By Eric Armit
Might 25
Cheavon Clarke leaves his mark on Zorro – Leeds, UK
Clarke received the vacant British title with a KO of Ellis Zorro. Within the early motion, Zorro boxed cleverly on the again foot utilizing his jab and loads of nifty footwork to keep away from the assaults of the slower Clarke. Zorro continued to carry Clarke off, and when Clarke did get inside, he held on to smother Clarke’s hooks and uppercuts.
Zorro was given a warning for holding initially of the eighth and Clarke was then in a position to power him to the ropes and landed an enormous proper that made Zorro buckle on the knees and retreat. Clarke closed in and three clubbing proper despatched Zorro down and he was counted out. Clarke, 33, grabbed his seventh win by KO/TKO.
Jamaican-born Clarke, who beat present WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith within the amateurs, represented Jamaica on the 2014 Commonwealth Video games.
Clarke then switched to characterize England/Nice Britain successful a silver medal on the European Championships, a bronze medal on the 2018 Commonwealth Video games and competed on the Tokyo Olympics. Zorro, 31, misplaced his unbeaten tag when he was knocked out in a single spherical by Jai Opetaia in December.
Good Paddy rinses Ritson – Leeds, UK
Paddy Donovan wore down Lewis Ritson for a ninth-round stoppage. Within the early rounds, southpaw Donovan boxed in a cool and managed trend, primarily on the retreat, with Ritson advancing behind a excessive guard, utilizing his jab to set Donovan up for rights.
Donovan switched ways within the seventh, happening the entrance foot, taking the combat to Ritson. He continued these ways efficiently within the eighth, trapping Ritson in a nook after which alongside the ropes for the second half of the spherical, scoring with hooks and a few neck-snapping uppercuts. Ritson fired occasional counters to persuade the referee he was nonetheless within the combat, however solely simply.
Donovan once more drove Ritson to the ropes within the ninth and was bombarding him with punches when the referee stopped the combat. Donovan was making the second defence of the WBA Continental belt together with his fifth consecutive inside-the-distance victory.
Cully pushes sole loss additional behind him by beating Patera – Leeds, UK
Gary Cully outpointed Francesco Patera by unanimous choice. Patera knew he must take the combat inside in opposition to the 6’2” Cully, and he did that within the first, specializing in physique punches with Cully utilizing proper jabs and straight lefts to attain.
Tiring in the direction of the tip, Patera staged a storming end to take the tenth and make it shut. The scores got here in at 96-94 (twice) and a too-wide 98-92 for Cully.
The winner beforehand suffered a crushing defeat when Mexican Jose Felix floored him twice and stopped him in three rounds in Might final 12 months, however a win over Reece Mould in November went some technique to restoring his repute.
Two-time European champion Patera once more confirmed his glorious abilities and tactical experience however simply got here up brief right here. He was 10-1 in his final eleven fights with the defeat approaching factors in opposition to the massively proficient Keyshawn Davis in July 2023.
Might 24
Buoyant Ballingall bosses Benjamin – London, UK
Lucas Ballingall survived a last-round knockdown to outpoint Kaisee Benjamin. These two had been effectively matched, with Ballingall being extra cell and faster however doing a bit an excessive amount of flashy showmanship, whereas Benjamin labored solidly all the best way.
Neither is a heavy puncher, and Ballingall went for amount, attacking with fast bursts of punches, whereas Benjamin threw much less however with extra accuracy. Ballingall’s intelligent boxing and speedier motion gave him the sting, and with swelling affecting Benjamin’s imaginative and prescient out of his proper eye, Ballingall had a superb lead going into the tenth.
He was drained, and Benjamin landed a sequence of hooks to the physique. An exhausted Ballingall was desperately holding when he misplaced his mouthguard, gaining a number of seconds of respite. A proper shook Ballingall, after which three punches dropped him with simply 16 seconds remaining within the combat.
He climbed to his toes and grabbed Benjamin to make it by the few remaining seconds. Ballingall received on scores of 96-93 twice and 95-94. He additionally claimed the vacant IBF European title. Benjamin suffered back-to-back losses in opposition to Dalton Smith and Sean McComb however had received his final two fights coming in.
Who beats Isaac Chilemba? Aleksei Papin for one – Balashikha, Russia
Papin brushed apart a light Chilemba within the second. Chilemba confirmed all of his expertise as he boxed his manner cleverly within the first spherical, irritating a harmful Papin.
Papin launched a fierce assault within the second, driving Chilemba to the ropes after which tried to beat Chilemba to the ground however the Malawian blocked most of the photographs and wriggled off the ropes.
A left hook despatched Chilemba to the ropes once more and this time there was no escape. Papin bombarded Chilemba with punches till Chilemba ended up mendacity on his again on the canvas and the referee instantly stopped the combat.
Might 23
Jermaine Franklin beat a drained Devin Vargas – Detroit, USA
Franklin bought in some goal observe in opposition to a flabby however resilient Vargas. A proper uppercut despatched Vargas down within the fourth and though badly harm and bleeding closely from the nostril, Vargas managed to beat the depend and fought again bravely within the fifth.
Late within the sixth, with Vargas in opposition to the ropes, Franklin linked with a left hook and a proper and Vargas dropped to the canvas. He was up rapidly with the bell going earlier than the referee may begin a depend however properly Vargas didn’t come out for the seventh.
Might 22
Jukembayev rips into Redkach – Florida, USA
Batyrzhan Jukembayev halted a worn-looking Ivan Redkach in 5 rounds on Professional Field TV. Faster and extra correct together with his southpaw jabs, Jukembayev was in cost all the best way.
This was Jukembayev’s fifth consecutive win as he tries to work his technique to a title shot. He was floored and misplaced on a retirement in opposition to Subriel Matias in Might 2021, so he can be hoping to get an opportunity for revenge now that Matias is the IBF champion. Nevertheless, his solely present score is No 12 with the WBA.
At 38, Redkach seemed like a candidate for retirement. After going 19-1-1, he has dropped to 5-6 in latest exercise and this was solely his second combat in three years.