SATURDAY night’s Wembley Arena card saw two of Boxxer’s strongest prospects further extend their undefeated records with exceptional knockout victories, each showing exactly why they are being tipped for future success at the world level.
Here, Boxing News takes a look at five things that we learned from this weekend’s standout event on British soil.
Joel Kodua punches harder than his record suggests
Before Saturday night, undefeated Joel Kodua had not recorded a knockout win in his seven professional outings and was tasked with Lloyd Germain, (9-3, 1 KO), in what seemed to be his toughest test to date.
Yet, ‘JFK’ was able to score two knockdowns in the opening round, wounding Germain early with spiteful punches and setting the tone for what turned out to be a fight consisting purely of one-way traffic.
After three rounds, Germain clearly had enough and seemed unable to take Kodua’s shots, as the referee understandably waived off the affair following a third knockdown – marking a third straight defeat inside of the distance for Germain.
Upon further inspection, Kodua’s seven prior wins have been against opponents with a combined record consisting of 241 losses, with only 30 of those coming via stoppage. In future, the punch power of the Essex-based welterweight should not be overlooked.
Lucas Roehrig is one to watch
Trained and managed by George Groves, cruiserweight prospect Lucas Roehrig, 2-0 (2 KOs), has been well promoted since the announcement of his professional deal and it’s clear to see why he has become a name on the lips of British boxing fans.
Roehrig debuted with an impressive stoppage of two-time English champion Joel McIntyre last month and appeared on a televised bill for the first time at the weekend, facing Milosav Savic, 9-9-1 (7 KOs), on the main card.
It took 21-year-old Roehrig just three rounds to get to the Serbian, dropping Savic on three occasions in the third to cap off the aggressive, all-action display and cause referee Amy Pu to step in and stop the contest.
Whilst some suggested that they could see the fabled Groves jab in Roehrig, ‘Saint George’ himself admitted that he could see ‘a lot of his old self’ in the youngster.
With time on his side, experience in his corner, and a fighting style that is sure to attract support, Roehrig certainly has the recipe for a successful and exciting career in the sport.
Callum Simpson can be Britain’s super middleweight poster boy
A likeable character with a front-foot approach, it’s easy to see why Callum Simpson, 17-0 (12 KOs), has built up such a following in his hometown. The Yorkshireman could replicate his backing nationwide, as he eyes up an eventual jump to world level.
British champion Simpson needed just two rounds to halt Steed Woodall three weeks ago and wasted no time in appearing again, agreeing to defend his Commonwealth strap against confident Ghanaian power puncher Elvis Ahorgah, 13-3 (12 KOs), on just 12 days’ notice.
After five rounds, Simpson recorded a second knockout win in three weeks, dropping the game, overmatched challenger with a lead-uppercut, straight-right combination, as ‘The Soldier’ got to his feet but was deemed unable to continue.
Simpson’s willingness for activity only adds to his apparent formula as a potential superstar and a return to Oakwell Stadium looms for the summer, likely against either Mark Jeffers or Liam Cameron.
Should Simpson be successful, particularly against Jeffers, he would become Britain’s clear contender at the weight and the nation’s best-supported super-middleweight representative on the world stage.
Sergey Lipinets is as tough as old boots
Although he entered the main event as a former world champion, Sergey Lipinets, 18-4-1 (13 KOs), was given little chance by the boxing universe when he agreed to face Adam Azim, 13-0 (10 KOs).
Much of this doubt came as a result of Lipinets’ victory against Robbie Davies Jr. last year where, regardless of his comfortable unanimous decision win, ‘Samurai’ was buzzed on numerous occasions, bringing his remaining punch resistance into disrepute.
Nevertheless, Lipinets was able to withstand Azim’s fierce punches during the fight, possibly even proving too tough for his own good, as he battled on through the pain after a third-round knockdown and continued to march towards Azim despite a swollen and bloodied face.
Referee Steve Gray eventually took the decision out of Lipinets and his corner’s hands, who arguably should have pulled the Kazakh out, deciding that he had seen enough in the ninth round, calling time on what had eventually become a brutal, hard-to-watch encounter.
A fight between Adam Azim and Dalton Smith could be a future classic
Reports that Adam Azim had turned down both Sean McComb and Pierce O’Leary, shortly after vacating the European title to avoid mandatory challenger Dalton Smith, had begun to damage the image of Azim – who is deemed by many as one of the United Kingdom’s hottest prospects, prior to his meeting with Lipinets.
However, the skills of the 22-year-old could not be questioned once the bell rang against the former IBF super-lightweight world champion, dominating the exchanges and putting his punches together with ease to eventually get the stoppage and build further momentum.
He produced a similar display against Ohara Davies last year and it is now clear that Azim is far above British level and is capable of overcoming many operators at world level.
Whilst fans, and even Azim himself, are understandably calling for a showdown between him and Smith, there is every chance that the pair could collide in a higher profile world title clash if their rivalry is left to marinate – although, that is an assumption that promoters have mistakenly made time and time again.
Still, with both Ben Shalom and Eddie Hearn betting on Azim and Smith’s success on the big stage, they are each being left with the decision to either ‘cash out’ and make the fight now or bank on the chance that their potential grudge match could capture global interest further down the line.
Regardless, Azim seems to be the real deal and will fancy his chances of handing Smith a first career defeat right now.
