JJ picks up Soutern Area title by Will Hale May 18th 2008

Walthamstow's JJ Ojuederie wrested the Southern Area light-heavyweight title from Hackney's Gary Lowe over ten hard-fought rounds on Friday night (16 May) at the Royal National Hotel in Bloomsbury. JJ, who has now gone eleven unbeaten since a three-fight losing start to his career, is a genuinely hard and gritty customer. At the first bell, the East Londoner calmly trotted out to centre ring and raised a glove anticipating that JJ would sportingly tap it with his own. Instead, the half brother of OJ Abrahams smashed Lowe with a massive left hook and piled into the former British title challenger. Ojuederie's continued aggression took the opener as he clubbing shots had Andrew looking more than concerned on several occasions. As the more accomplished Lowe settled and found his rhythm in the second, he developed an expression of being unimpressed, as if to say non-verbally “I've seen the likes of you bangers plenty times before”. Andrew did look the classier of the two, but by dropping his left low and leaning back from shots, he allowed Ojuederie to land with whacking hooks set up from the jab. Lowe, now 16-4 (1), scored with a beautiful jab-right hand sequence in the third after a scrappy start. His skills began to shine as he clipped the Watford aggressor with a hard left uppercut inside. But again, JJ was able to stay right there with him and connect with those hooks again and he just missed with fearful right uppercut that brought an eighties' Iron Mike Tyson and his “bad intentions” to mind. A clear sign of Lowe's discomfort up to this point was how often he rabbit punched in clinches, on which referee Ken Curtis could have taken a harder line. The pair went punch for punch in the fourth. Although not too many shots landed cleanly from either man, the crowd were definitely getting value-for-money. JJ did the best work at the beginning over the round, and although he didn't look as refined as Lowe, he just wanted the title so much. This attitude has clearly contributed to his current winning form, with decisions of Carl Wright, Ayitey Powers, Tony Booth, Hastings Rasani and dangerman John Anthony. Lowe's right hand really shot to prominence in the fifth. JJ has a good chin, but Andrew clocked him so hard and so often that it made you think that his defence could be found lacking should he progress to domestic title level. Lowe followed up well by taking the sixth as well on my scorecard, as he connected with four crisp and clean punches which brought gasps from the eclectic mix of diners, fight fans and philanthropic participants at the WSO's show to help the war wounded. JJ used some thumping bodywork in the next session to set up hooks upstairs. He would bash in a hard right left to the body, and then catch his man with a round-the-corner left hook. At the close of the session, Ojuderie landed with a powerful right on the bell, and then screamed in Lowe's face before they headed back for the interval. Ojuederie is ultra-competitive. In the eight, Lowe landed with a fantastic tight uppercut, which was his best shot of the fight. JJ just wouldn't let Andrew into command, as he responded with hard wailing shots which again put him firmly in the driving seat. The pace started to catch up with Lowe over the last two sessions. In the ninth, a left hook got the Hackney man looking all of his 33 years as his legs were stiff and tired. He was having trouble both recovering and keeping JJ off of him. And in the tenth, Lowe showed immense bravery to launch big shots to try and rescue a fight that had slipped beyond him on the cards. He looked at the floor, tucked his chin in and launched hooks with “lights out” plastered all over them. JJ saw them coming and took a 98-95 decision on the referee's card at the close. This may be the end for Lowe, a quality fighter who was just a step behind a hungry contender. For Ojuederie, he has to applauded for the way he has become a legitimate domestic contender from the right side of the bill. In chief support, wily technician Matthew Barney outpointed Ayitey Powers over six rounds. Barney, an acquired taste even for hardcore fight fans, is a skilful operator. And on paper, it looked as if this could have been one bout in which Barney may have had to produce a certain quantity of crowd -pleasing action. But, for the most part, Southampton's former European title challenger was able to evade and negate the Ghanaian's aggressive haymakers. In the first, frequent holding and Barney noticeably looking into the crowd made the clinking of folks a noticeable feature of the room. Powers tried to come forward in the next, but he missed often with wild speculators and then was normally tied up by Barney. Referee Ken Curtis was then left to do most of the work. Things proceeded slowly in the third. Powers didn't land with anything remotely clean, and more often than not Barney needed a hug. Matthew did manage to land some scoring work, mostly of the sneaky variety. With his hands low, he would pick Ayitey off quickly as he came into range before taking the defensive option. At the start of fourth, Barney landed a decent uppercut and powers connected with a hard left hook. Just as I was daring to believe that there was hope yet, the pair clinched and the third man gave the pair a much needed pep talk. Powers caught Barney with some decent uncultured thumps which had Matthew looking uncomfortable. The last two sessions were uneventful, Barney boxing on the back foot and powers aggressive but ineffective. At the close, Barney took a 59-56 decision. In the fight of the night, Gokhan Kazaz overcame two knockdowns to best Sherman Alleyne by a single point over four rounds. Gokhan, Turkish by birth but having fought his entire pro career here in the UK, looked compact and efficient in the opener. The Turk, now 9-1-2 (2), has a wicked short right hand to the body which is highly destructive. Time and time again, Gokhan started with this body punch and then switched upstairs to the head. Sherman, one of the gamest competitors on the circuit, was his typical self, boring in and making a great fight of it. Suddenly, “the tank” landed with a cracking left hand and Kazaz was on the deck looking more surprised than hurt. He appeared to have recovered from this flash knock down when Sherman repeated the trick with a right hand. Realising he was in trouble on the cards, Kazaz pulled his game together well on the third. Firstly, well-placed sweeping hooks produced cheers from his supporters in the crowd. Then, a left right brought a reaction from Sherman's legs. Gokhan finished the session well with a series of right hands. Sherman was floored and widely outfoxed in the last. Although he brushed the knockdown off and continued coming forward, he took a lot of leather and let his earlier advantage slip away. Kazaz might be one to watch, and this hard fought contest with a real unsung hero of the fight game will do him good in the long run. Eltham's Garth Hearns, looking like he'd trained at McDonald's, got his pro career off to a winning start in outpointing Ali Adams over four rounds at heavyweight. Hearns punished Ali for keeping his left far too low by smashing him with a succession of right hands. The second started off scrappily, but then developed into a real tear-up. Hearns scored with a good left hook and Adams with a great right hand. The crowd, such an interesting medley of people, erupted as the pair really let their punches go. The show had a close and intimate feel, which along with the charitable angle to the show made this event so much more enjoyable then your normal dinner affair. The last two sessions were fairly close. Adams launched quick and sharp shots that were largely inaccurate. Garth winced forward into the shots but looked largely unimpressed. A good left hand got Adams into action, but his shots were simply not on target. At the close, Bob Williams gave a 40-38 point verdict to Hearns. Finally, super-middleweight Leon Senior scored a four round points win over debutant Ricky Strike from Rotherham. Ricky was closed to being stopped and took a really beating in the first. Leon started so fast and hammered his man with hard left hooks and right hands. Ricky was hardly throwing any shots back. As the second started the way of the first, I wrote in my notebook that “Ricky needs out” as again Leon started hard and nothing much was coming back. To his credit, he managed to stay in the round and keep his guard and stance together to elude Leon's attempts at a quick finish. Rounds three and four saw Leon do all the meaningful work and take shut out verdict on referee Richie Davies' scorecard. Jon Feld's latest show was a real event. There was a video screening, a bugle demonstration and huge selection of boxers from both the past and today in the crowd. It is always healthy for boxing to see different angles being used to put boxing in the sporting marketplace.

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.