British Scene Weekend Recap: Rhodes Stops Moore, Napa and Bayaar Win, Rushton Injured

Dave Oakes recaps this past Friday night's Sky show.

Photo © Chris Royle

Ryan Rhodes became European champion on Friday night after stopping Jamie Moore in the seventh round of a classic domestic fight. Rhodes was a massive underdog going into the fight but out-toughed the usually teak tough Moore to claim the win of his career.

Moore started the fight well, repeatedly catching Rhodes with hooks to head and body in the opening round.

Moore continued the onslaught in the second round, he was beating Rhodes to the punch and was landing some hurtful body punches, a couple of which seemed to have an effect on Rhodes. The Sheffield man responded well to the heavy shots he was taking, firing back with his punches that made Moore think before he charged in.

Rhodes was expected to make full use of the ring whilst countering the aggressive Moore; instead he seemed intent on standing his ground and taking on Moore at his own game. This didn’t seem like the brightest of ideas, especially after the third round in which Moore teed off on him from start to finish with powerful combinations to head and body.

At the start of the fourth, it looked like it was a case of when could Moore get the stoppage, not if he could get the stoppage. There mustn’t have been many people in attendance who could have foreseen what was to happen.

Yet again Moore was the aggressor, he was seemingly far too big and strong for Rhodes to cope with. Rhodes was battling bravely and was having his own successes at times but Moore was landing some telling blows, in particular a left hook that rattled Rhodes’ jaw and visibly hurt the challenger. It was Rhodes though who landed the best punch of the round; he landed a vicious hook under the ribs bang on the bell that had Moore wincing and gasping for air as he made his way back to the corner.

The fifth round saw Rhodes getting dropped to the canvas, but it was a clear low blow that put him there. Despite the roars from the back of the arena, the referee correctly ruled it as a low blow and gave Rhodes the adequate time to recover. The round itself was very close, Moore was still pressing forward but Rhodes was increasingly upping his work rate and was now matching Moore punch for punch.

The sixth round was the first clear round that Rhodes won, you could make a case for him in another couple of rounds but this was the round in which he really made his mark. He was catching Moore repeatedly with spiteful body shots and was starting to boss the usually rock solid Salford champion around. To his credit Moore was still trying to force the pace but he was clearly tiring from his efforts in the earlier rounds, the number of heavy whacks to the body he was receiving didn’t help him to much either.

Moore tried to re-establish his superiority in the seventh but soon found himself on the canvas after a well timed counter right hook by Rhodes had him in all kinds of trouble. He managed to beat the count but he looked unsteady on his legs. He then, in typical Jamie Moore fashion, decided to go toe-to-toe with Rhodes rather than clinch and buy himself some time to recover. Amazingly he seemed to have turned the tide midway through the round and was once again hurting Rhodes to head and body.

Just when it looked as if Moore had weathered the storm and was beginning to break Rhodes heart, he inexplicably dropped his hands and was caught with a monstrous overhand right that sent him staggering backwards towards the ropes. Rhodes jumped on Moore straight away and unleashed a non-stop two fisted salvo that left the referee with no alternative but to stop the fight.

It was a remarkable end to a remarkable fight. A lot of credit has to be given to Rhodes, who at 32, showed he still has the appetite to dig deep and come through adversity to win. He’s had a career of many highs and lows but this has got to rank as the most impressive win of it.

It’s hard to believe that Moore will be able to rebuild from the defeat, he’ll still be able to compete at European level at either light-middleweight or middleweight but hopes of a world title shot now seem to have gone forever. It’s a shame that his world title dream has fallen apart after so many years of hard work and after spending the past three or four years begging to be given the opportunity he deserved.

Bizarrely, despite the fight being billed as a world title eliminator, it now seems that Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr has jumped ahead of Rhodes in the rankings and will fight Sergio Martinez sometime next year. Rhodes will have to be patient, let’s hope he doesn’t have to be as patient as Moore was made to be.

On the undercard...

Ian Napa recaptured the British bantamweight title after a close points decision over Gary Davies. A pumped up and emotional Davies started the fight at a furious pace, possibly letting the occasion get the better of him. His work rate was enough to secure him the first two rounds and make the next four close but it was the silky skills of Napa that dominated the fight from there on in.

Davies tried his hardest but was being beaten to the punch on the inside and at range. He had to survive some problematic moments late on in the fight as Napa unleashed two powerful uppercuts and numerous left hooks that had him rocking and rolling but he courageously hung on to hear the final bell.

Two of the judges had the fight in Napa’s favour (115-114 and 116-112) whilst the third judge scored it as a draw (114-114). I scored the fight 116-112; I felt that Napa’s work was the cleaner in the rounds that were close.

