, it started
out as such a promising fight, albeit one that Lynes was
dominating with his superior technical skills.
Prior to Lynes-Sutidze, Tilburys highly popular Matt
McCarthy took on Bognor Regis Liam Griffiths in a four
rounder.
After a rather inactive first round from either boxer it
soon turned into a one sided affair, firstly with the highly
touted Essex teenager sending the Bognor man to the canvas.
From that moment on McCarthy controlled the bout with his
vastly superior boxing skills. Round after round McCarthy
stalked his prey, before letting rip with vicious
combinations and big left hands.
Have to admit I was surprised this fight went the distance,
as McCarthy seemed able to pick off Griffiths at will, but
it did, ending with a tidy 40-35 points victory for
McCarthy.
The fifth bout on the card featured English Middleweight
Champion Kreshnik Qato against former British title
challenger Max Maxwell.
The fight got off to a storming start, with Qato rushing in
with a double handed attack to body and head. Maxwell calmly
covered up, absorbing the barrage easily on his arms and
gloves.
With the crowd urging him on Qato kept up the attack at a
pace, unfortunately though he didnt appear to break through
Maxwells fortress like defense at any point.
After patiently absorbing Qatos relentless onslaught for
about a minute or so, Maxwell started to turn the fight
around in his favour, letting rip with clinically accurate
shots of his own.
By the end of the round the level of accuracy from the
Brummie battlers shots was clear for all to see, as Qatos
right eye was beginning to swell badly.
More of the same in the next couple of rounds, with Qato
seemingly content to throw wild double handed shots, whilst
the Brummie would counter with ridiculously accurate left
hooks, which were causing further damage to the Albanians
damaged right eye.
So much so that by round five referee Kieran McCann called
for the doctor, as the eye had virtually swollen shut. The
doctor gave the OK to continue and Qato stepped up the
pressure on Maxwell.
Round six was a stormer, with the pair going toe-to-toe from
start to finish, Even after the final bell the highly
appreciative crowd were still on their feet cheering,
rightly so in my opinion it was a cracking bout and would
later be declared Fight of the Night.
When referee Kieran McCanns scorecard was read out as a
60-55 points victory for Kreshnik Qato I have to say I was
mightily surprised, this was a much closer bout than that
score indicates.
When I compared scorecards with Paul Zanon from the Daily
Sport, we both had it as 59-58, myself in favour of Maxwell
and Pauls in favour of Qato, thats how close the fight
really was and I for one hope that theres a rematch in the
near future and I want to be there.
Eriths Lewis Pettitt, put on a mightily impressive display
against Venezuelan Jose Elizabeth. It would be fair to say
that for the first minute or so it was a competitive fight,
but after that it was all Pettitt.
From the second minute of the first round onwards Pettitt
put on a masterclass, keeping Elizabeth on the back foot the
youngster from Slough took the opportunity to showcase his
extensive arsenal of punches.
In the later rounds Pettitt stepped up the pace and looked
sure to bring the bout to an early end, however Elizabeth is
made of sterner stuff and managed to see the fight out.
No surprise then that referee Ritchie Davies scored it a
shutout 60-54 points victory for Pettitt.
Third fight of night see the professional debut of Paulius
Kasiulevicius, in what to some in the business must have
seemed a ridiculously matched bout against Frantisek Kynkal
from Prague.
The reason I say this is usually a potential prospect, such
as Kasiulevicius, would get a nice gentle introduction to
the professional game, however Johnny Eames wasnt worried
one iota with putting his boy in with Kynkal, even though
the Czech is ranked #8 in his home country, was some three
and half stone heavier than his boy and had stopped his last
two opponents.
Johnnys faith in his young charges ability was proved a
hundred percent correct, right from the off Kasiulevicius
used his jab efficiently to keep the big man on the back
foot, about a minute or so in Kasiulevicius let rip with
another solid jab, this time though followed straight in
with a lightning quick right, which sent the big Czech to
the canvas for the first time.
You've got to give Kynkal his due, not only did he get up
but also went on the attack on the restart.
Not that he had any success as Kasiulevicius got straight
back on the jab, then as before just as Kynkal started to
come forward Kasiulevicius let rip with a massive right to
send the Czech to the canvas a second time.
This time Kynkal looked a bit wary on the restart, which was
like a red flag to a bull for Kasiulevicius, who instead of
waiting for the Czech giant to come to him went on the
attack, initially with solid jabs until the opportunity to
throw a yet another big right into the temple of Kynkal.
No surprise Kynkal hit the deck for a third time, this time
though the Czech looked wary about rising, leaving referee
Ritchie Davies no option but to call a halt to the
proceedings on the two minute twenty five second mark.
The second bout of the night, between Adam Dingsdale and
Jason Nesbitt, also didnt make the distance, but for a
totally different reason.
Highly rated unbeaten prospect Dingsdale started strong,
taking the fight to the highly experienced Nesbitt. The Hoo,
Kent man kept Nesbitt on the back foot throughout the first
round, launching some wicked combinations behind his solid
jabbing.
The canny Nesbitt kept a high guard as he played a waiting
game and looking for any openings the Dingsdale may leave.
He didnt find that many in the first but the second was a
much more open affair, however this wasnt to last as in the
final minute of the round Nesbitt dislocated his shoulder.
Determined to see the round out Nesbitt tried to box and
defend with just the one arm. Dingsdale, who, as was
everyone ringside, was aware that the Birmingham man was in
distress and just used his jab until the bell went.
It came as no surprise to anyone that Nesbitts corner
retired their man in the corner, so he could receive medical
treatment.
The opening fight of the night, between TRAD TKOs Festim
Lama and Dan Blackwell, was a real barnstormer.
Lama, who in his debut back in February stopped his
opponent, was clearly fired up and looking for a second
stoppage win. However twenty two fight veteran Dan Blackwell
is one seriously tough cookie.
Right from the off Lama went hard on the attack, forcing
Blackwell onto the back foot. Lama continued his double
handed assault whist the Trowbridge man covered up behind a
high guard.
Lama must have felt confident, as he kept up the barrage for
a good minute and half, then suddenly Blackwell whipped out
a solid counter and now the fight really got under way.
This heavy handed exchanges continued throughout the second
and third rounds, both of which Lama secured with his much
higher work rate and more meaningful shots.
By the final round Blackwell was getting more success, but
nowhere near enough to win the round. No surprise then when
the scorecard was read out that Lama had secured his second
pro win by a shutout 40-36 points decision.
Congratulations are in order for Johnny Eames and the TKO
Events team, they put on a sensational debut show the event
went like clockwork and more importantly for the fans, it
was a great evening of entertainment, crammed full of drama,
sensational action packed bouts and even a little
controversy - what more could a boxing fan ask for.
Word is theres more to come next month, as the TKO
juggernaut returns to Bethnal Green for a second installment
on the 27th July.
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