Lewis Ritson Suffers a Shock Defeat

Lewis Ritson Suffers a Shock Defeat

By Michael Richards

Last night we were treated to an eventful Matchroom show Newcastle, with knockouts and one massive shock the order of the night. That shock came in the main fight of the evening, which saw Italian Francesco Patera beat the much touted Lewis Ritson via split decision.

Pre-fight, I mentioned Patera would be durable and sure to test Ritson. He was, and is a level above anything he had faced before. The belief was however, that his power would be too much for Patera in the end and Ritson would walk away victorious.

The first few rounds of the fight went as expected, with Ritson bossing proceedings with his vicious jab, landing fairly regularly over the early rounds. The fight changed in the fourth however when Patera landed a decent shot to the body and as confirmed by Ritson post-fight, a punch he never really recovered from it.

As the rounds wore on, former European champion Patera dictated the fight, throwing quick and eye catching combinations, with Ritson coming back with very little and not hurting the Italian, like we are used to seeing.

When the final bell came, Ritson and his corner knew he hadn’t done enough. Dejected and solemn, they waited for the result before the inevitable defeat was confirmed by the judges ringside. The only surprise was that one judge scored it in Ritson’s favour by 4 rounds. Patera however, went away with a deserved victory and as European champion for the second time in his career.

The chief supporting bout between Glenn Foot and Robbie Davies Jr proved to be a bloody affair, with the Liverpudlian deservedly coming away with the British and Commonwealth super lightweight crowns. Davies was cut early via a head clash, which didn’t seem too accidental from Foot.

The cut to his left eye turned his face into a bloody mess. Both men had early success in the fight, with events turning scrappy when the fight was taken to the inside. It was Davies however that showed his technical prowess from the mid rounds onwards. Flashes of beautiful boxing in the back foot caught the eye of the judges at ringside, which was enough to give him a deserved unanimous decision victory, with Davies clearly emotional post fight after the loss of his father and mentor last year.

The remaining undercard action saw plenty of early stoppage victories with Joshua Buatsi dropping Tony Averlant early in the first with a body shot, before finishing the job late on in the first, again targeting the body, with Averlant clearly not wanting anymore of the rising star. Comparisons were drawn to Anthony Yarde, who took 7 rounds to dispose of the same opponent. A fight between the two men down the line would certainly capture the publics imagination.

Dave Allen also claimed a first round victory over Samir Nebo, again with excellent and ruthless work to the body. The White Rhino has now won his last two fights, as he moves towards an intriguing showdown with Lucas Browne early next year. Hosea Burton made it a hat trick of first round stoppages, with Saidou Sall lasting only 29 seconds of the first round.

Earlier on in the night, Anthony Fowler achieved a routine win over Gabor Gorbics, stopping his opponent in the fifth round. Backing Gorbics up to the ropes, Fowler threw a big right hand, before unloading and stopping the durable Hungarian.

Fellow scouse prospect Craig Glover also recorded a stoppage win over local favourite Simon Vallily. Glover had Vallily down from a great left hook in the first round and dominated the whole fight, before forcing the stoppage in the 8th round. Vallily’s performance was a strange one, with him constantly wanting to talk to Glover, highlighting his lack of concentration during the fight.

Special mentions also must go to debutant John Docherty who overcame previously unbeaten Jordan Latimer in just 18 seconds and another local talent Joe Laws, who stopped experienced campaigner Chris Truman in the 4th round, in front of over 1000 of his delighted fans in the Metro Radio Arena.