Brummie Shakan Pitters Crowned the Ultimate Boxxer, defeats Dec Spelman in final
The Ultimate Boxxer tournament returned to the Indigo o2 London on Friday night and featured 8 British Super-Middleweights battling it out in 3 round contests for a £50,000 prize.
After featuring a number of talented Welterweights in Manchester earlier this year, the show came to London, giving fighters the chance to not only have a good pay day, but to take their career to the next level.
The boxers included well known fighters such as Joel McIntyre who is set to fight for the English title later this year and Declan Spelman arrived into the tournament with a record of 12-1 as well as undefeated prospect Shakan Pitters.
Here’s how the tournament unfolded:
Quarter Finals
Joel McIntyre (17-3) Vs Darrell Church (7-3) – McIntyre who doesn’t have a reputation as a puncher, floored Church with a crunching right hand midway through the first round and dominated the rest of the fight, meaning that the Portsmouth based fighter progressed to the semi’s.
Dec Spelman (12-1) Vs Sam Horsfall (2-0) – In a typical shoot-out from the first bell, Spelman & Horsfall traded blows until Horsfall was dropped early in the 2nd round thanks to a left hook from Spelman.
Horsfall was then knocked down another two times in the 2nd round with the towel being thrown in as the Surrey man’s journey in the tournament came to an abrupt end.
Shakan Pitters (7-0) Vs Sam Smith (5-1) – The only undefeated fighter coming into the tournament, Pitters who is a staggering 6’6, came up against Sam Smith who is part of Paddy Fitzpatrick’s stable.
Pitters used his superior range whilst also working on the inside, was awarded two knockdowns in the 2nd round and therefore ended up winning the quarter final on a landslide.
Georgii Bacon (1-1) Vs Jordan Joseph (7-2-1) – Coming in as a late replacement on a few days’ notice, Essex boy Georgii Bacon came up against former Joshua Buatsi foe Jordan Joseph in the last quarter final.
In this case, the best was saved until last as both fighters hit the canvas in round 1 with Joseph being knocked down within the first 10 seconds of the contest.
With plenty more trading in rounds 2 & 3, the fight came to an end as the 23 year olds perhaps both felt that they had done enough to secure their place in the semis.
In some ways a fair result, Bacon was awarded a split decision, which matched him up against Pitters later on in the evening.
Semi-Finals
Spelman Vs McIntyre – As excitement had built after the quarters, the first semi-final of the evening had a tentative start compared to both fighters’ previous bouts in the competition.
However, in arguably the round of the evening, both fighters decided to trade from the beginning of the 2nd round with Spellman coming worse off and being put down.
The trading continued throughout the round which was surprising for some audience members after the early knockdown. With 30 seconds left of round 2, McIntyre was dropped after walking into a right hand from Spellman, taking away the effect of his early knockdown.
After an even 3rd round, the judges awarded a majority decision to Spellman who was going to await the winner of Pitters versus Bacon.
Pitters Vs Bacon – As he did in the quarters, Pitters used his jab and range very well against a much shorter opponent in Bacon.
Bacon, who was swinging and missing by some distance throughout the fight, was hit by a classic body shot halfway through the round but bravely managed to get back up.
However, after another body shot in the 2nd, Bacon wasn’t able to get back up as Pitters advanced towards the final to face Spelman.
Final
Pitters Vs Spelman – In an uninspiring final, after an early knockdown in his favour Pitters soared to a unanimous points victory, with a clearly drained Spelman having occasional success towards the end of the final.
Pitters who many knew little about before the tournament began, will have enhanced his reputation by winning the televised tournament as well as bagging a majority share of £50,000.
