MAFB: Queensberry Williams vs Robinson

Let’s just have a whistle-stop tour through this card, ay lads? Liam Williams tried his very hardest to boost his persona as the Middleweight heel with a one round thumping of Andrew Robinson. Driving forward with his head and solely to blame for the head clash, Liam Williams left a huge cut over the eye of Robinson. Despite the best attempts of the BT commentary team to cover-up the incident, Williams had intentionally moved in with his head and easily could have found himself on the end of a DQ for the headbutt. Dazed and confused, Robinson wilted to a rapid-fire barrage after action resumed following the head clash. Some may say it highlights the ‘nasty side’ needed for champion boxers to progress to the highest levels. Others, rightfully, would call it as cheating.

The rest of the card was a decent little pick and mix. Willy Hutchinson may well not have turned up as his Spanish counterpart, Jose Miguel Fandino, looked like he hadn’t boxed a professional round in his life. Swinging punches from behind his head, tripping over his own feet – this was a man who was supposed to have lasted seven rounds against the great Sergio Martinez just two months earlier. Nathan Gorman won’t be releasing fitness DVD’s any time soon but his technical ability is unquestionable. If Gorman can put to bed his niggling mental issues and bring order to his life outside of the ring, there is no reason why he could not be challenging for European titles in the near future. Earlier on the night, Mark Chamberlain further illuminated his dominating offence against Shaun Cooper, but also revealed defensive frailties. And finally, Muheeb Fazeldin lost his 0 unceremoniously to regional brawler, Luke Jones.

There will only be one highlighted fight breakdown, Gorman vs Lartey. There is nothing much to say about Liam Williams or Willy Hutchinson’s victories other than ‘wow, they should probably ramp up their quality of opposition now’. Mark Chamberlain’s fight with Shaun Cooper was not interesting enough to breakdown beyond ‘Chamberlain is a far superior athlete who throws high volume, while Cooper is a hearty fighter who was able to land a counter left hand far too often’. Fazeldin’s capitulation to Jones means very little for either man, both of whom are unlikely to progress to the higher echelons of the sport.

Nathan Gorman vs Richard Lartey (Gorman def. Lartey // Unanimous Decision – 99-92, 100-90, 100-90)

Nathan Gorman should never have entered this bout as a slight favourite. The bookies and the fans had this match-up totally wrong. True, Gorman looked horrendous on the scale, weighing a career high 273lbs. Putting the heavy in heavyweight, Gorman had actually lost 77lbs over training camp. Regardless of the troubles Gorman faced regarding family crises, and perhaps introspection after his stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois, he is a professional athlete and never should have allowed himself to balloon to 350lbs. Gorman is a young man at only twenty-four years of age and still has a long career in which to fix his camp problems, but the later he leaves it, the lower he pushes his ceiling.

Returning to the bookies predictions, Gorman should always have been a strong favourite for this fight. There is little tape on Richard Lartey, a man who has boxed the majority of his life in Ghana, but his fight with Dubois left enough to decipher. Lartey thrives in a shoot-out as his it is the only realm in which he can connect often with his power shots. Concrete feet, an abysmal shot selection, and no activity in the clinch, Lartey relies solely on his opponents rooting themselves to the ground. Dubois’ youth caused him to engage in a firefight and almost cost him his undefeated record. Gorman, the more natural counter puncher, floated on his feet around the edges of the ring and refused to stand in the pocket for longer than a few seconds. The majority of Gorman’s work was simply a jab, but that was enough to create a barrier between himself and Lartey and reduce him to one offensive burst per round. Whenever Lartey did attempt to lunge in, aside from eating a couple right hands, Gorman slipped to the side with a check hook. Gorman was able to generate surprising power while pivoting away from Lartey, and dazed him a few times during the final rounds. While Lartey’s chin and recovery were commendable, he was downright awful throughout the entire fight and had no game plan beyond throwing his power right straight.

The future for both men:

Nathan Gorman: Gorman really needs to keep himself active within the continental scene, knocking at the gate of the European title. A real test would be undefeated Pole, Marcn Siwy, who is ranked #14 with the EBU. A squash match against another undefeated prospect would be pretty-eyed Dane, Kem Ljungquist.

Richard Lartey: Lartey finds himself without a promoter after his payment with former promoter, Cabic Promotions. It is yet to be seen whether Lartey will be able to sneak his way into a UK roster after back-to-back fights in the country. If so, Lartey could face Tom Little for a fun match-up, Niall Kennedy to further his career, or Fabio Wardley for a prospect pay day.