BOXING WINS, JUST
Two of the sport’s most captivating stars fought on a night that will inevitably be dominated by Manchester’s Misfits circus.
It’s understandable too. Like it or not, KSI vs Tommy Fury was unavoidable. Those who slam the event were there to cover, there to comment, and there to catch sight of.
Sure, what we actually saw in the ring was as underwhelming as it comes. KSI, bless him, felt it right to do star jumps, enter the clinch, and complain about shots to the back of the head.
All three are renowned tactics for winning fights, of course.
It didn’t make life simple for Fury, but nonetheless, he and his team will be disappointed with the inability to land anything substantial on someone with barely five years of boxing experience.
Fury did lose a point for a back-of-the-head shot in the second, which after little warning seemed harsh. It automatically put him in a position of jeopardy. This was KSI’s show after all.
But, despite comments from those financially benefitting from this monstrous event, KSI didn’t really win any of the fight. It was amateurish stuff.
It wasn’t much better outside of the ring, as the 57-57 scorecard has since been changed to 57-56, after a counting error by judge Rafeal James. This gives Fury a clean sweep over his influencer rival.
Whilst the main event went to the cards, the chief support didn’t even make it to the final bell.
A knockout? No. Instead an attempt from MMA star Dillon Danis to guillotine hold Logan Paul mid-fight. This was Misfits heritage.
It came during the sixth round of arguably the scene’s most dull fight. Danis’ refusal to throw shots highlighted exactly how limited a boxer he really is. This was a bank heist, and the ring was the vault.
If the fight was dull, the mass brawl that followed the illegal move was anything but. Heavy numbers of security held apart just about every man who sat ringside.
Logan Paul did get the win by disqualification, but should feel partly ashamed that he didn’t in any way damage a fighter who could barely hold guard.
You would have thought the months of hounding by Danis about Paul’s current fiancée and her previous relationships would act as the ultimate incentive to dish out punishment.
Clearly not.
At the end of what was a chaotic week at the circus, I don’t think either KSI, Tommy Fury, Logan Paul or Dillon Danis come out with much credit.
To the real stuff now, as Tim Tszyu twinkled in the Australian night. A crisp and polished performance gave him a unanimous decision win over heavy-hitting Brian Mendoza.
Neither Tszyu nor Mendoza wasted time in letting their hands fly as they began exchanging some solid work in the first. A more cautious second and third round lent the idea that the pair understood each other’s capabilities.
Tszyu was on the front foot as the fight progressed towards the middle rounds. Every dig seemed to be lined with spite, and Mendoza could definitely feel the force.
The uppercut seemed to be THE shot for Tszyu, and when it landed, the sell-out crowd on the Gold Coast went wild. But, whilst they were baying for blood, Tszyu knew he had to be cautious of what Mendoza threw back.
This was still a powerful man.
Both traded bangs to body and head in an exciting eighth. As the championship rounds drew closer, Tszyu upped the tempo, and in a staggering 10th, flipped full savage mode and almost had Mendoza over and out.
With the win all but secured, Tzsyu stuck to his boxing and manoeuvred his way across a career-best finish line.
It is a heavy name to carry, but this young man is doing all the right things.
To Texas now, and a massacre, minus the chainsaw. Instead, the two pieces of dynamite that Janibek Alimkhanuly calls hands were unleashed on a pitiful Vincenzo Gualtieri.
It started fairly slowly, but once he had found his rhythm, Janibek couldn’t miss with his jab. It was persistent, accurate, and gave Gualtieri no other option but to retreat into a shell.
Patient, Janibek stalked, and didn’t really push the assault until the fourth. It was heavy artillery stuff, as his left hand creeped from behind his jab to bust up the face of Gualtieri.
A left uppercut in the fifth gave the challenger rickety legs, and he was on borrowed time. That time came to an end in a punishing sixth round.
A big left uppercut set the tone, and an avalanche of blows finished the fight, as referee David Fields saved Gualtieri from something unnecessarily ugly.
Quite simply, that’s just what Janibek does.
Oscar Bevis