Rhodes sees off Brazilian Stallion at a canter
Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes shook off seventh months of ring rust ahead of a potential world title crack in 2011 with an easy victory over Brazil’s Rocky Junior at the Palace Hotel in Manchester last night. Rhodes (11st 10), headlining Hatton Promotions’ Christmas dinner bash, had been restricted to only one previous outing this year due to promotional wranglings and a back injury which forced him to give up his European light-middleweight title.
Rocky Junior (11st 9), the wonderfully dubbed ‘Brazilian Stallion’, had amassed a perfect 11-0 record going into this against non-descript opposition in Brazil and Argentina but was out of his depth against Rhodes. Ryan eased into proceedings in the opener as he merely pawed with his southpaw jab whilst occasionally shooting over a left hand to keep Junior under control.
The 39-year-old Brazilian (yes, 39) tried to press in round two but Ryan easily ducked underneath his crude right hands to demonstrate that his impressive reflexes remain just as nimble in his 49th fight. And when Rhodes decided to step on the gas, it was suddenly all over. A quick combination, ending with an uppercut, sent Junior tumbling to the mat midway through the session though the visitor protested Steve Gray’s count suggesting that he had gone down owing to a tangle of feet.
There was no doubt about the finisher, however. A left-hook rib-tickler sent Junior legitimately to the canvas where first he rose, then thought better of it as he returned to the refuge of the floor to sit out referee Gray’s count as he crouched on one knee.
Rhodes, highly ranked by both the WBC and IBF, will hope that his new backers the Hattons will be able to deliver him a third world title shot in the new year. A more likely scenario though is that Rhodes will first attempt to regain his European light-middleweight crown against Lukas Konecky, the Czech who profited from the Sheffield man’s injury withdrawal to win the vacant title with a stoppage of Manchester’s Matthew Hall in September.
Commonwealth welterweight boss Denton Vassell (11st 1) extended his unbeaten record to 16-0 (9) with a third round TKO over Brazil’s Welson Alves de Oliveira (Jack Welson for short). The gangly long-armed Welson (11st 2) had a go early on and clipped Vassell with a left hook but soon lost interest when he failed to make a dent in the marauding Manchester man.
Vassell, who likes to get inside and work the body, pinned Welson in a neutral corner and punished his opponent with some clubbing hooks and an uppercut to the head for good measure. It was getting rough and it wasn’t to Welson’s liking as he sought protection from referee Gray who merely told the fighters to get on with it in round two.
With the pressure in the oven getting hotter, Welson elected to get out of the kitchen 56 seconds into the third. Two right hands forced the Brazilian to clinch, and after wriggling free Welson decided to turn sideways on leaving Gray with little option but to call it off. MC Michael Pass’s official announcement was that “Welson was in no position to continue” but a more fitting anecdote would have been “Welson had no intention of continuing”.
The all-action Vassell, who has been inactive since outpointing Lee Purdy to win the vacant Commonwealth crown in April, is now expected to defend his title against Young Mutley in Bolton on February 26.
In the show opener, reigning Commonwealth flyweight champion Chris Edwards (8st 5lbs) got a decent work-out against Middlesbrough trier Francis Croes (8st 6lbs) in their bantamweight contest fought over four-three’s. Referee Gray scored the bout 40-37 in Edwards’ favour which reflected the Stoke man’s better workrate as he never stopped throwing rat-a-tat-tat combinations from the first minute to the last.
Croes, who is better than his 1-11 ledger would suggest, made a fist of it in round three and found the mark with a decent right hand, which presumably Gray gave him a share of. Personally, I thought Francis’s spirited comeback was enough to shade him the third and draw the fourth as I made Edwards a 39-38 winner.
The result means that Edwards has now officially moved from in the red and gone into the black as the former journeyman’s record now stands at 15-14-3.
