By Eric Armit
May 25
Cheavon Clarke left his mark at Zorro – Leeds, UK
Clarke won the vacant British title with a KO of Ellis Zorro. In the early action, Zorro boxed skillfully on the back foot using his jab and a variety of nifty footwork to avoid the slower Clarke’s attacks. Zorro continued to hold Clarke back, and when Clarke got in, he held on to Clarke’s hooks and uppercuts.
Zorro was warned for holding at the start of round eight and Clarke was then able to tie him to the ropes and land a huge right that sent Zorro to his knees and retreating. Clarke came close and three right shots to the club put Zorro down and he was counted out. Clarke, 33, earned his seventh victory by KO/TKO.
Jamaican-born Clarke, who defeated current WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith in the amateur division, represented Jamaica at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Clarke then moved on to represent Great Britain/England winning silver at the European Championships, bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and competing at the Tokyo Olympics. Zorro, 31, lost his undefeated title when he was knocked out in one round by Jai Opetaia in December.
Ritson perfect rice washing liquid – Leeds, UK
Paddy Donovan knocked out Lewis Ritson in the ninth round. In the early rounds, southpaw Donovan fought a cool and controlled style, mostly retreating, with Ritson moving up behind a tall guard, using his jab to gain rights Donovan.
Donovan switched tactics in the seventh round, attacking on the front foot, engaging Ritson. He continued that tactic successfully in the eighth round, trapping Ritson in a corner and then along the ropes in the second half of the round, scoring with hooks and some uppercuts. Ritson occasionally countered to convince the referee that he was still in the fight, but that was about it.
Donovan again pushed Ritson to the ropes in the ninth minute and threw punches at him as the referee stopped the fight. Donovan is defending his WBA Continental title for the second time with his fifth straight win at short distance.
Cully put their only loss behind them by defeating Patera – Leeds, UK
Gary Cully eliminated Francesco Patera by unanimous decision. Patera knew he would have to fight on the inside against the 6’2” Cully, and he did that from the start, focusing on body punches with Cully using right jabs and Straight blow to score.
Tired towards the end of the match, Patera produced a storming finish to score his tenth goal and close it out. The scores were 96-94 (twice) and 98-92 too wide for Cully.
The previous winner suffered a heavy defeat when Mexican Jose Felix knocked him down twice and stopped him in three rounds last May, but his win over Reece Mold in November restored him somewhat. restore his reputation.
Two-time European champion Patera once again showed his excellent skills and tactical expertise but failed here. He is 10-1 in his last 11 fights with a points loss to the extremely talented Keyshawn Davis in July 2023.
Gary Cully (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
May 24
Owner of Buoyant Ballingall Benjamin – London, UK
Lucas Ballingall survived a final-round knockdown to eliminate Kaisee Benjamin. These two are well suited to each other, with Ballingall being more mobile and agile but showing too much flashiness, while Benjamin was solid all the way.
Nor is he a heavy puncher, and Ballingall is more of a numbers guy, attacking with quick flurries of punches, while Benjamin throws less but is more accurate. Ballingall’s intelligent boxing and quicker movement gave him the advantage, and with swelling affecting the vision from Benjamin’s right eye, Ballingall was well ahead in round ten.
He was tired and Benjamin landed a series of hooks to the body. An exhausted Ballingall was trying to hold on after losing his mouth guard, giving himself a few seconds to rest. One right rocked Ballingall, and then three punches knocked him out with just 16 seconds left in the fight.
He got up and grabbed Benjamin to get through the remaining seconds. Ballingall won 96-93 twice and 95-94. He also won the vacant IBF European title. Benjamin suffered back-to-back losses to Dalton Smith and Sean McComb but has won his last two fights.
Who can defeat Isaac Chilemba? Aleksei Papin for one – Balashikha, Russia
Papin brushed aside a faded Chilemba in the second. Chilemba showed all his experience when he hit the ball skillfully in the first round, frustrating the dangerous Papin.
Papin unleashed a ferocious attack in the second round, sending Chilemba to the ropes and then trying to take Chilemba to the floor but the Malawian blocked several shots and wriggled off the ropes.
A left hook sent Chilemba against the ropes again and this time there was no escape. Papin attacked Chilemba with punches until Chilemba was on his back on the canvas and the referee immediately stopped the fight.
May 23
Jermaine Franklin defeated a tired Devin Vargas – Detroit, USA
Franklin performed several targeted exercises against a weak but resilient Vargas. A right uppercut sent Vargas down in the fourth round and despite being severely injured and bleeding from the nose, Vargas managed to overcome the count and fight bravely in the fifth round.
Late in round six, with Vargas against the ropes, Franklin connected with a left hook and a right hook and Vargas fell to the canvas. He quickly got up at the bell before the referee could start the count but Vargas wisely did not come off in the seventh minute.
Jermaine Franklin (James Chance/Getty Images)
May 22
Jukembayev rips Redkach – Florida, USA
Batyrzhan Jukembayev stopped a tired-looking Ivan Redkach in five rounds on Pro Box TV. Faster and more precise with his southpaw jabs, Jukembayev took the lead every step of the way.
This was Jukembayev’s fifth consecutive victory as he attempts to capture the title. He was disqualified and lost via retirement to Subriel Matias in May 2021, so he will be hoping for a chance at revenge now that Matias is the IBF champion. However, his only current ranking is number 12 with the WBA.
At 38 years old, Redkach looks like a candidate for retirement. After going 19-1-1, he dropped to 5-6 in recent play and this was just his second start in three years.
