Vassell outlasts Purdy in Commonwealth war
Denton Vassell announced his arrival on the domestic welterweight scene by pounding out a breathtaking unanimous points victory over Lee Purdy to capture the vacant Commonwealth title at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan last night. Judges Marcus McDonnell and Phil Edwards had Vassell winning comfortably at 117-111 and 117-112 respectively whilst Howard Foster had it much closer at 115-114. Try as he might to break down Purdy with a punishing body attack Vassell just couldn’t get rid of the Colchester man and was even shaken himself, most notably at the end of the seventh round, which made this fight engrossing from the first bell to the last.
The two young hopefuls, surprisingly given a chance to contest the Commonwealth crown following John O’Donnell’s decision to vacate, got straight down to business in the opening round. The 25-year-old Vassell, now 15-0 (8), attempted to draw the 22-year-old Purdy, now 13-2-1 (7), into a phone-booth style battle but Purdy tucked up nicely behind a high guard and finished the session well by drilling Vassell with a straight right through the middle. The pair swapped hooks in the centre of the ring at the beginning of the second but it was Vassell (10st 6 8oz) who was eager to continue the assault as Purdy (10st 6) was more comfortable keeping the fight at range.
Whilst Vassell had made the majority of the early running he hadn’t managed to make a significant dent in Purdy and the fight’s first shift in emphasis occurred in round three. After absorbing Vassell’s initial onslaught to body and head, Purdy switched from defence to attack and nailed Vassell with a right hand to the side of the head which caused Denton’s legs to wobble. Vassell remained upright and appeared to shake off the effects of the punch quickly but Purdy surprisingly seemed to possess the edge in power.
Purdy failed to build on a good third and was forced into a defensive shell as Vassell repeatedly targeted his body in round four. The Manchester prospect continued his strategy to deny Purdy time and space by banging his way to the mid-section again in the fifth and introduced some uppercuts inside for good measure during an impressive spell.
Having being on the receiving end for two rounds, Purdy attempted to stand his ground in the sixth and notably started to push Vassell onto the back foot by establishing his jab. Purdy’s success knocked Vassell out of his rhythm which forced the Manchester man to switch southpaw in an attempt to regain control in round seven, almost with dire consequences. A superb burst from Purdy in which he crashed home three successive rights to Vassell’s unprotected jaw left Denton teetering on shaky legs. Had the bell not come before Purdy had chance to follow-up we may have been looking at a new Commonwealth welterweight champion.
The fight now appeared to be swinging in Purdy’s favour. Vassell, who had never travelled beyond six rounds before, seemed to be feeling the effects of the red hot pace and was hampered by a cut to his lip and swelling above his right eye. There was a window of opportunity for Purdy to really seize the initiative but Lee also seemed tired and his previous impetus was checked in the eighth.
After an uncharacteristically sedate session, both men furiously went to work in a see-saw ninth. Purdy began the round well by registering a right hand which caught Vassell coming in but Denton responded with a sustained onslaught and snapped Lee’s head back with two excellent rights of his own. Whilst Purdy commanded the ring centre in round ten he simply wasn’t busy enough and Vassell was the one who had found his second wind, emphasized by his willingness to fight his way out of the clinches.
Purdy needed to stage a grandstand finish and uncorked a peach of a right hand which knocked Vassell’s gumshield clean out in the eleventh. Unlike when caught with the same punch previously, this time Vassell seemed to throw off the effects and continued to march forward displaying incredible fitness levels. Instructed by trainer Bob Shannon that he needed to win the final round Vassell finished strongly, behind a busy jab supported with left hooks to the body and rights over the top to clearly clinch the session and the Commonwealth title.
Considering he had never been past six rounds before, Vassell’s fearless desire to throw non-step leather saw him unleash almost 1,100 punches - a remarkable accomplishment. The Manchester man’s work ethic and exciting style makes him a welcome addition to a competitive 10st 7lbs division. Purdy more than played his part though in this titanic battle and the Colchester boxer can come again.
