Patera Upsets Ritson In Newcastle

By Steven Bateson

Francesco Patera defied the odds in Newcastle on Saturday night as he took a split decision over Lewis Ritson to win the vacant EBU Lightweight Championship.

Ritson started out as a huge betting favourite (1-66) after demolishing the domestic competition but Patera ripped up the script as he absorbed the Geordie’s lightning start to outwork him over the twelve rounds.

Ritson was behind his ramrod jab from the outset and busted up Patera’s nose, backing the Belgian onto the ropes and letting rip with body shots. Patera was just trying to dance out of the way, opting to tap away at Ritson as he maintained as much distance as possible.

The bodywork continued and Patera was looking a little wounded by the impact but by the fifth he was starting to roll with the shots and firing counters of his own. Ritson was loading up, looking for that big finishing punch, but it was Patera now with fierce body shots and terrific combinations. Ritson was relentless with his pressure, as expected, but he wasn’t letting his hands go as much and it was allowing Patera to seize control as he snapped in uppercuts and continued to hit the body.

The body shots began to pay dividends and Ritson doubled up in pain during the seventh round before having to take a flurry whilst on the ropes, the bell coming at a very opportune time for the hometown fighter. But Patera knew he could hurt his man now, the vociferous crowd falling quiet, and he continued to display a greater variety in his work as he manoeuvred around the one dimensional attacks from Ritson.

In the tenth Ritson looked almost crippled again by a bodyshot and he was forced to suck it up as Patera rushed him and battered the solar plexus some more, a lesser fighter would have folded from the sustained attack. Ritson did survive, however, and he got back behind his jab in the eleventh before hammering home with some of his trademark power punches, unfortunately they lacked the usual gusto that we have come to expect.

Both men left it all the ring in the twelfth as they went toe to toe and traded to body and head. When the final bell sounded it was apparent that the fight was close however most were in agreement that Patera had just about done enough to earn the victory. A re-match would be more than warranted and there will be a big clamour for it in the new year.

Scorecards read: 116-112 Ritson (way too wide) 116-112 x2 Patera  

Robbie Davies Jnr outpointed Glenn Foot in a scrappy bloodbath for the British and Commonwealth Super Lightweight Championships.

It was a fight that was made with a lot of hype but failed to ignite as both men’s styles cancelled one another out, large spells of the fight were spent scrapping on the inside as both men struggled for a foothold until Davies Jnr broke away down the stretch.

Davies Jnr started out judging the distance better and was using his jab well but Foot was relentless, as always, and began to swarm on the Liverpudlian from the second. Foot’s lunging style is always prone to headbutts and the second stanza ended with Davies sporting a bloodied nose and a severe cut over his left eye. 

Foot was then cut over his left eye in the third but he did land the most telling punches in the round, finding a home for a left and right hook as he and Davies chose to stand and trade. Davies then stole the fourth with a lovely left uppercut as both men oozed blood, the referee’s white shirt completely bathed in crimson.

The rounds were extremely scrappy and hard to score through the middle stages, neither man gaining a serious foothold as they opted for plenty of in fighting that saw glancing blows landed but nothing to stop the other in their tracks.

Davies got behind his jab a little better through the championship stages and was starting to time Foot’s lunges, catching the Sunderland man plenty as he abandoned defense and poured forward. Still there was nothing definitive separating the two boxers but Davies was just about catching the eye more with his superior footwork and skills, now refusing to stand and trade with Foot and instead keeping it at range whilst countering off the backfoot.

Foot was game to the last, he always gives 100%, but when Davies changed his tactics and altered the pace he just wasn’t able to keep up and adapt to what he was now facing. He always sets such a high pace and he just could not match it down the home straight, Davies making him chase shadows and miss whilst pot shotting for the points on the board.

Scorecards read: 119-109, 118-110, 117-112 (a little wide in my opinion but the right result)

Hometown fighter Joe Laws seized the opportunity in front of his home fans as he took out the seasoned Chris Truman in the fourth and final round of their firecracker of a fight.

