Scott Lawton vs Leva Kirakosyan

Friday, February 19, 2010

After unsuccessful titles shots again Amir Khan, John Murray and John Thaxton at Lightweight, Scott Lawton hoped that finally he could rise to the challenge and do his talent justice in his new weight class.

It was not to be though as Armenian Leva Kirakosyan battered the Stoke man in three one-sided rounds and picked up the vacant EBU Super Featherweight title.

Some had thought that the 38-year-old Kirakosyan was over the hill, especially as in five fights during the last two years his opponents had a combined 54-112-7 record. However, the man who resides in Toulon, France was anything but a depleted warrior.

Kirakosyan, 9st 3lbs 6oz, came out firing from the opening bell and put Lawton down early into the first with a straight right. Although Lawton, 9st 3lbs, was up at four he was clearly dazed having felt the full force of Kirakosyan.

Lawton attempted to box and stay out of range for the remainder of the round, and was successful, until he was tagged with a left hook at the end of the round.

As he emerged for the second Lawton was obviously still recovering from Kirakosyan’s punches and the shock at what was to be his dream night was turning into a nightmare.

For the majority of the round however Lawton began to use his jab and outbox Kirakosyan, but pinned against the ropes in the final 30 seconds, Lawton was caught with a series of blows.

Three powerful left hooks connected to the chin of Lawton and being held up by the ropes, referee Soren Saugmann administered a standing eight count.

Had the bell to end the session not gone whilst the count was being given, the bout would have surely been over as Lawton stumbled towards his corner.

Although his corner or referee should have pulled him out, the valiant Lawton emerged for the third, albeit in a terrible state.

Recognising the situation the Armenian born Kirakosyan immediately pounced on Lawton, trapping him against the ropes and unleashing a barrage of blows. Several punches landed but it was a monstrous right hook that put Lawton down and out, 21 seconds into the third.

After the fight Lawton admitted that he knew the danger of stepping up in class and after defeat it may well be that he will not return to the ring.

“We knew he was a big hitter but I let one go through and that was the end really,” said Lawton. “I’ve achieved a lot in the sport and don’t know if there’s anywhere else for me to go, really. I’ll just have to see.”

For Kirakosyan the outlook is quite the contrary. It was the fourth time he has visited these shores, and his third round defeat of Lawton adds to his two demolitions of Carl Johanneson in four rounds and one round, and the war he had with Michael Gomez in 2004, eventually losing in the sixth. He will most likely face Sergey Gulyakevich next, who also won in Stoke stopping Nikoloz Berkatsashvili in two punishing rounds.

The undercard did however produce one champion from Stoke, as Chris Edwards defeated Abmerk Shindjuu on points to collect the vacant Commonwealth flyweight title.

After losing the title last October to Shinny Bayaar, this was Edwards’ first fight since and he had to dig deep to earn the narrow 115-114 victory, on the three judges’ scorecards, against the game Shindjuu.

Edwards, 7st 12lbs 9oz, started the contest brightly, landing quick accurate combinations. Although both fighters were having plenty of success, Edwards was demonstrating the better skills against the rugged Namibian and therefore winning the rounds.

Whilst neither fighter possessed significant punching power, it meant that the action was open with both prepared to stand and trade in the centre of the ring. It was to the credit of both fighters that referee Mark Green had little to do and few clinches to break.

Midway through the contest however Shindjuu, 7st 11lbs 10oz, began to establish a rhythm and started to pick up rounds against the tiring Edwards.

As the bout concluded with the pair slugging it out in the centre of the ring, it seemed that Edwards with his more accomplished and ascetically pleasing style had done enough, and so it was.

In the opening bout of the night Gary Buckland and Sam Rukundo served up a treat with what was to be the fight of the night. Buckland won the fantastic fight, with back and forth action throughout; on points 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 earning himself a shot at Commonwealth Light champion Lee McAllister.

After Rukundo struggled badly to make the 9st 9lbs weight the day before, Buckland started off quickly and put the Ugandan, fighting out of Sweden, down in the opening stanza.

It may only have been a flash knockdown, with Rukundo up straight away, but Buckland upped his workrate and piled on the pressure.

The second round was a much tighter affair as Rukundo started off brightly, but a bodyshot to the liver of the Ugandan may have done enough to win Buckland the round. Rukundo began to build on his success, upping his own workrate in the third and was more adept defensively, blocking the majority of Buckland’s punches.The fourth was a chance for Buckland to demonstrate some of his own defensive ability as he caught most of Rukundo’s shots and landed many clean blows of his own. He was however troubled by his own gumshield, which proceeded to fall out for the second time in the fight, and would slip out another two times later on.

The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth continued in a similar fashion as Buckland outworked and outhustled Rukundo who was clearly tiring and doing little more than coming forward with his jab. The ninth was Buckland’s best round since the opener, as he seemed to wobble his foe again towards the end of the session. Although Buckland was nearly out on his feet through sheer tiredness, he continued to pile on the pressure in the final couple of rounds earning himself a well deserved victory and shot at the title.

