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The prospect under the microscope last week was David Haye, world amateur silver medallist at heavyweight and who has looked classy but occasionally vulnerable so far in his nine paid contests at cruiser. His opponent, former 'world' champion 'King' Arthur Williams had only 18 months previously given O'Neil Bell all he could handle until being stopped in the ninth. On paper this was a very real test for the powerful Haye against a wily and game veteran.
That Haye stopped Williams in three was testimony to a number of things, not least a lack of spark from the 39-year old. But credit to Haye, he took what looked like a fight he could easily lose and fought the guy in front of him. Barring a freak loss to a journeyman heavyweight in 1991, Williams had only previously been stopped by Bell, Vassily Jirov and Orlin Norris, but he was hurt by Haye from the opening minute by a mixture of body and head shots thrown with either hand. Haye was looking smooth. This was accentuated in the second round, in which Haye stepped off the power shots to sit behind his fast, accurate jab.
By the middle of the third, Haye was once again unleashing hurtful shots. Williams was marched into a corner at which point the young Londoner unloaded a salvo that showed accuracy, speed, and good quick punch selection. The referee had no option but to step in.
The win was hugely impressive for the young man, as Williams had looked motivated before the fight, but Haye was able to hurt the American and put him out of his stride continually. With IBO champion and perennial cruiserweight war horse Carl Thompson currently sitting out a six month ban, his return offers a genuine chance for these two power punchers to get together. After this performance, youth may well start the favourite.
Supporting Haye was Esham Pickering who retained his EBU super-bantamweight title belt when challenger Juan Garcia Martin had to pull out in the eighth with an arm injury.
The following day, Thursday, saw Danny Williams take another step on the road to post-Sprott redemption with another pull-out win as Ivory Coast giant Augustine N’Gou retired himself at the end of the third. WIlliams won the WBU Intercontinental heavyweight title for his troubles. Williams is arguably the most talented heavyweight in Britain, but the first two rounds typified the lethargy which has dogged his career. Although the Brxiton man took the fight on late notice, scaling 270 pounds was high for the 6 foot 2 inch Williams. Nevertheless, he appeared to be in passable shape although was he out-worked over the first two and a half rounds despite doing the nicer boxing.
In effect it was his defence which won the match for him as the huge African punched himself out. In the third, Williams stepped up a couple of gears, rocked his opponent with some body shots, and left N'Gou struggling for breath at the end of the round. Whilst he gave no sign of the bicep injury he was to blame for his retirement whilst in the ring, it seemed that N'Gou just didn’t fancy the job any more. Williams labelled him a 'bottle job' after the match.
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Supporting Williams was heavyweight 'Big Bad' John McDermott, who pounded a stoppage win over the eternally game cruiserweight James Zikic. McDermott, coming off an injury loss last September, is still in need of some serious roadwork away from the pie shop. Zikic was down in the first but responded to the knockdown by shortening the distance between the two and tucking himself into McDermott's ample bosom, working the body of the big man. McDermott's response was swinging right uppercut-type punches and, by the fourth, Zikic had faded sufficiently for the bout to be stopped.
Kevin Mitchell continued as expected with a first round stoppage of inept Frenchman Slimane Kebaili.
This weekend Britain looks to the glorious north west of England for their premier pugilistic fix. Friday night's Manchester show features a pair of former British champions. At light welter Wayne Rigby attempts to revive a flagging career by stepping down in class to face Tony Montana, whilst at feather Nicky Cook and Scott Harrison victim Gary Thornhill tackles perennial loser Daniel Thorpe. Both fights should be relatively straightforward for the favourites.
Saturday's Widnes card sees Justin Juuko dusted off to take on Michael Gomez. Juuko is a reasonably late replacement and hasn't fought in almost a year, concentrating on promoting shows in Uganda. This could nevertheless be a good little match, and a decent test for the rejuvenated Gomez. Certainly he'll be a handful for anyone open to shots. Juuko has some great names on his CV (Mayweather, Cotto, Corrales – all losses) but is susceptible to a punch and is a shop-worn 31. Gomez to win, by about the eighth, but with some testing moments on the way.
Over in Italy, Stefano Zoff takes on Yuri Romanov in a lightweight bout the home fighter should win without the need to rely on home judging.
Potentially intriguing news for the legions of Frank Warren fighters holding or contesting WBU belts as a Canadian businessman is rumoured to be interested in purchasing the East Anglia-based sanctioning body and exporting it to the USA to give it a higher profile.
Ricky Hatton's opponent for the 12th June has finally been announced as Argentinian Carlos Wilfredo Vilches. Vilches is a big light-welterweight, but his visits to even the fringes of world class have met with defeat. His most recent trip to the big stage was last year when he was overpowered by Sharmba Mitchell, a man renowned more for his boxing than his punching. Hatton will be looking to do a more impressive job on Vilches than that of Mitchell, but it will be hard. Big review in three weeks: reviewing Hatton fights this far out is a risky business these days.
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