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Mitchell Romps To Victory,
Saunders Impresses On Debut, Buglioni Goes The Distance
Photos & Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
Mighty Kevin Mitchell
made a welcome return to the ring on Friday night, when
he took on Spain based Dominican Felix Lora in a ten
round non-championship bout in front of a packed house
at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
The Dagenham Destroyer seemed unfazed that the bout was
touted as just a warm up bout, ahead of a summer
showdown with WBO Lightweight World Champion Ricky
Burns, as Mitchell seemed almost as fired up as he was
when he faced John Murray back last year.
Whilst it wasnt the liveliest of starts, as both
fighters felt each other out, it soon livened up and see
Mitchell using his incredibly accurate jab and superior
movement to frustrate Lora.
Late on the raucous crowd jumped to their feet, as Lora
fell to the canvas. The cheers faded as soon as they
realised it was just a slip, but seconds later the crowd
were back on their feet as Mitchell went straight back
on the attack.
A much livelier start to the second round see Mitchell
start to pressure Lora, picking him off with ease
utilising his jab and some powerful rights to the body,
and it wasnt long before the big crowd were on their
feet cheering again, as again Lora made a visit to the
canvas, this time it was the real deal.
Lora had started to
apply some pressure of his own, Mitchell used his
excellent movement to avoid everything Lora threw at him
before letting rip with a wickedly quick and accurate
countering left.
After the count Mitchell went straight on the attack in
a very controlled way, Lora used his head and grabbed
hold of the advancing Mitchell. Once his head had
cleared Lora tried to keep Mitchell on the backfoot,
however Mitchell with his back to the rope proves to an
extremely elusive target.
For the next few rounds Mitchell produced a boxing
masterclass par excellence, easily controlling the
rounds using his world class ring craft. Just as
comfortable on the backfoot as he is on the attack
Mitchell would pick off Lora, with sharp jabs, lightning
fast one twos and uppercuts, at will each time the
Dominican came in range.
Lora was fired up big time when he came out for the
fifth, he was angry and full of vengeful intention.
Virtually every punch the Dominican threw was fully
loaded, however whilst he had Mitchell on the back foot
and defending, the Dagenham mans ring craft is honed to
perfection.
Just as in the Murray fight, Mitchell backed on the rope
is an elusive target, virtually every exocet Lora fired
was avoided with comparable ease, that is until the
Dominican landed a peach that shook Mitchell. Lora then
turned up the pressure but Mitchell is well savvy and
boxed beautifully off the backfoot as Lora chased him
around the ring.
Lora must have thought
that another one his bombs had penetrated Mitchells
excellent defense in the final seconds, as Mitchell went
down, after slipping on water close to Loras corner.
It got a little heated as the round concluded, Mitchell
and Lora stood their ground, squared up to one another
and pushed their foreheads together in an old fashioned
face off fashion until referee Richie Davis intervened
and dispatched the pair to their respective corners.
Mitchells coach, Jimmy Tibbs, calmed his charge before
start of the sixth, and normal service resumed. Mitchell
again was in full control, utilising his exquisite jab
to control the next couple of rounds with ease.
Lora was again fired up at the start of the tenth and
final round, going straight on the attack with massive
exocets. Mitchell, again with his back to the ropes,
avoided the Dominicans big overhand rights with ease.
Mitchell then turned the tables on Lora in the final
minute and let rip with a big right hand that had lights
out written all over it. In an instant Lora throws his
arms around Mitchell to buy a few precious seconds in
which to clear his head to enable him to see the round
out.
No surprise Mitchell gets the nod from referee Richie
Davies, quite rightly, by a 98-92 points margin.
Word is Mighty Mitchell will do one more warm up bout
before facing Ricky Burns at Upton Park in the Summer.
Taking it on Fridays performance I personally dont think
he needs it. Whilst yes he cruised his way through big
parts of the bout, he also showed that he could step
things up whenever he needed to and his defensive
ringcraft was faultless throughout. It was a five star
performance by Dagenhams finest, even without the
incentive of adding another belt to his collection.
Preceding Mitchell-Lora
see Penges Super Bradley Skeete easily outclass
Hungarian challenger Laszlo Komjathi in an eight
rounder.
As with Mitchell, Skeete put on a masterclass display to
easily out point Komjathi, who has previously fought
such stalwarts as Giuseppi Lauri, Michael Jennings,
Rafal Jackiewicz, Marcos Maidana and Andriy Kotelnik.
Komjathi likes to box of the front foot, which played
into Skeetes hands as he could pick off the Hungarian at
will, with stiff jabs and three punch combinations, each
time he came in range.