After he was stopped in seven by Nathan Cleverly last July, Danny McIntosh returned for the first time since the loss to take on recent winner of the Light Heavyweight Prizefighter, Tony Oakey, for the English Light Heavyweight title.

It had been perceived as a ‘pick-em’ fight and a cagey first round was won by McIntosh who boxed cautiously behind his jab. The opening of the second however saw the 29-year-old McIntosh land a right hook 30 seconds into the round to put ‘Oakey Kokey’ down.As Oakey climbed back to his feet he was faced with an onslaught by McIntosh, but landed a right hook flush on his opponent’s chin. It was not enough to stop McIntosh in his tracks though, as he put Oakey down for a second time. The 34-year-old Oakey looked to be using his experience to take as long as he could to recover with the idea of rising just before referee Victor Loughlin reached the count of ‘ten’. Almost exactly like Derry Mathews did last year against Harry Ramoadi, Oakey mistimed and was counted out before he rose to his feet. The time of the stoppage was 1.03 seconds into the second. Danny McIntosh advances to 11-1 and with Cleverly now European champion another shot at the British is not too far away, whilst Oakey drops to 29-5-1 and suffers only the second KO defeat of his career.

Another fighter who may not be too far from a title shot is Martin Murray who extended his record to 17-0. Although he won the bout 58-56 against Georgian, Shalva Jomardashvili, he can perhaps count himself lucky after the stern test he was given.

As is often the case with Eastern European boxers’ records can be deceptive, but Jomardashvili more than lived up to his 26-1 record. Jomardashvili, 11st 7lbs 13oz, began strongly outworking Murray and landing several good shots but was pinned back in the second by the slicker Murray.

Murray, 11st 10lbs 11oz, took the third landing a good left-right in the opening minute and punched well to the body throughout the round. Jomardashvili was still not making it easy for Murray though and took the fourth with a good spurt midway through the stanza.

The fifth was another close round with Murray and Jomardashvili both landing good blows and entering the final round both fighters knew that the result was still up for grabs. The 23-year-old Jomardashvili came out strongly determined to become the first man to defeat Murray, and although he outworked his opponent, it was the St. Helens man who landed the cleaner shots. Referee Terry O’Connor could have legitimately scored the bout for either fighter but it was the 27-year-old Murray who came out the victor, preserving his undefeated record.

Scott Quigg, 8st 13lbs 9oz, also kept his unbeaten streak alive with a first round KO of Nikita Lukin, 8st 12lbs 12oz. An enormous left hook to the body by Quigg sent Lukin down and unable to beat the count at only 57 seconds of the first round.It won’t be long before Quigg is challenging for the British and Commonwealth titles, currently held by Jason Booth, though there is also an enticing matchup against fellow Hatton Promotions fighter, Craig Lyons, to be had at Super Bantamweight.

Matthew Hatton kept busy with a fifth round stoppage of Georgian, Mikheil Khutsishvili. Hatton, 10st 11lbs 4oz, put the 20-year-old Khutsishvili, 10st 9 1/2lbs, down in the third round, before an accumulation of punches forced an end to the contest at 2.35 of the fifth.

Salford Lightweight, Stephen Foster, continued his comeback under Hatton Promotions with a 59-56 points win over the tricky Youssef Al Hamidi. It was the second fight in a month for Foster who still showed signs of ring rust having not fought in 2009 but will be keen to get back in the title mix this year. Foster increased to 26-2-1 whilst Hamedi, whose record does not do him justice, dropped to 6-25-2.

Fresh from his victory over Michael Brodie, Anthony Crolla returned to the ring in a keep busy fight against veteran Jason Nesbitt. Crolla, 9st 10lbs, outworked Nesbitt, 10st 7lbs, over the four rounds to take his record to 16-2.

In the penultimate fight of the night Craig Watson stopped tough Welshman Barrie Jones at Light Welterweight. Watson worked well to the body in the opening round and continued his success in the second with good right and left hooks landing. Although Jones was landing his jab well, there was little more to back it up and a left hook wobbled Jones in the fourth. Several more lefts landed before referee Shaun Messer intervened calling a halt to the contest at 1.53 of the fourth. Watson becomes only the second man to stop Jones, Kell Brook being the first, and takes his record to 16-3 whilst Jones is now 16-5.

In the final bout of the night former European Super Featherweight champion, Sergey Gulyakevich, dominated two rounds of action against Nikoloz Berkatsashvili. Gulyakevich, from Minsk, Belarus, jabbed well in the opening round as Berkatsashvili began to bleed from the nose. The gulf in class was apparent as the 28-year-old Gulyakevich poured on the pressure in the second further bloodying the face of his opponent who retired on his stool at the end of the round.

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