A wild Saturday night of Light Heavyweight action at the Indigo at the O2 in London, with knockdowns and toe to toe action a plenty, Birmingham’s Shakan Pitters came through the pack to claim the bulk of the £50,000 prize, and the Golden Robe, in the second staging of Ultimate Boxxer, an eight man, one night tournament of three round contests.
div>Pitters defeated Scunthorpe’s Dec Spelman in the final, having had Spelman down within the first 40 seconds with a short right hand. Spelman’s nose was also bloodied early. The second saw both men tire after their earlier endeavours in getting to the final, and at the start of the third round, Spelman tried desperately to up the ante, but to no avail as the 6 foot 6 inch Pitters took control in the last minute to seal the victory. Scores of 30-26 twice and 29-27 ensured Pitters collected the prize.
Pitters began his evening as he meant to go on, knocking Sam Smith down twice in the second, before settling for a comfortable points win.
Two fight novice Georgii Bacon, with a win and a loss on the slate, traded opening round knockdowns with Jordan Joseph to advance to meet Pitters in the semi finals with a points victory. He was no match for the rangy Pitters however in the last four, as a left hook to the body put Bacon down in the second, before Pitters repeated the shot on the resumption to end matters.
There was a sobering moment during Dec Spelman’s quarter final win over Sam Horsfall. Spelman’s only previous defeat came at the hands of Scott Westgarth, who collapsed and sadly died earlier this year. After two previous knockdowns, Spelman knocked out Horsfall in the second with a single left hook, and there were several worrying minutes where Horsfall lay on the canvas. Thankfully Horsfall got to his feet and left the ring, but this must have brought back some horrific memories for the Scunthorpe man.
In arguably the fight of the night, Spelman advanced to meet Portsmouth’s Joel McIntyre in the semi finals. McIntyre had seen off Darrell Church in the quarters, dropping his man before unanimously winning on the cards. After a quiet opener between Spelman and McIntyre the second exploded into life. Spelman connected with a flurry of punches before a counter right hand from McIntyre had Spelman on the canvas. Spelman, however, turned the tables in the same round. McIntyre had Spelman on unsteady legs with a hard left hand, but on rushing in to follow up, Spelman floored McIntyre with a counter right of his own. A much quieter final round saw Spelman win the fight via majority decision, with one judge scoring a draw.
Focusing again on the winner, Pitters is certainly one to watch for the future. A freak for the weight, and now carrying knockout power in his last few fights, he will look for further exposure in the near future. It also surprises me why Sky and Matchroom didn’t carry on the Prizefighter model, as they are fan friendly affairs that give value for money. Luckily Ultimate Boxxer has taken over this mantle, and I look forward to more of the product soon.
