Edwards shines in dominant performance at MTK 'Capital Gains' show
MTK Global produced another classic night of Boxing at the legendary York Hall on Friday night with a mixture of home-grown debutants and titles being defended.
Despite the main two fights both being fairly one sided, an exciting night was still endured with a typical York Hall atmosphere ever-present.
Here are a few highlights:
Dan Azzez (5(3)-0) Vs Charles Adamu (32(25)-11)
Light Heavyweight and local prospect Dan Azzez went up against the vastly experienced Ghanian Charles Adamu in a 6 round contest at Light-Heavyweight.
In what was Azzez’s first 6 round fight in as many professional bouts, Adamu was making his 44th appearance inside a Boxing ring, over the course of 17 years.
After successfully going the distance with Carl Froch, Rocky Fielding & Isaac Chilemba in his career Adamu was faced with the task of facing a fresh and much younger Azzez.
Azzez dominated the vast majority of the fight, working behind his jab early on, before becoming more aggressive as the contest entered the halfway point, knocking down Adamu in the process.
Adamu, who has only ever been stopped by George Groves in a Commonwealth title fight, perhaps came close to being on the receiving end of another stoppage loss as Azzez was able to connect with some big shots throughout the 2nd half of the fight.
However, the stoppage didn’t quite arrive and the scorecards were announced as 60-55 to Azzez who will benefit hugely from facing such an experienced operator so early in his professional career.
Donovan Mortlock (debut) Vs Casey Blair (5-45)
One of the many debutants making an appearance last night was MTK signing Donovan Mortlock who campaigns at Middleweight.
Mortlock who was going up against journeyman Casey Blair who had previously had 50 fights in less than 5 years, has gone up against fellow MTK fighter Johnny Coyle and current British Middleweight champ Jason Welborn.
After a ruggid start to the fight, Mortlock was able to use his reach advantage effectively and clearly grew in confidence as the fight entered its 2nd half.
Blair who was stopped in his last fight, managed to survive the last round after being hit by a barrage of punches from the debutant as the scorecard was announced as 40-36 in favour of Mortlock.
Michael McKinson (14(2)-0) Vs Sammy McNess (10(4)-1 - World Boxing Council International Silver Welterweight Title
In what was built as a fight of the night contender, the two British welterweights went to war over 10 rounds as the atmosphere at York Hall reached its peak for the night.
Despite both fighters enjoying a fairly even share of the support, the fight itself was far from even.
McKinson fought sharply throughout the contest, giving McNess a bloody nose within the first couple of rounds before staying on top throughout.
After scoring a knockdown over McNess with 15 seconds left in round 7, a victory for the Belfast based fighter was conceivable as McNess looked more and more for the stoppage.
To be fair McNess claimed occasional success throughout the fight, but rarely did enough to win many rounds with a unanimous decision being made in favour of McKinson (98-92, 98-91, 99-90).
Still undefeated, McKinson moves to 15-0 and may be moving onto other titles in 2019.
Sunny Edwards (8(3)-0) Vs Ryan Farrag (19(5)-3) – World Boxing Organisation European Super Flyweight Title
The performance of the night waited until the end as Sunny Edwards successfully defended his European title against former British and European title challenger Ryan Farrag.
Mastering the art of hitting and not being hit, Edwards who showboated throughout the fight, arguably won every minute of every round against the Liverpudlian.
Farrah who remained tough throughout the fight despite being on the receiving end of Edwards’ gloves in a great example of a one-sided affair.
Edwards who hadn’t been past 6 rounds before the fight showed a very impressive rate of stamina towards the end of the fight against the more experienced Farrag who went 12 rounds with Ryan Burnett in 2016.
Predictably, Edwards was awarded the points victory of 100-90 x 2, 99-91 and after looking so impressive, has stated his desire to fight rival Paddy Barnes before the end of the year.