Black Country Boxing at The Venue Dudley
This report is kindly brought to you by freelance Journalist Craig Birch who has a Twitter and Facebook page called your sport Black Country Twitter- @yoursportblackcountry many thanks to Craig for letting the column use his work as I could not be there due to work. Many thanks again to Craig.
BOXING REPORT: Tyler Denny feels just champion about winning his first pro title after claiming British Challenge middleweight honours on Friday.
He got eight rounds under his belt for the first time and outpointed co-challenger Anthony Fox at The Venue Dudley, writes Craig Birch.
The 25-year-old southpaw, from Rowley Regis, used his attributes to great effect to roll over Fox through a clear 78-75 verdict with referee-for-the-night Terry O’Connor.
The still-undefeated ‘Ruthless’ moved to eight bouts without defeat, rebounding from back-to-back draws in outings four and five.
Denny now looks in pole position for a shot at the Midlands middleweight title, with West Bromwich’s Tom Stokes long mooted as an opponent.
He headlined a seven-fight show at the Venue, with Polish heavyweight Krzysztof Kosela making his UK debut in a six-round chief support affair against Chris Healey.
‘Cattleman’ Kosela, a farmer who herds bulls back home, stands 6ft 7in and came into battle with 10 straight wins as a pro, nine by TKO.
But the 29-year-old couldn’t find the punches to see off left-hander Healey who, despite being bloodied, made him work for a points victory before losing 58-56 with Mr O’Connor.
Both men were in a paid ring for the 11th time, Kosela keeping up his win streak while Healey lost for a fourth time, after seven wins.
Three stoppages featured elsewhere on the undercard, including a first in the pro world for Dudley’s own Les Sharratt.
The 30-year-old super featherweight from Netherton removed Russell Midgley during the third of four rounds in his eighth pro contest.
He overwhelmed Midgley with a barrage of hooks to the body as his opponent tried to cover up while sliding down the ropes. O’Connor stepped in with 46 seconds remaining.
Leicester’s Cj Challenger made it back-to-back TKOs, also in round three, after halting David Zubrzycki.
Challenger, who boxes under Frank Warren's banner under the management of Jason McClory, forced the finish with 28 seconds left of round three after a long right hand.
The 22-year-old super lightweight clobbered Danny Little in just 110 seconds of his previous ring time and took his time to find the range that got Zubrzycki out of there.
Debutant Kaisee Benjamin disposed of Paul Cummings inside two to ensure his introduction went with a bang.
Birmingham’s Benjamin made his opening statement at super welter after Cummings’ folded to a right hand to the jaw, with one minute and 17 seconds gone of round two.
Fellow Brummie Kane Baker, from Bartley Green, and Walsall’s Shaun Cooper settled for points successes at welter and lightweight respectively.
Baker saw off the spirited Little, who fancied his chances of upsetting the home corner, by one round in a 39-38 score.
Cooper did likewise over Luke Fash, showing a good repertoire of shots to record his second straight 40-36 points whitewash since turning pro.