By: Ste Rowen
At London’s famous Royal Albert Hall, Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois took less than two minutes to dispatch of his latest challenger, Ebenezer Tetteh, claim the Commonwealth title just one fight removed from having won the British heavyweight strap.
Earlier this year, Tetteh of Ghana was at the back end of the Commonwealth rankings, and with a record of 19-0 (16KOs), a credible opponent on paper. Real fights aren’t fought on paper, and even as the two men faced off before the first bell, Ebenezer had a look of a man who had made a huge mistake in his eyes.
‘Dynamite’ Dubois fired off his jab immediately, continuously rocking the away-fighters head back, but it was with 1;15 left of the first that Dubois unleashed the ferocity that matches his hype. Daniel, who most recently conquered domestic rival, Nathan Gorman for the British heavyweight title, first landed two consecutive left-rights to knock down his foe for the first time and added a combination of body shots to ensure Tetteh hit the canvas for the second and end the night as early as many expected.
A minority in the crowd felt the referee waved the fight off a little too early; they may have had a point, but this Commonwealth fight was going in only one direction. Daniel Dubois now, 13-0 (11KOs) added the rainbow belt to his ever-expanding belt cabinet.
Speaking post-fight, now arguably Britain’s most high profile ‘prospect’, the 22-year-old laid down the challenge to any heavyweight’s brave enough to step in with him including fellow unbeaten Brit and Olympic silver medallist, Joe Joyce.
On the undercard…
Fighting for the WBO flyweight word championship, Nicola Adams, 5-0 (3KOs) heading into tonight, had her biggest professional test to date as she went the distance with four-time world title challenger, Maria Salinas.
Salinas did as Mexican fighters do, swinging ferociously, closing the distance well and stopping the former world class amateur from any kind of easy night. ‘The Lioness’ even at times switched to southpaw in the later rounds, to fool her opponent. But Maria was in no mood to allow Adams’ amateur experience overwhelm her sheer tenacity.
By the final bell it seemed close in most viewers opinion, even as Salinas was lifted aloft by her corner and raised her arms to the crowd. However, the actual ten-round scorecards came back as, 96-94 Salinas, 97-93 Adams, and 95-95, calling it a split draw which drew boos from the crowds and anger in the Mexican’s corner.
WBO ‘European’ super-featherweight champion, Archie Sharp improved to 17-0 9KOs) with a superb knockout of 19-4 challenger, Declan Geraghty inside four rounds. Both men were turning out of an exchange, aiming with left hooks, but it was Sharp who landed first, landed hardest and ended his and his opponent’s night early after a somewhat promising start from Geraghty.
Archie ‘Sharpshooter’ sat ninth in the WBO rankings before tonight so, with the likes of Avery Sparrow, Masayuki Ito, Jason Sosa and Sam Bowen below and above him, if Sharp is up for it, there are big fights to be made in the near future.
