The 0-Taker Ben Fields has blasted his way to the Midlands area Super Lightweight title with a convincing win over Alex Fearon. The fight was the main event on the ‘Back to Business' show which was fought behind close in Liverpool (13,9,20).
In the first round Fields walked Fearon down and from the first bell and pushed and pressured Fearon back winning the round. Round 2 saw Fearon getting some good shots off but Fields continued to pressure and push Fearon back, close round. Great pressure from Fields in the third as he banged in relentless shots, Fearon got some good shots off but it was Fields round.
Fields was relentless again in the forth and smashed in big clubbing shots, Fearon had his moments but Fields had this round. Hard fought fifth with both fighters getting good shots off, Fearon boxed well but Fields continued to press forward to get a share of the round. Fearon moved well at the start of the sixth and picked his shots well, Fields just stuck to his game plan and won the round on pressure. Fields took Fearon apart in the seventh and there were points when Fearon looked like going down. Fields had a point taken off for hitting low but bullied Fearon the whole round.
How Fearon survived the eighth round was a credit to him as Fields was relentless, Fearon fought back but Fields could not be stopped. In the ninth Fearon got some good shots off and Fields sustained a cut over his right eye, this didn’t stop Fields who just pressed forward and banged shots in. Fearon got on his toes in the final round and boxed well but Fields just had no reverse gear and pressed and pressured Fearon hitting him with some cracking hooks, how Fearon stayed on his feet is a credit to the man.
The referee scored the fight 96 to 94 in favor of Fields.
On the undercard of the show, there were some fighters from the Midlands, you had 19-year-old Owen Cooper taking on the awkward journeyman MJ Hall in a 4 round contest. Cooper who is trained by Birmingham’s Malcolm Malvin put on a very good performance against the tough southpaw in Hall. The ref scored it 40-36 to Cooper who is now 3 without defeat.
Birmingham’s Matt ‘Swiggy' Craddock showed loads of heart and determination against the very talented and unbeaten Jack Bateson. Craddock (30) was putting his unbeaten record on the line against Bateson who had won all 11 of his fights. Craddock had to battle hard as Bateson put on a Stella performance of boxing, Craddock had his moments but was just outclassed by the young fighter. Craddock was put down twice in the 6th round but deservedly managed to see the final bell in a very performance.
Dexter’s Thought
What can I say it is great to get back to be writing something positive, I am chuffed to bits for Ben, what a victory, if anyone deserved to win a title he does. He has put the grafted in for this fight and has shown that anything is possible, if you know his story you know what he has been thrown. He has gone from rock bottom to Midlands area champion and with such a great performance to boot. This fight will definitely be a contender for the Bbcolumn’s fight of the year and I can see Ben moving on to bigger titles. He wore his trainers Shaun Cogan’s shorts in the fight that he wore 27 years ago when he fought for the same title when he was a pro.
Got to give Fearon loads of respect, he showed heart and a solid chin and technically was the better boxer. But Ben's ‘Ragga Muffin’ come forward tactics seemed to overwhelm Fearon as he got pushed back and battered against the ropes for most of the fight. Ben's style does make him look like just a wild pressure fighter but there is a hell of a lot of technic in his boxing and to be able to box like that for 10 rounds you need to be fit as fuck. Ben is an inspirational person who is a respectful, humble fighter but in the ring, he is a true warrior. The Column named him the 0-Taker for all the unbeaten fighters he has beat, he now becomes the Soul Taker after breaking Fearon in this great title win.
Ben will be on Welcome to Fightden very soon.
Matt Craddock showed loads of heart in his fight against one of MTK's top prospects. Matt and his team rolled the dice and he got threw a hard 6 round contest against a very talented fighter. Swiggy can take a lot of pluses from this fight and he can come again of that I have no doubt.