By Jake Donovan
A pair of terrific heavyweight matchups top Saturday’s bill at O2 Arena in London, England. Headlining the card, unbeaten British heavyweights Daniel Dubois (11-0, 10KOs) and Nathan Gorman (16-0, 11KOs) collide in a domestic title fight.
In the evening’s chief support, uneaten 2016 Olympic Silver medalist and rising British heavyweight Joe Joyce (9-0, 9KOs) squares off with America’s former title contender Bryant Jennings (24-3, 14KOs).
Both bouts air live on BT Sport in England and streamed live on ESPN+ in the United States.
UNDERCARD
Wales’ Liam Williams made a statement in his latest win, stopping France’s Karim Achour (27-6-3, 4KOs) in the second round of their scheduled 10-round middleweight contest.
The selling point on Achour was that while he came in as the underdog, he had also never been stopped through 35 previous contests. That badge of honor including his going 12 rounds with former middleweight titlist and renowned knockout artist David Lemieux just 14 months ago.
That changed in a big way, as Williams set a brisk pace in the opening round before exploding in round two. A right hand shot forced Achour to the canvas for the first of two times on the night. He managed to beat the count but was clearly in a world of trouble and with plenty of time left on the clock.
Williams sought to send a message to the top middleweights with his performance and delivered on that promise.
Achour was already in retreat mode when the Welshman moved in to close the show. Body shots and right hands upstairs had the visiting challenger in trouble with a left hook sending him reeling to a corner. Two more punches forced Achour to the canvas, where he was issued a count before the fight was waved off as his corner was ready to literally throw in the towel.
The official time was 1:51 of round two. Williams now inches closer to a major title fight, with the WBC “Silver” middleweight title earned with this win.
Archie Sharp has been talking about challenging for a super featherweight title in the near future. The unbeaten British prospect can stand to use quite a bit more seasoning before pursuing that goal, including more developmental fights like his 10-round win over Scotland’s Jordan McCorry.
Scores were 98-91 across the board in favor of Sharp (16-0, 8KOs), who scored a knockdown in round three but couldn’t put away the Scottish journeyman or even settle into a particular style.
The bout was fought at an aggressive—if sloppy—pace, with Sharp eager to close the show early. He certainly had his chance, dropping McCorry with a picture perfect left uppercut in round three, catching his foe on the point of the chin and prompting him to pitch face forward to the canvas.
McCorry (18-6-1, 4KOs) managed to beat the count and even bought himself more time to recover when time was called in round four as Sharp was warned for the first of several times on the night for various infractions.
The unbeaten Brit was never docked a point, with several of the warnings issued unfairly as most came from his best efforts to fight his way out of clinches. Still, Sharp struggled in the later rounds, aggressive at times while boxing and dancing on other occasions as McCorry continued to press forward.
In the end, it was a clear cut win for Sharp who remains perfect in the pro ranks—even if still further off from being title-ready than he and his team will have fans believe.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
