Fists of Fury 3
The Trilogy
15/7/2017
Fightden and D&A held there summer show Fists of Fury 3 at the We Play Football arena Newtown. The show consisted of 12 bouts of boxing with the main event being a 4 times 2 minute heavyweight title fight for the Semi-Professional Boxing Federation Midlands Area Title. The Title was contested by the SPBF heavyweight championship Damion Gardener and myself Dexter Hastings.
The stage was set for a great night of boxing with some true talent on display, below are the results and what I can remember form the show and have been told.
Fight 1
Glenn Weldon v Akamai Saidi
3 x 2
Great start to the show, an even fight both boxers had joy in the during this bout, but a draw was the right decision.
Full Fight
Result
Draw
Fight 2
Elliott Moseley v Josh Latimer
3 x 2
Latimer put a good display on in this fight and managed to do the full 3 rounds, Moseley worked hard and won the fight but could not stop the veteran journeyman.
Full Fight
Result
Moseley wins points
Fight 3
Paul McNeil v P.J. The Animal
3 x 2
Bare Knuckle Fight
If I had known this was on the bill I would not of reffed it, not a fan of this form of combat, I'm a purest. Anyway McNeil took The Animal apart in the space of the first round, he looked impressive but would have looked better with a pair of gloves on.
Full Fight
Result
McNeil wins stoppage
Fight 4
Jamie Long v Mick Cox
3 x 2
Good fight both boxers gave it their all, Long nicked this fight with the better boxing and showed great heart and spirit In his debut In unlicensed boxing.
Full Fight
Result
Long wins points
Fight 5
Ben Fields v Tony Dekin
3 x 2
The veteran Dekin was put threw the ringer against one of Fightden's bright star. Fields dropped Dekin 3 times in the first, another 4 in the second and 4 times in the third. Dekin has to be give a lot of credit for getting back up and wanting to continue after taking some heavy shots from the heavy hitting Fields.
Full Fight
Result
Fields wins on points
Fight 6
Richard Da-Silva v Shaun
Complete one sided fight, Da-Silva ripped into Shaun from the start with Tyson like body shots. I stopped the contest in the first round as Shaun was just going to get hurt.
Result
Da-Silva wins First round stoppage
Fight 7
Shaun Williams v Trez
3 x 2
The veteran Williams slipped and slid his way to a draw against Trez in a competitive bout of boxing, Williams called for an extra round but it didn’t change the result.
Full Fight
Result
Draw
Fight 8
Conner Holmes v Tom Deakin
3 x 2
Can't say much about this fight except the result, Shuttleworth stopped Deakin in the first round to win.
Result
Homles wins stoppage
Fight 9
Ryan Welburn v Mark Shorrock
3 x 2
These boxer gave it there all as they both put on good displays, Welburn managed to pour It on near he end of the 3rd to get a stoppage decision.
Result
Welburn Wins 3rd round Stoppage
Fight 10
Shaun Duffy v Neil Rigby
3 x 2
The unbeaten Duffy kept his unbeaten record but was not happy at all with the result as the judges deemed the fight a draw, everyone I talked to after said Duffy had won the fight and Duffy had been robed.
Result
Draw
Fight 11
Julian Shuttleworth v Josh Latimer
3 x 2
Holmes took his frustrations out on very late replacement Latimer who had already fought that night by stopping him in the first round with a destructive combination putting Latimer down an out.
Result
Shuttleworthwins 1st round stoppage
Fight12
Dexter Hastings v Damion Gard
(Challenge) (Champion)
SPBF Heavyweight Midlands Area Title
4 x 3
Gardener entered the arena with a entourage of over 10 of his pals following him out in a vain attempt to intimidate me as it was only me my trainer and Marcus Carter in my corner. I only notice this when my trainer said to me "it's only me and you then Dex", I then turn to see them all at the side of the ring in his corner. This made me smile as I could see what it was supposed to achieve, but I can say it didn’t have the desired effect. You see, I'm a Newtown lad born and breed, I'm also a Millwall supporter (Nuff Said!) my motto in life is Fear No Foe! So seeing this just made me smile and gave me that back against the wall mentality that has seen me threw many a fight.
When all the Bullshit was over and the bell rang for the first round Gardener came out fast and strong with some heavy body shots and aggressive hooks. It seemed that Gardener had the plan to stop me in the first round, he got threw with some cracking body shots, but I stayed relaxed and countered well. I did make him miss most of his big hooks and over hand rights, but he did catch me with some heavy shots that made me know I was in a fight. As much as I countered well I would have to give the first round to Gardener for his aggressiveness and high tempo start. When the bell ended to end the first round I went back to my corner, my trainer told me "I give that round to him, you need to pick it up the pace and start letting my punches go". I felt very relaxed at this point and said to my trainer "Don’t worry I got this shit".
When the second round started Gardener came out again aggressive and very heavy handed. I got on my jab and just let it go just to give Gardener something to think about, Gardener bobed and weaved well and was still getting in on the inside and took the first part of the round. As the round went on I notice his punch power had reduced and I could feel his high tempo from the start had slowed and my counter punching was now taking their tole. This in my opinion was the turning point in the fight, Gardener had me on the ropes and hit me to the body and then a cracking right hook to the head, he had caught me with a shot like this in the first and buzzed my head, but this time their did not seem to be the power in it. I looked over Gardeners shoulder and shouted to me corner "he has got fuck all left", from this point on I took control of the second round and started letting my hands go using my jab to tee off some nice one, twos to finish the round strong. I would say I won this round as I finished stronger, but could understand if anyone had it even due to Gardeners good start.
The third round was a lock out, Gardener seemed to have blown out and was not the boxer from he first round. I took advantage of this catching him with jabs and one, twos at will. Gardener kept coming forward to his credit, but this was a very one sided round.
The final round was another shut out Gardener showed true heart to stay in the fight and was always a threat, but I controlled and dictated this round to the point that I even asked the ref if he would stop the fight as I was worried about my opponent. Thankfully at the final bell we were both still standing and not to badly marked up.
Result
Hastings wins on points
New SPBF Midlands Area Heavyweight Champion.
Full Fight
Dexter's Thoughts
What a great night of boxing and a great night for Fightden getting 8 wins and 2 draws in total. The venue was decent and just the right size for the event, it was a shame about the sound system but my music came out ok near the end. Fightden and D&A saw a wealth of unlicensed boxing talent and it was a honor to be asked to fight on the show and a even a bigger honor to fight for a Semi-Professional Boxing Federation Midlands Area title. The reason I had this fight was to drop a bit of weight and fighting a boxer the Caliber of Damion Gardener was just the fear factor I needed to train hard and shed over 2 stones in weight. I managed to come out on top in the fight which was a bonus and showed that If you put you mind to it and focus you can achieve anything. At the age of 46 I don’t think I have got anymore to prove and in the 8 week training camp I had for this fight I picked up a few injuries on the way, some recurring ones that is probably old Father Time telling me to call it a day. At the moment I am going to enjoy my victory, get my injures sorted then talk to my family, friends and trainers about weather to call it a day.
I have lots going on and my main goal is to improve the Birmingham Boxing Column and report on as many shows as possible unlicensed, Pro or Amateur.
I look forward to Fightden/D&A's next event.