By: Oliver McManus
Daniel Dubois returned to winning ways on Saturday evening with a well-measured victory over Bogdan Dinu. Dubois, 23, was fighting for the first time since losing to Joe Joyce last November and looked to have learned valuable lessons.
Having linked up with Shane McGuigan, Dubois has shown a real willingness to adapt and was at his destructive best against Dinu.
His Romanian opponent had previously been in against Kubrat Pulev and Jarrell Miller: Dinu lost on both occasions but showed highlights of class in the fourth round against Pulev. The WBA sanctioned the pair’s contest for their interim title meaning Dubois now moves one step closer to a full world title fight.
Dubois wasted no time in showcasing ill intentions and established a classy jab early on to keep Dinu from pushing forward. At the halfway stage of the first round, Dubois had Dinu looking nervy with some solid shots seeing his opponent twist and turn to avoid further punishment.
Fifteen seconds into the second round and Dinu was caught flush with a hellacious right hand that left him seeing stars. Dinu had rolled onto the ropes, dropped his guard slightly, and Dubois pinged his head backward with a perfectly timed shot. There was no getting up for the Romanian and what a perfect reminder, if any was needed, of Dubois’ exceptional power.
Earlier in the night, Nathan Heaney thrilled a home audience with a third-round stoppage over Iliyan Markov. Markov was massively overmatched but has shown to be durable so for Heaney to get the finish simply underlined his quality. The stoppage came about as a result of a delightful body shot which triggered a delayed reaction from the Bulgarian but it was all over inside the third of a scheduled ten rounds.
Caoimhin Agyarko made it five early finishes in a row as he forced Ernesto Olvera to retire at the conclusion of the third round. None of Agyarko’s fights have seen the final bell since a six-rounder with Paul Allison in June 2019.
Billed as a ‘light heavyweight’, but weighing in at 189lbs, Tommy Fury made it 6-0 with a shut-out four-round points victory over Jordan Grant. Grant, 2-1, was the first fighter Fury has faced with a winning record but posed little challenge to the 22-year-old.
English bantamweight champion Liam Davies opened his account under, new promoter, Frank Warren with a second-round stoppage over Stefan Slavchev. Davies dropped his man four times en route to victory and targeted Dennis McCann in his post-fight interview.
George Bance started life as a professional with a points victory over the experienced Des Newton; Adan Mohamed advanced his record to 2-0 courtesy of a 40-36 card against Luke Fash; and, Bogdan Dinu’s stablemate, Daniel Buciuc dusted off six rounds against Naeem Ali to provide some solace for the Romanian fraternity.