Fight By Fight. Pt 2
Walsall Town Hall
21 April 2018
Ricky Summers vs. Tayar Mehmed
Sandwell born Ricky Summers made light work of his top of the bill clash against his Bulgarian challenger, Tayar Mehmed with a display of boxing that eased him to a 60-53 win according to Referee Martin Williams’ scorecard.
Summers racked up the 15th win of his pro career after dominating throughout the six round contest with Mehmed, the slightly older boxer by comparison, struggling to make any real impression.
When Summers entered the hall to a ‘Ready or Not’ Refugees remix and took to the ring he immediately owned it. Nothing that Mehmed did after that point changed that and throughout the fight the eager crowd, with their ‘only one Ricky Summers’ chants and vociferous support made clear whose side they were on and whom they also felt owned the ring.
Rumours abound that a title shot is around the corner and given Summers’ impressive 15 win record cemented by tonight’s confident display, who would count against it?
Lennox Clarke vs. Wilmer Gonzalez
Team Lennox are clearly a force to be reckoned with. Clarke himself, the current International Boxing Organisation Continental Super Middleweight Champion told Behind The Gloves, after winning the IBO Title in December 2017,
“I’ve proven myself now. I’ve proved I can dig deep. I’ve proved I’m fit. I’ve proved all the questions asked of me. I’ve had a slow start, now I’m ready to go.”
Far from having to dig deep for this particular fight the Birmingham boxer barely had to scratch beneath the surface as he landed a first round stoppage against the 35 year old Nicaraguan born Gonzalez.
On paper it looked to be a decent match-up with Gonzalez bringing a record of 19 wins, 12 by way of KO and 13 defeats (with one draw) to the ring. In the process he’d also made four previous Title challenges and although unsuccessful in each one, was not a name to be taken lightly.
However, Clarke tore the script to pieces and then in a manner that could only earn him so much more respect, was even slightly apologetic to us and his followers after the fight – telling MBC,
“I didn’t really get going. I didn’t really get into it.”
He clearly wanted more of a challenge from the fight and watching the fight from ringside you could see why he felt that way.
Gonzalez made an ambitious looking start to the first round and challenged for control of the centre of the ring. He threw a couple of useful looking body and head shots during the first minute but went down under the weight of Clarke’s punch power when he got caught by a short left before the second minute of the round had expired.
Birmingham Boxing Column has named Lennox Clarke as their ‘Boxer of the Year.’ The decision isn’t a tough one to decipher given Clarke’s acheivements over the past 12 months and if his impressive record is anything to go by there are surely even more exciting times ahead for this talented Midlands fighter.
Damian Kiwior vs. Mario Petrov
If Damian Kiwior is going to find the same level of success in the pro ranks as he did in his amateur days he may have to take a few lessons from the Floyd Mayweather Jr school of boxing – and find a way to hit and not get hit.
Will he be pleased to have gone to 2-0 with this hard fought points win over the 14 fight Bulgarian pugilist? Of course he will. But will he be pleased with his all round performance on the night? Hmmm…Maybe not. And if not then the reason for this? Well let’s be frank, he got caught a few too many times.
Kiwior made a bright start. Flashing out an effective jab, closing down the ring and with both fast hands and feet he was clearly the dominant force for the first two rounds. But his right cross, a potentially potent piece of his artillery that he tends to favour, found the open air way too often and he got effectively counterpunched just enough to leave him bloody nosed and looking perhaps a little chastened and despondent come the final bell.
That said, when Kiwior was good he was really good. He threw some stinging body shots when he managed to get up close and he remained on a relentless prowl scoring with some effective eye-catching blows in patches throughout the fight. He was particularly successful in round four, throwing banging combinations to head and body that would have left any undecided observer clear about who should win the contest, despite a game showing from the durable and willing Petrov.
Next up for the Wolverhampton based prospect, a third professional outing on 9th June on the undercard of the Kyle Williams vs. Thomas Essomba Title fight that takes place in his home town. As of yet his opponent hasn’t been announced but Kiwior will know that in the eyes of his eager, growing fan base, whoever he faces he’ll be looking to beat, and beat convincingly.
To see what happened in the remainder of this fight card click here
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