Shinny Bayaar produced the performance of his career to capture the British flyweight title after beating Stoke’s Chris Edwards on a split decision. Edwards, who was making the second defence of his title, never seemed to get going. He was unusually negative throughout the fight and only had himself to blame when the scores were announced.

The likable Bayaar was the aggressor for most of the fight, and despite not being able to hurt Edwards or get complete control over him, I felt he was the clear winner. Two of the judges scored it in Bayaar’s favour (117-112 and 115-113) whilst the third had Edwards winning 115-113.

David Price, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, won his third fight in the pro ranks after an uninspiring points decision over Yavor Marinchev. Price controlled the fight from start to finish but looked far from the potential world beater he’s being touted as.

Doncaster’s Jason Rushton was rushed to hospital after collapsing in the dressing room shortly after his fight against Brian Rose. Rushton was stopped in the tenth round after a hard fought fight but seemed to be fine initially.

He was induced into a controlled coma after scans revealed a small tear to brain tissue. His condition was described as being stable on Sunday and initial signs are good.

Everyone here at The Boxing Bulletin would like to wish Jason a speedy and full recovery.

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British Scene: Jamie Moore vs Ryan Rhodes Preview

Dave Oakes previews Friday night's SKY show featuring a 154 pound match-up between European title holder Jamie Moore and challenger Ryan Rhodes. Also on the card are two British title match-ups, with Gary Davis defending his bantamweight crown against Ian Napa and Chris Edwards putting his featherweight belt on the line against challenger Shinny Bayaar.

Being called the most entertaining fighter in Britain should be taken as a big compliment but for Salford’s Jamie Moore, it isn’t enough, he feels the time has come to stake a claim for being the best fighter in Britain. He starts this Friday at the Bolton Arena with an intriguing European title defence against former world title challenger Ryan Rhodes, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Sergio Martinez.

Moore has been desperate to step up to world title level for the past three or four years and is now about to dip his toe into it against the seasoned and dangerous Rhodes. This will be Rhodes (42-4 KO 28) biggest fight since the one year hiatus he took following his defeat to Gary Lockett in the summer of 2006. Rhodes’ career has been one of many ups and downs; he made a blistering start to his career, winning the British light middleweight title in just eleven fights, becoming one of the youngest ever title holders in its history (he’d only just turned 20) before failing in an ambitious attempt at a world title up at middleweight a year later.

The decision to move Rhodes up to middleweight so early in his career is one that still leaves me baffled. He was finding it hard to make the light-middleweight limit but had been doing so without it taking anything away from him, he certainly wasn’t looking weight drained. I believe his camp thought that Otis Grant was very beatable but that decision backfired when Rhodes was out-pointed by the tough Jamaican. I know that Rhodes himself has said that he moved up because he was struggling to make light-middleweight but you have to question the validity of that statement when you consider he can still make the weight now.

The defeat shouldn’t have had a detrimental effect on Rhodes’ career, I’m a great believer in the theory that a loss can sometimes make a fighter. Unfortunately for Rhodes, he suffered another defeat just eighteen months after his first loss, this time for the interim WBO middleweight title. It was in far more brutal fashion though; Jason Matthews knocked him out inside two rounds and almost destroyed Rhodes’ career.

A less than focused Rhodes then treaded water for years, facing journeymen opponents and failing to live up to the reputation he’d made when claiming the British title at such a young age. Even another shock knockout defeat wasn’t enough to fire him up; he looked totally disinterested with the sport when Lee Blundell stopped him in the third round of a fight in which Rhodes should’ve won with ease.

The turning point in Rhodes’ career came after his last defeat, a points loss against Gary Lockett just over three years ago. Rhodes seemed to be regaining his hunger in the four fights he had before facing Lockett but I sensed he rediscovered his confidence after running Lockett close on the scorecards. It was almost as if he realised that he could still be a champion if he fully dedicated himself again.

He regained his British title in 2008, nearly 12 years after first winning it, destroying Gary Woolcombe in brutal fashion. Woolcombe was the defending champion and the betting favourite going into the fight but Rhodes out-boxed him before producing a spectacular finish, knocking him clean out in the ninth round. The victory has definitely been the best performance of the second part of his career; he followed it up with good victories against Jamie Coyle and Vincent Vuma, as well as a routine knockout win over Janos Petrovics in his last fight to confirm that he’s back to his best.

Moore is also no stranger to the ups and downs of professional boxing, he’s suffered three defeats in his career (32-3 KO23) but has comeback from them well each time. It has to be said that his disqualification loss to Michael Jones was very debatable (Moore has two wins over Jones as well as the defeat), and the knockout defeat to Ossie Duran was as much to do with a hip injury rather than any punch Duran landed.

