Olympic super-heavyweight bronze medallist Frazer Clarke comes through his first professional examination as he goes 10 rounds for the first time against Mariusz Wach; Caroline Dubois drops and shuts out highly ranked Argentine Yanina Lescano
Saturday 17 June 2023 09:03, UK
Frazer Clarke went 10 rounds for the first time in his professional career as he overcame Mariusz Wach, while Caroline Dubois was also a shutout winner on Friday night at York Hall.
The Olympic bronze medallist closed out a clear victory over the highly experienced Pole, working the body as he looked to break Wach down.
Clarke cracked Wach with head shots, setting up combinations and striking with crisp right crosses to the head, but the former world title challenger also tested Clarke's chin with occasional rights of his own.
Clarke had to work through the full distance, but was always in control even when he began to feel the pace. He won every round to take the bout 100-90 on the referee's card. But he learned a lesson in there.
In just his seventh pro bout Clarke boxed wisely. He tested Wach's body with a brace of crosses early on and tripled his jab, showing good skill.
He wanted to grind Wach down, but the Pole refused to crumble. As the rounds progressed, Wach dragged Clarke into clinches, tempering his efforts.
The Burton man still fired in good combinations, blasting in crisp right crosses, but needed to find a second wind to finish the latter rounds strongly.
"I think I started off well," he said. "It's extremely hot in here and I just felt sapped.
"There's a lot of things I did right, there's a lot of things I did wrong.
"I can definitely be better," he added. Those 10 rounds, they're a lot different.
"[Wach], he's a difficult man to shift."
Caroline Dubois showed off her electric potential with a shutout win over Yanina Lescano.
Dubois shook up and dropped the Argentine in the fifth round. Lescano, a world ranked opponent, tucked up tightly beneath her guard in the closing rounds but still shipped some heavy punches.
While Lescano was determined not to go down a second time, Dubois won an 80-71 points decision.
"The stoppage didn't come but I said I was looking for a beatdown and a solid victory and I think I got that," Dubois said. "I've got lots to work on and with eight round fights like that you can find the bits you've got to work on.
"It was ridiculously hot in here, so that changed things a little bit," she continued. "I'd give myself a six [out of 10]. I've boxed better than that.
"This is all part of the learning. She was very tough girl. I remember the first shot she was hitting me with was back hand, I was like, 'Wow, how is this girl hitting me.' So I had to adjust a little bit and I think I did."
Viddal Riley bombed out Anees Taj in style.
The two cruiserweights were meeting in a rematch after Riley stopped Taj on a cut earlier this year.
But it was Riley who started off boxing like he had a point to prove. He was too sharp, too skilled and too fast for Taj. As his opponent trudged forward, Riley tormented him, beating Taj to the punch with his left, smacking his right down to intercept him or moving off at one moment before cruelly attacking the body.
Just as it looked like Taj was all out of ideas, he managed to sweep a right hook into Riley. Quickly Riley backed away, only for Taj to catch him again with the right. Riley had to nod to acknowledge it.
There was a pause when Riley's body attack strayed below the belt but Riley was unerring after that. He blasted Taj off his feet, down into the ropes and on resumption hit him cleanly to the head. Taj had to be pulled out.
Aaron McKenna came through a 10-round battle with an ever-game Uisma Lima to win the WBC International middleweight title.
The wide scorecards didn't tell the story of the fight. McKenna deserved his win but Lima pushed him. The Irishman picked up a unanimous decision, winning on the cards 100-91, 98-92 and 98-93.
"He was a tough opponent," McKenna said afterwards.
"It's a great learning fight, a great test but I dominated in the rounds. I thought I had him gone a few times but he just kept coming back.
"He had two bad cuts from punches but he was very tough."
Lima had stepped in as a replacement for Shakiel Thompson. McKenna though now wants to move on and fight former world title challenger Liam Williams.
"He's been very mouthy," McKenna said, "but let's see if he can back it up."
Isaac Chamberlain had to put his frustrations to one side when he boxed former European title challenger Dylan Bregeon in an eight-round contest.
Chamberlain was meant to box Mikael Lawal in a British cruiserweight title fight at the end of May. But Lawal withdrew with a dental issue and then Chamberlain's bout with a replacement opponent was called off at the last minute.
It meant he had been out of action for almost a year leading up to his bout with Bregeon. He outmuscled the Frenchman, taking a clear points win 78-74 on the referee's card. But his work was not as clean as he wanted it to be.
"The ring rust was definitely there," he said. "Now I really know the difference between when you're primed and you're peaking.
"My body's definitely overcooking [but] I had to take this - I had to get the rounds in.
"[Lawal], that's the fight that I want next."
Adam Azim, originally the main event on this card, had to pull out after suffering a nasty swelling from an infection in his left hand.
But his brother Hassan was still in action and delivered excitement. He stopped Ruben Angulo in just the first round.
He wobbled Angulo with a long left hook and shook him up further with a well-placed right. He then laid him out face first with another follow-up cross.
Although Angulo rose, the referee did not allow him to continue.
Sam Gilley delivered another explosive finish. He had been outboxing Ellis Corrie over the course of their six rounder.
He had looked for the body with hooks and found a crunching stoppage shot in the last round. The hook slammed in under Corrie's elbow to leave him in visible anguish on the canvas, halted with just eight seconds remaining in the bout.
"It's my favourite shot - I grew up watching Ricky Hatton," Gilley said. "I'm glad I got him out of there."
Roman Fury, the brother of Tommy and Tyson Fury, had his second pro bout, outpointing Erik Nazaryan 40-36 over four rounds.
Joshua Gustave is another unbeaten prospect who raised his profile a different way. Gustave won the SAS Who Dares Wins television show. He dropped Remi Scholer in the sixth and last round, also winning on points, 60-53.
