Britain’s former Youth World Champion Joe Ward evened things up with a fourth round TKO victory over Germany’s Satula Abdulai. The noise in the crowd lifted up a little here when Abdulai attempted to mock the home favourite after being hit with some powerful blows. Ward responded well to the support and put controlled pressure on the German for the remainder of the fight. Things went from bad to worse for Abdulai as he appeared to injure his right hand in round 4. This forced the German’s corner to retire him at the end of the round. Joe Ward is quickly becoming the star of the tournament after winning every round of every fight in emphatic style so far.
In the third fight of the night we saw British Olympian Andrew Selby put on a punch-perfect performance against French pro Redouane Asloume. The Welshman showed his speed, class and vast armoury of skills whilst cruising to a very wide unanimous decision. One judge even scored the 4th as a 10-8 round to Selby as he was so dominant over his clearly over-matched opponent. If we were giving away an award for fighter of the night, Andrew Selby definitely would have got it.
“World Series Boxing is a bit different to what I have been used to as an amateur, but I am getting used to it and really enjoying it,” said the proud 23-year old after the fight.
“You have to pace yourself well as it is a longer contest but I felt I did that well tonight and was still strong at the end. The crowds have been fantastic and it is great to box at home and feel the support.”
Fellow Welshman Fred Evans was next to step in the ring, and he took on late replacement Vjaceslav Kerber. However, it wasn’t such an easy ride for the Olympic welterweight silver medallist who has stepped up to middleweight for this tournament. Kerber proved to be better than expected and made Evans work hard for the victory. The battle of southpaws saw both men get caught with some solid shots and made both of them thankful when the final bell rang and the clash-of-styles fight came to an end. Some of the judges were a tad generous to Evans but he did thoroughly deserve the unanimous decision victory that he was given.
The biggest cheer of the night came when the “big man”, heavyweight GB champion Joseph Joyce made his way to the ring to take on the German’s Phillipp Gruner. If we were judging by appearance then it should have been an easy night for Joyce, but Gruner refused to take a step back and put intense pressure on Joyce for most of the fight. Joyce handled this well and managed to knock the
German’s head back with straight jabs and right-hands. The unanimous decision victory for Joyce, who is considered as one of Britain’s brightest stars for Rio 2016, finished off a very successful night for the British Lionhearts.
In the next round of fixtures the Lionhearts will take on Ukraine Otamans away in Brovary. The Ukrainians secured their first win of the season on the same night as Britain Vs Germany, beating the USA Knockouts 4-1. An exact date for the fixture has not been confirmed but is expected to take place in mid-January.
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