Everyone in Britain knows Moore as being an all action fighter but I feel his technical ability is often overlooked because of his aggressive style. The way he was catching and rolling away from punches in his war with Matthew Macklin was very impressive. He boxed clever as well as trading heavy punches that night and the victory looks even more impressive now that Macklin has become a European champion himself.

Moore has been looking sensational of late, respected European level fighters Roman Dzuman and Michele Piccirillo were both blown away early, neither of them being able to match Moore’s strength and aggression. Moore looks massive for the weight and seems to be hitting harder than ever, he’s certainly showed that he’s now well above European level and should be confident of winning a world title if he comes through on Friday night.

There’s no doubt that Rhodes will be the hardest test of Moore’s career, his switch-hitting style could cause Moore some problems and he has a wealth of experience to draw from. Despite the knockout defeats on their records, both fighters have solid chins, both also have respectable punch power and both firmly believe they’ve got the beating of each other. It has all the makings of a very good fight.

I can see Rhodes being very cagey early on, looking to counterpunch Moore rather than trading with him. Moore will be made to work hard to land clean punches but I think his size, strength and body punching will eventually take its toll on Rhodes. I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the distance but I’ve got a feeling that Moore will want to make a statement and stop him. I think Moore will have to be on top form to do so but I believe he’ll get a late stoppage win.

The Undercard...

The undercard sees two British title fights. Gary Davies defends his bantamweight title against Ian Napa, whilst Chris Edwards defends his flyweight title against Shinny Bayaar.

The fight between Davies and Napa should be an entertaining fight. The improving Davies is coming in off the back of two impressive victories, his second round destruction of Martin Power and his seventh round stoppage of Matthew Edmonds.

Davies is an aggressive boxer who hits very hard; he also has considerable height, reach and strength advantages over Napa. This won’t be anything unusual for the diminutive Napa but he must improve on his last outing if he wants to regain the British title he vacated a couple of years ago.

Napa looked like a fighter on the slide last time out when he lost his European title to Malik Bouziane. He didn’t have an answer to anything Bouziane did and allowed himself to be outworked on his way to a wide points defeat.

It could be that Napa just had a bad day at the office and will be back to form in this fight, but one thing is for certain, if he loses this fight, he won’t have many options left afterwards and would have to consider hanging his gloves up.

I think that could spur Napa on to victory, he’ll be determined to erase the memory of the Bouziane performance from his mind. Napa has always relied on his speed and skills; if he is on the slide then it could prove to be a very hard fight for him because Davies won’t take a backwards step all night. If Napa’s still got something left in the tank, which I believe he has, I think he should be able to outbox Davies to win on points.

Chris Edwards v Shinny Bayaar is an interesting match up. Bayaar has been disappointing so far in his career, losing four times in eighteen fights, usually when he’s tried to step up in class. He’s a hard fighter who looks to have a rock solid chin but unfortunately he doesn’t have much else in his arsenal.

Edwards is a much better fighter than his record (13-13-3) suggests but is no world beater by any stretch of the imagination. He likes to swarm all over his opponents, trying to grind them down with body shots. He doesn’t punch particularly hard but can sicken opponents with his relentless attacks.

I think this fight will undoubtedly go the distance, the early rounds will be close but Edwards’ better fitness and hunger will help win the late rounds to take a wide points decision.

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British Scene Weekend Recap: Edwards, Sutherland and Sykes All Win

This past Friday at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke, Commonwealth flyweight champion Chris Edwards made the first defence of his title against tough challenger Usman Ahmed.

Also in action were Gary Sykes and Anthony Crolla who battled it out in a British super-featherweight title eliminator, as well as super-middleweight Darren Sutherland who looked impressive in his 3rd pro outing.

Dave Oakes has all the details.

