By: Ste Rowen
The famous Royal Albert Hall this weekend will see Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois, the heavyweight flavour of the year ever since his comprehensive fifth round stoppage of domestic rival, Nathan Gorman. The two unbeaten men put it on the line early on in their careers to claim the prestigious British heavyweight title, but it was Dubois, now 12-0 (11KOs), who was underrated in his technical ability beforehand, but he broke down Gorman round after round before finishing the previously 16-0 fighter before the halfway mark.
But that victory has set a precedent. Now fans, at least knows who’ve watched his previous bouts, know Daniel has both the skill AND the power to take out opponents, so his next opponent, Ebenezer Tetteh, for the Commonwealth belt, should surely be, if anything a slight step down.
If you’re following boxing twitter, Ebenezer Tetteh, 19-0 (16KOs), of Ghana is probably most famous for literally taking a twirl midway through a fight, showing off to the crowd and then continued fighting to a victory. The 31-year-old Ghanaian is rough; if the British champion doesn’t lay down his marker early, he could be in for a long, awkward night that coud end up ripping away the momentum ‘Dynamite’ has multiplied after his impressive win over Gorman.
The British champion spoke to the media during the week, both trying to hype his fight and keep one keen eye on the future,
‘‘I believe this is the ideal step up for me against an unbeaten fighter with a lot of KOs to his name…I cannot wait to get back in there and do my thing.
I’m carving out my legacy. All I have to do is fight and knock out whoever is in front of me.
I’m going to create my legacy and become a legend in this sport.’’
In defence of Dubois, the route from British to Commonwealth, and beyond is common and logical and certainly not the ‘Dynamite’s’ fault that Tetteh is the chosen challenger the rainbow belt rankings could come up with but, if Dubois really wants the momentum to continue, the young steamroller should make easy work of, according to Boxrec (I know, I know their rankings can’t be trusted), Ghana’s second best heavyweight. For the record, Dubois has already diminished Ghana’s supposed top heavyweight boxer in Richard Lartey last April within four rounds.
On the undercard…
Amateur flyweight legend, Nicola Adams is vying for her first proper world title in just her sixth fight. Adams, 5-0 (3KOs) will step into the ring with 21-7-3, Maria Salinas of Mexico for the vacant WBO world title on the line.
Salinas loves throwing punches in bunches, but Adams’ precision and prowess should be more than enough to claim her first world title, and if she claims it within single digits of the pro game she’ll share the stage with the likes of Claressa Shields and equal Jane Crouch’s record of winning a world title so early in her career.
And, the ratio of underwhelming of top fighter to opposition goes to Archie Sharp, 16-0 (7KOs who is on the card but without an opponent so far.
Also FYI, Jane Crouch’s book, The Final Round – buy it now.