By Lee Collier
Heywood’s super flyweight Kieran Farrell improved his record to 4-0 (1 early) when he beat tough Serbian Kemal Plavci recently in Colne. Plavci is no stranger to these shores having previously taken Ashley Sexton and Don Broadhurst the distance early in their respective careers.
The 18-year-old, who trains under Bobby Rimmer, had his most impressive performance to date as he won every round on the referee’s scorecard in what was his most mature performance. Farrell forced the pace early on throwing a plethora of punches and it seemed the youngster would run out of steam due to the intense pace.
Farrell defied logic and the fourth round was his busiest as he tried to stop the Serbian by throwing everything he had bar the kitchen sink at his opponent. When looking back on his performance Farrell commented: “It went well, I was a bit upset that I didn’t stop him but I was a lot calmer than in my previous fights. It was a good performance.”
Plavci, whilst having lost 30 fights before taking on Farrell, had not been stopped in over two years and Farrell agreed that the Serb was a tough customer. “He was tough, I thought I was bigger than him and thought I was going to take him out but sometimes at the lower weights you won’t, you have to work them down over 12 rounds but I was happy with the performance,” declared Farrell.
Farrell then continued to talk about his performance: “I have been more patient in sparring, against the likes of Jonny Kays and have been moving my head a bit more because they are throwing more punches and are bigger guys than me. I would have walked through Plavci’s punches all day.”
Farrell boxed his first three pro fights in the space of four months. Going into this fourth fight there had been a gap of six months, which Farrell explained. “I was meant to be fighting in July on the Jamie Moore card but that got pulled, then I was due to fight on the 27th Sept but got a chest infection,” explained Farrell. “I am always in the gym and only had 2 weeks off when I was ill. There was no chance of any ring rust.”
Farrell is still a young man who has time to grow and develop. Normally fighting at super flyweight, the Plavci fight was matched at bantamweight and gives Farrell options. “I don’t mind which weight I fight at, when it comes to a championship fight it will be at super flyweight or bantamweight as I still have 2 years of growing yet. It may even be super bantamweight further down the line,” stated Kieran.
Farrell’s trainer Bobby Rimmer was a happy man when it came to Farrell’s performance and the Manchester based trainer rates Farrell as a fighter with great potential. “Kieran’s as good as any of them, he is like a rough diamond, we just have to knock a few of the rough edges,” explained Rimmer. “He is a kid who is going to go real far in boxing.”
“He is the consummate professional, if everyone in the gym trained and worked hard like Kieran Farrell, and I’m not being disrespectful to anyone, everything would be okay. He’s always in training, he does everything I tell him too,” stated Rimmer.
“Kieran tends to rush a bit but every fight he listens more and more, he is picking his shots better now and his head movement in this Plavci fight was the best it’s been. It was clearly the best performance of his career so far.”
The problem with British boxing at the lower weights is that with a lack of fighters causes youngsters to be pushed into title fights too early in their careers. Rimmer is keen to avoid this pitfall for Farrell.
“Kieran’s had four four-round fights and is close to going to six round fights but we’ll move up accordingly,” stated Rimmer. “He may fight four six round fights then move up to eight rounds. There is no chance he will go from six rounds to 12 rounds as when you get to 12 rounds there is no going back.”
He added: “I am of the opinion that we should do with Kieran what we did with Brian Rose, 14-0 and then fight for a title. That’s exactly how I want my kids to do it. They are going to brought along slowly and professionally and get the job done properly.”
Whilst Rimmer wants to take things slowly with Farrell, he realises that Farrell could go a long way in the sport. “If he can stay at super flyweight I don’t think there is anyone who can touch him. The only person who can beat Kieran Farrell is Kieran Farrell,” explained Rimmer.
He then continued: “Let’s see how far he can go in Britain and then we can see how far he can go. I’d like all my boys to be world champions, if I manage it I’ll be the best trainer in the world but for Kieran it is one step at a time.”
