O'Donnell and Fury win on ShoBox "The New Generation"
Former Commonwealth welterweight king John O’Donnell needed all his southpaw speed and guile to outpoint New Jersey’s Terrence Cauthen last night at the York Hall over twelve rounds. On a normal night a win over a former Olympic bronze medallist and a fighter on the fringes of world class would be a job well done.
However, last night was not a run-of-the-mill domestic show in the East End. The York Hall was graced by the cameras of the American TV network Showtime as part of their “ShoBox: The New Generation” series. With a potentially massive audience exposed to the card in Canada and the US, simply getting the win wouldn’t suffice.The boxers needed to be sensational and capture the imagination.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be.
It is very rare for two southpaws to make an entertaining fight and with both fighters being far better bestowed with boxing ability than concussive finishing power, the odds were always against fireworks.
Cauthen seemed to start firmly in defensive mode. On being pushed back by the more assertive man from Sheppard’s Bush, Cauthen was organised and mobile behind a high guard.
The American’s pedigree started to surface in the second. Although he was looking second best in terms of aggression, he put together fast and classy clusters of punches. The problem was that the visitor, at 34 and with a somewhat sliding state of 35-6 (9) going in, just didn’t seem to want it as much as O’Donnell.
The action became repetitive and a little predictable. John was boxing well and beating an accomplished opponent, but it wasn’t scintillating by any stretch of the imagination. At the end of twelve rounds, Ken Curtis scored the affair 118-112.
O’Donnell still has bags of time at 24, and the good news is that he is slated to fight former world title challenger Michael Jennings next month for the Lonsdale strap (though this will depend on how Jennings fares against Kell Brook next weekend - assistant Ed) .
In the chief support, heavyweight Tyson Fury returned to action after his English title win over John McDermott when, for eight long rounds, he threw not only the kitchen sink at opponent Rich Power but most of the household furniture as well.
The previously unbeaten man from Michigan thoroughly lived up to his nickname ”super” as he ate jabs, a flow of straight right hands and some debilitating bodywork to somehow scrape to the finish line.
Power’s bravery and punch resistance were remarkable. He was three stone lighter and gave away masses of height. Yet in the face of some serious leather which was landing cleanly, he refused to crumple and made Tyson work for everything.
The first was a little slow, but the punishment started in the second for Power and lasted the rest of the fight. Rich appeared to injure his hand in the third and Tyson jumped on him, putting every ounce of his 18st 11lb frame behind his shots. Power showed the properties of a stubborn sponge by gamely marching in and giving it a go.
In every successive session , Power was cuffed around the ring. He sucked it up and fought back as best he could. There was a strong argument for stopping the fight at the end of the seventh, and then in the eighth Power’s legs deserted him regularly as he sat down on the middle rope. At the end of the fight he couldn’t keep his hands up but amazingly his body was still upright.
Tyson took the shut out decision and he is the mandatory for the biting, kissing, and fairly destructive punching British champion Derek “Del Boy” Chisora. "Del Boy" is set for a duel title showdown with Commonwealth king Sam Sexton on Frank Warren's Magnificent Seven bill next weekend.
Teak-tough and wonderfully named Theophilus Tetteh played the durable Ghanaian hard man role well as Lee Purdy administered eight rounds of clean hurtful punches to his cut physique. Predictably, the man from Accra took everything, tried his best within the constraints of his technical limitations, and then dropped a 78-75 decision over eight rounds at super middle.
Tetteh’s punching was too wide to seriously trouble Purdy, who quickly found a workman like rhythm to land regularly and cleanly. In defence, Theophilius was slow to regain a tight guard and was punished accordingly.
Purdy appeared to have Tetteh on the hook in the fourth but didn’t really press the situation, and the man from Accra was getting drilled often in the midst of a fire alarm sounding in the hall.
The visitor fought open-mouthed over the last three rounds and was hit often in reprimand for losing his balance. Tetteh falls to 9-4-2 (2) and Purdy puts his points loss to Denton Vassell for the vacant Commonwealth welterweight crown behind him.
Islington’s John “the Gorilla” Ryder made an explosive start to his paid career as he blasted out Glasgow’s Ben Deghani at 1:30 of the opener.
Deghani was smashed with hook and uppercuts and looked out of his depth from the start. He was so upright and open. Ryder rocked him badly with almost every big shot he threw and at the time of the stoppage the left side of Ben’s face was literally black, red and blue with injuries. It was scheduled for four at middle.
Mick Hennessy’s other debutant also ended his affair in quick time as Tyler Goodjohn from Haddenham floored and then overwhelmed Dale Hutchinson in the second.
Tyler set up the stoppage by working the body well in the first and then in the second he scored the knockdown with a crunching left hook right hand sequence. Further hampered by a cut right eye, Dale was swamped by the follow up barrage of punches.
Referee Jeff Hinds halted the affair at 2:41.
Tyson Fury’s cousin Phil lodged his sixth straight victory as he shut out Andrew “Paddy” Patterson over four rounds at light middle.
Patterson walked forward and got caught repeatedly in the opener. Phil looked to open and loose but had some success as he started to get Patterson’s number. Patterson walked into a steady stream of shots over the next three rounds and Fury started to distastefully showboat. Andrew drops to 1-10-2 (1).