Routine stuff for the first couple of rounds, but come
the third Skeete took the fight to Komjathi, making life
very uncomfortable for the Hungarian after forcing him
onto the back foot.
Skeete was in a groove, letting rip with all manner of
tasty shots, and around the midway point of the third a
cracking combo, finished off with a right to the jaw see
Komjathis legs go to jelly, whilst he didnt actually go
down his gloves touched the canvas and earned him a
standing count.
Surprisingly Skeete didnt go in hard and fast to finish
the Hungarian off, but seemed content to showcase his
skills for the adoring fans.
Komjathi was back on the front foot for the next couple
of rounds, however Skeete remained unfazed and seemed
content to just parry and counter his ever forward
coming opponent to easily secure the rounds.
Skeete went back on the offensive in the penultimate and
final rounds, easily forcing his durable opponent onto
the backfoot for large parts of each stanza. Skeete also
seemed to be putting more power behind his punches,
shaking his opponent on numerous occasions, as he
cruised his way to a tidy 80-71 points victory.
Prior to Skeete-Komjathi,
Kevin Mitchells big hitting TRAD TKO Gym mate Frankie
Buglioni took on super tough Ryan Clark, from
Lincolnshire.
Big ticket seller Buglioni entered the arena to a
standing ovation from the massive crowd, who continued
their chanting throughout the bout as the Enfield man
started fast, looking for his third early stoppage
finish in three outings.
Clark, normally a crowd pleasing battler himself, was
taken aback by the constant wave after wave of heavy
double handed attacks and instead of going toe to toe
with the man that has stopped both previous opponents,
Sabie Montieth and Paul Morby, inside the first round,
went defensive and covered up for long periods of the
early rounds.
Unpreturbed Buglioni just kept attacking at pace to
totally dominate the first couple of rounds.
More of the same in the first half third. However, after
made a trip to the canvas, deemed a slip, it was
Buglioni who had his resolve tested for the first time
since turning pro back in November last year. As
Buglioni went on the attack yet again, Clark countered
with cracking right hook. Clark went on the offensive
following up with a succession of big overhand rights
and lefts to the body.
Normal service resumed in the fourth and final round,
with Buglioni comfortably back in the driving seat,
keeping up the pressure on Clark until the final bell.
No surprise when referee Bob Williams raised Buglionis
arm in victory, declaring him the winner by 40-36 points
margin.
Former Amateur star
Bradley Saunders made an impressive start to his
professional career, by stopping Jason Nesbitt in the
third round of their scheduled six rounder.
Right from the off Saunders showed his class, bombarding
the body of the highly durable Birmingham journeyman. In
the second Saunders mixed it up a bit, throwing slick
uppercuts, seriously stiff jabs and soul destroying
right crosses to the head.
Saunders reverted to the body in the third and it came
as no surprise to anyone when Nesbitt appeared hurt, by
a vicious shot to the solar plexus. In an instant
Saunders moved in for the kill, the first shot misses
and as he is just about to let rip with another big body
shot referee Bob Williams steps in to stop the bout on
the two minutes and fifty seven second mark.
Undefeated in five Billy
Morgan, another of Kevin Mitchells TRAD TKO Gym mates,
took on Gants Hills Dan Naylor in a six rounder.
Round one to five were Morgan all the way, throughout
the rounds the Canning Town youngster produced yet
another masterclass, thoroughly out boxing the game
Naylor and showcasing his fully loaded arsenal of
punches.
Naylor stepped up the pace in the final round, to gain
some limited success, but not enough to deprive Morgan
of a clear 60-55 points victory.
Prior to Morgan-Naylor
yet another TRAD TKO Gym boxer, Gary Corcoran, made his
second pro outing, against Tamworths Matt Seagrave.
Right from the off Corcoran dominated the proceedings,
his slick, yet powerful boxing style was way too much
for 57 fight veteran Seagrave, who had to resort to
covering up for much of the fight as Corcoran fired
salvo after salvo to his body and head.
It came as no surprise when referee Bob Williams called
a halt to the proceedings in the third after a
particularly vicious flurry of shots had clearly hurt
the Tamworth man.
The opening fight of the
night see yet another TRAD TKO based fighter Ediz Eddy
Hussein made his second pro outing, against Barkings
Marc Callaghan.
Ediz, who is trained by his father - former Commonwealth
Light Welterweight Champion Mo Hussein, showed all the
class of his illustrious father, easily controlling the
bout form start to finish to earn a tidy 39-37 points
victory.
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