Wolverhampton boxer Kyle Williams (27) was sensational stopped in the fifth round when he took of British Bantamweight champion Kash Farooq for the Lonsdale Belt. Farooq (23) with a unbeaten record of 11 wins with no defeats was fighting in his home town of Glasgow at the Glasgow sporting club (25/4)19). Both fighters came in at 8 stone 5 with Williams who was unbeaten in 10 fights earning a share of the first round with both getting good shots off.
Farooq really worked Williams body in the second picking his shots well when going from body to head. Williams worked hard but was always on the back foot and got caught with a nice right hook putting him down with the help of Williams being off balance. Williams took a eight count off the ref as the bell went to end the round. The third round was dominated by Farooq who worked the body and head well, Williams continued to battle hard but it was Farooq's round. Williams started the forth round brightly but Farooq weathered the storm and came back strong working the body and head well with nice combinations.
Williams battled hard in the fifth but Farooq was relentless with his body shots, Farooq caught Williams with a low blow which the ref gave Williams time to recover from. When he did Williams contiuned to battle and trade shots with Farooq, Williams was then caught with a cracking right hook which put him down, Williams struggled to get back to his feet but he did with the ref waving off the fight 2 minutes four seconds into the fifth round.
Williams talked after to a BBC reporter where he said he felt that he had let his people down. He also said “I will learn from this, take something from it and come again”. He finished by saying “I will win the British title one day”. Dexter’s Thoughts
Well Kyle didn’t get the result but can walk away with his head held high. On the night Farooq was just to strong and to good for the BcB fighter, take nothing away from Williams he fought like the warrior I know he is and even after the second round knock down I thought Williams could still win. Farooq had a very good game plan working the body well and catching Williams with some good shots to the head. Williams was always on the back foot and boxed well, but it was Farooq’s pressure and shot selection that won him the fight. Williams deserves a lot of credit for traveling to Scotland putting his unbeaten record on the line against an unbeaten fighter and leaving it all in the ring. Williams has stated that he will learn from this fight and come again and I believe he will. I’m sure Williams will return soon and be contesting for titles again in the near future. The Birmingham Boxing Column wishes Kyle a speedy return to the ring.