Laws (now 3-0 with 3 KO’s) has an incredible punch output and high octane style that really entertained his fellow Geordies, choosing to just stand and trade with Truman throughout the contest. At times the occasion may have got to him, he wasted a lot of his shots, but he enjoyed every single moment of it and will have learned a great deal from this experience.

Laws was always in control of the bout, despite shipping a few shots, but seemed to be fading a little in the third due to the pace he had set early doors. But he stormed back to life in the fourth, roared on by the crowd, and downed his man with a sustained attack to head and body. Truman showed guts to get up and carry on but then took a monstrous left hook that put him on his knees again, this time he indicated to the referee he couldn’t take any more.

Joshua Buatsi destroyed Tony Averlant in the first round of their contest for the WBA International Light Heavyweight strap.

Buatsi, so highly touted, was about his business from the outset and sent a left to the body as a warning shot of what was to come. Averlant then backed up to the ropes and Buatsi detonated a right/left combination to the body that felled the Frenchmen, who yelled out in agony. Averlant was clearly in big trouble as he beat the count and although he was able to withstand a little more punishment, he was eventually felled by another sharp left hand. Averlant did reach his feet before the ten but quickly dropped back to his knees and allowed the fight to be waved off, saving himself from taking any more.

Buatsi (now 8-0 with 6 KO’s) appears to be on the fast track to the big time and continues to display the calm, ruthless nature that will carry him in that direction. There are big calls for a domestic showdown with Anthony Yarde, who stopped Averlant in seven back in February, but that fight has plenty of time to marinate as there are a plethora of available tests at domestic level and beyond.

Dave Allen took just over a minute to storm through Samir Nebo, potentially setting up a heavyweight showdown with Lucas Browne.

Allen, coming off a career best victory over Nick Webb, came out firing and sank a right hook to the body before following it with a left. Nebo, boasting ten KO’s of his own, was pushed back to the ropes and another body shot drew a wince from him before a big overhand right hand him ducking for cover. 

Nebo tried to get a foothold in the bout with a few searching punches of his own but soon he was backed up in the corner again and a pulsating left to the body dropped him to the deck, leaving him unable to answer the referee’s ten count.

Allen (now 15-4-2 with 12 KO’s) is building up a head of steam for himself right now and the fight with Browne is "verbally" agreed between both, although there has been no official announcement as of yet. If that fight fails to materialise then there is a good chance Allen will find himself in the mix for the British Title by the year’s end or early 2019.

Craig Glover made a statement with an eighth round stoppage over the ill-tempered Simon Valilly in a British Title eliminator at Cruiserweight.

Glover had his man down in the first off a heavy left hook and although Valilly beat the count it appeared that he never fully recovered from the blow, finally succumbing following a sustained beating.

Vallily was warned by the referee on several occasions for abusive and vile language but none of the talk could help him as he constantly ate jabs to head and body. Glover was happy to stand with his larger opponent, who missed Cruiser limit, and in the second he rocked him with more concussive hooks.

Glover suffered a cut on his right eye from a clash of heads and his nose was bust from some of Valilly’s blows but he was never in any trouble as he outclassed the former Commonwealth gold medallist. Valilly, his discipline waning as the fight progressed, lost a point in the fifth for a very deliberate headbutt but Glover stuck to his task and then rocked his man again in the sixth with a right uppercut/left hook combination.

Valilly’s legs looked wobbly throughout and question marks will be asked about his mindset, he had no answer for the Liverpudlian, and the end came in the eighth following a brutal set of blows. Glover nailed his man with a ferocious right hand, followed by a right/left hook double and then a left hook/right uppercut that forced the referee to spare Valilly any more damage.

It was a technically perfect performance from Glover (now 9-1 with 8 KO’s) who has announced himself to the domestic division here. He dominated a larger opponent off of an excellent jab and then broke him down with hurtful intent.