Check out our preview of the show: Edwards vs Ahmed

Friday May 29 Edwards, Sutherland and Sykes are Winners in Stoke By Dave Oakes Chris Edwards retained his British and Commonwealth flyweight titles on Friday night after beating Usman Ahmed on points. The more experienced Edwards was always in control of the fight but was made to work hard for the victory against the brave but outgunned Ahmed. Edwards made a quick start to the fight, crashing several hard left hooks to the body and head of the challenger. Ahmed responded well but his punches were having little effect on Edwards who kept marching forward. As the rounds went by Ahmed began to look more dishevelled and the fight became more one-sided, but to his credit Ahmed kept battling away trying in vain to land a punch that could turn the fight in his favour. The only blemish of the night for Edwards came when he was harshly deducted a point in the eighth round for hitting on the break. With such a vociferous crowd cheering him on I wasn’t surprised that Edwards couldn’t hear the break call. Therefore I was a bit surprised that the referee decided to deduct a point at what was Edwards’ only infringement of the night. Edwards looked on the verge of stopping Ahmed on a few occasions late on but couldn’t quite put the punches together to force the stoppage. Ahmed was on a survival mission in the last two rounds and bravely kept throwing enough punches back to deter the referee from stepping in. Both fighters received a great reception from the fans at the final bell. All three judges were in agreement that Edwards had won the fight. Two judges had the fight 118-109 with the other scoring it 117-111. I also had it 118-109. Edwards should make another defence in September, with Ashley Sexton being the most likely opponent after Sexton easily came through a six rounder against Delroy Spencer on the undercard. Ahmed comes away with his reputation enhanced and should now be advised to have a few more learning fights before taking the step up to championship level again. On the undercard… Darren Sutherland bettered his old amateur and Olympic rival James DeGale by stopping tough journeyman Vepkhia Tchilaia in the fourth round. DeGale was forced to go the distance by the tough Georgian on his debut three months ago. Sutherland was in total control from start to finish, boxing behind a beautiful looking jab, taking his time and mixing shots from head to body. He really looks like he could become a major force in the super-middleweight division in the next few years. The stoppage came halfway through the fourth round when the referee jumped in to stop the fight after Tchilaia was taking far too many punches for his own safety. Sutherland moves to 3-0 (3) and is already looking capable of taking a step up in class. A fight against someone like Paul David or Nathan King would be a good step up without being too much of risk at this stage of his career. The fight of the night was undoubtedly the British super-featherweight title eliminator between Gary Sykes and Anthony Crolla. The fight was a barnstorming back and forth affair with both lads having successful periods and both having to suck it up at some stages before firing back again. Both fighters threw well over 900 punches each in a ten round fight; it was a non-stop battle that everyone in the venue was thrilled to have witnessed. Sykes’ heavier punches were just about giving him the upper hand and this is what swayed the fight his way with the referee scoring the bout 97-94 in his favour. Sykes is now guaranteed a shot at the title before the end of the year. Current champion Kevin Mitchell will be looking to relinquish his belt if he gets a world title shot against Roman Martinez. That would pave the way nicely for a Sykes-Crolla rematch. e-mail Dave Oakes

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British Scene Weekend Preview: Chris Edwards vs Usman Ahmed

Veteran flyweight Chris Edwards will be putting his British & Commonwealth titles on the line against Usman Ahmed in Friday night's Sky main event. The under-card features 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Darren Sutherland taking on Vepkhia Tchilaia in a 6 round super-middleweight contest.

Dave Oakes has the preview.

Check out our recap of the show: Weekend Recap

Friday May 29 Chris Edwards vs Usman Ahmed (SKY) By Dave Oakes Chris Edwards goes over old ground on Friday night when he makes the first defence of his British and Commonwealth flyweight titles at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke, England. Edwards has already beaten the challenger, Usman Ahmed, three years ago on Ahmed’s debut. Edwards out-boxed Ahmed with ease over six rounds on that occasion and is the favourite to win again. Ahmed, the lightest pro in British boxing, has improved since their first meeting but is still some way off being ready for a title shot. Unfortunately, the lads in the flyweight division have very limited options when it comes to picking opponents and are often thrown in at the deep end. I feel this will be the case on Friday night. Edwards is now at the veteran stage of his career, he’s thirty-three years old with a record that stands 12-13-3. He’s a lot better than his record suggests, most of his defeats were in the early part of his career when he was boxing to earn a few quid rather than to win titles. He’s only lost one of his last seven, and that was against the decent Andy Bell early last year. Edwards’ best wins have come against the classy and underrated Dale Robinson, who he’s also drawn with, and Jamie McDonnell who was considered a hot prospect before losing to Edwards on a controversial points decision. Whilst Edwards doesn’t carry significant power, his punches do have a wearing effect that slow his opponents down the longer the fight goes on. He’s also got a tremendous work rate and a reliable chin. Ahmed is a clever boxer who looks to move around his opponent to create an angle before throwing a quick jab and flashy combinations. He should have the speed advantage over Edwards and will know what to expect from the champion. I think Ahmed will put up a good fight and will take Edwards the distance, but I believe Edwards’ experience, determination and hometown backing from a usually raucous crowd will be enough to take a points decision somewhere around the 116-112 mark. On the undercard… Darren Sutherland, one of the hottest prospects in Europe, takes part in his third pro fight against tough journeyman Vepkhia Tchilaia. Sutherland will be looking to do better than fellow Olympic medallist James De Gale, who was taken the distance by Tchilaia on his debut three months ago. Sutherland is as good as De Gale technically and hits a lot harder, De Gale was landing regularly but wasn’t putting much power into his punches, Sutherland will and I expect him to take care of business and stop Tchilaia around the third round. e-mail Dave Oakes

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