JIMMY Sains reinforced his status as a growing middleweight threat on the domestic circuit by forcing Troy Coleman into a corner retirement at the close of the fourth round.
Boxing at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, Sains made light work of his supposed toughest test to date. His attacks to the head and body sucked the energy and fight out of Coleman, who was brave but unable to compete.
Coleman was clearly wary of Sains’ heavy hands, as the Stafford man dipped and twisted into range. Troy arrived off the back of a career-best shock win over unbeaten prospect Bradley Goldsmith.
Sains was getting the better of things, scything away to head and body through the first two rounds. Referee Lee Every had a stern word in round three as vulnerable Coleman teetered under pressure. He was cut as well, with blood dripping from the nostrils, to add to the growing list of woes.
Coleman tried to go jab for jab in the fourth, which is a battle he couldn’t win given Sains’ own authoritative range-finder. By the end of that round, Coleman was being hit hard and far too often for Errol Johnson’s liking. The West Midlands veteran trainer pulled their man out before the fifth could begin.
Improving to 11-0 (10 KOs), Sains picked up the vacant English title at 160 pounds. Perhaps a long-distance gaze at the winner of the main event here tonight, Kieron Conway vs. George Liddard, even though he’s in the same camp as Liddard.
“Very happy to get back to KO, over the moon, I trained really hard and worked really hard, “ said the winner.
“He was laughing at me a little, but I could see it in his eyes. Tony Sims in the corner said to get back to your boxing and it paid off.”
Coleman, meanwhile, is now 14-4-1 (6 KOs), being stopped for the third time as his vulnerabilities again came to the surface. The unused judges were Mark Bates, Reece Carter and Sean McAvoy.
