Reece Bellotti Wins Again & Future British Prospects Shine!
By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
The O2 in London hosted a night of rising British talent on Saturday 3rd February as fans were treated to the future stars of domestic talent. Anthony Joshua may be the biggest name inside the ring for British fans of boxing but on this night, he was seated outside the ring as a promoter for the event which included some of his fighters looking to continue making an impact inside the squared circle. Before this though, there were other fighters who were taking the next step to further their careers.
First up was the “Bomber” Reece Bellotti. Bellotti is a boxer who hails from my area of Watford, South Oxhey to be precise and is coached by Jim McDonnell, the former European champion who also coaches the former IBF champion James DeGale. Fighting at featherweight Bellotti is a dangerous puncher and coupled with his excellent fitness levels, is able to press the pace. He stepped into this fight with Ben Jones holding an undefeated record as well as the commonwealth belt, making his first defense of the title.
Bellotti would continue to impress and would impress his will on to his opponent, breaking him down with vicious body shots (Jones was felled in the fourth round by a body shot) before finishing off Jones in the sixth with a brutal right hand. The win takes Bellotti’s record to 12-0 11 KO’s and he provided a glimpse of his overall boxing talent, an unhurried and ruthless display should surely mean the 27yr old starts taking a step up in class in his quest to bring more titles to Watford and remind everyone that Anthony Joshua isn’t the only boxing talent in town.
Carson Jones was the next man to face a rising talent when he took on Ted Cheeseman at light middleweight. Jones is well known on these shores having twice shared the ring with former IBF Welterweight champion Kell Brook, outside of this he is probably better known for having shared a trainer (Abel Sanchez) with one of the world’s best boxers, Gennady Golovkin. Cheeseman is a talented fighter, when I first saw him fight last year, his class was instantly recognizable. Against Jones though, a much more experienced fighter, he was taking a clear step up in class. After a shaky start which included a bloody nose in round two and taking a thunderous right in the fourth, the 22yr old Londoner began to take over and take control of his older opponent. By the end of the fight Cheeseman was picking his shots and working Jones over whilst looking like he still had plenty left in the tank.
The rather generous scorecards awarded to Cheeseman 99-91 (twice), and 100-90 belied the fact this was a fight he was made to work hard. Cheeseman will take a lot from this fight and at only 22yrs old and a new record of 13-0 8 KO’s, one gets the feeling we will be hearing a lot more from him over the coming years.
The 24yr old Joshua Buatsi was one of the stars of the 2016 Olympics. The light heavyweight won bronze for Britain but it was the fashion in which he demolished several of his opponents which won him many fans, including none other than Floyd Mayweather , JR. who was in attendance watching and called Buatsi a future world champion. Floyd would later approach the Ghanian born boxer about a possible deal. Instead though, Buatsi joined Anthony Joshua and was making his fourth appearance as a professional. His opponent would be the 22yr old Jordan Joseph. Jordan is a fighter who trains out of the same gym as myself, despite having a very limited amateur career, Jordan possesses silky boxing skills and has a fighting pedigree (his father was a professional middleweight in the 70’s and early 80’s) and came in to the fight with a record of 7-1-1 2 KO’s.
The result though, would not go the way of the younger fighter. Buatsi looked clinical, cool and calculated and ended the fight with a thudding right hand which he slipped in as Jordan opened up for a left hook towards the end of round two. The TKO victory was finest display of Buatsi’s early career and he will undoubtedly be one to watch this year, Buatsi demonstrated why many boxing pundits in the UK are tipping him to go all the way and become a world champion.
The main event had become somewhat of a grudge match, hench the name of the event British Beef. The cruiserweight battle featured another 2016 Olympian, the 6’5 Lawrence Okolie facing off against his fellow London lad Isaac Chamberlain. Despite the prevailing hype around Okolie, Chamberlain was seen as his sternest test to date. At 23 Chamberlain is two years younger than his opponent and had already faced adversity in the ring, when he battled through a shoulder injury to win against Wadi Camacho. Chamberlain had also in the past sparred with names such as Deontay Wilder and most recently with Ukraines Cruiserweight star Oleksandr Usyk.
None of this would help Chamberlain as he struggled to come to grips with the awkward Okolie and his gangly frame. The fight was scrappy with very little flow and by the end resembled a wrestling match more than it did a boxing match. Okolie stayed on top of Chamberlain for the duration of the fight and in the end won an easy points win. The only points of note to be taken from the fight were two knockdowns, both suffered by Chamberlain in rounds one and six. Okolie took his record to 8-0 7 KO’s and Chamberlain took his first defeat of his career and is now 9-1 4 KO’s.
This ended a night of British boxing and showed Britain has a lot of upcoming talent to look forward to, even some of the losers on the night such as Jordan Joseph and Isaac Chamberlain are still young and have plenty of time to learn from their experience and improve upon their skills. One gets the feeling we may even see a rematch between Okolie and Chamberlain in the future.…
Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
Strength and Conditioning for Boxing – Workout Hits to get you Fighting Fit
The Boxing Cheat Sheet – Your Ultimate Guide to Ring Survival
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