By Ben Carey
Rendall Munroe withstood a determined challenge from French-based Armenian Arsen Martirosyan to make a successful second defence of his European super-bantamweight title in Nottingham on Friday night. The busier Munroe eventually emerged victorious following twelve, action-packed rounds to clinch a unanimous points win (115-113, 117-112 and 115-114) on the judges’ scorecards.
An upset looked on the cards in the early stages as the shorter Martirosyan came out swinging and rocked Munroe with a left hook which stunned the Leicester southpaw inside the opening 30 seconds. Martirosyan’s fast start forced a surprised Munroe into his shell who was forced to rely on mostly pitter-blows to keep his challenger at bay in the early stages.
After weathering Martirosyan’s initial storm, Munroe started to stand his ground in the fourth and force the challenger back by sitting down on his punches and utilising his advantages in height, reach and strength. There was little to choose between the two fighters at the halfway stage but Munroe’s greater variety and superior physical attributes saw him take over in the seventh as he drove Martirosyan back with some solid hooks to the body. For a tall man Munroe is surprisingly capable inside and makes good use of his quick hands and snappy combinations to keep his opponents preoccupied.
The Armenian was suddenly wilting as Munroe upped his workrate and kept his punches flowing in twos and threes. Sensing his man was there for the taking, Munroe poured it on to head and body in round eight and looked on the verge of forcing the referee’s intervention. Martirosyan hung on though and even attempted to mount an unlikely comeback as Munroe took a breather in the ninth.
A stern talking too from Munroe’s corner ensured the Leicester man made sure of the win as he finished strongly to leave Martirosyan looking weary from some precise blows to the body in the final round as Munroe maintained his high workrate to clinch a narrow but merited verdict.
In the chief support to the main event, Walsall’s unbeaten Martin Gethin registered one of the shocks of the year by inflicting the first defeat of fellow prospect’s John Fewkes career by recording a fourth round stoppage to become the new English lightweight champion.
After a bright start in which he made Gethin look pedestrian in the opening two rounds, Fewkes suddenly unraveled as the patient Gethin began to apply educated pressure from the third. Body shots and hooks drew blood from Fewkes’ nose causing the Sheffield stylist obvious discomfort.
Inbetween rounds a forlorn Fewkes cut a disconsolate figure as he took in large gulps of air as his concerned corner looked on. The fact that long-time trainer Glyn Rhodes, who has trained Fewkes from the age of 11, was absent spoke volumes for how the respected Yorkshire trainer felt Fewkes’ had applied himself in the run-up to the most important fight of his career. The clues were there yesterday when Fewkes tipped the scales a pound-and-a-quarter over the lightweight championship limit which meant that even if he had beaten Gethin the English lightweight crown would still have been declared vacant.
Rumours that Rhodes was seething proved well founded with him absent from Fewkes’ corner. As the old adage goes, fail to prepare, prepare to fail, and a round later it was all over. Without mentor and father-figure Rhodes by his side, Fewkes simply fell apart. An accurate and well-timed left hook from Gethin staggered Fewkes midway through round four, and when Gethin rammed home some solid hooks to the body which made Fewkes sag, referee John Keane stopped the contest as Fewkes’ anxious team stood poised to throw the towel in.
The sad irony is that Fewkes could have been standing in the opposite corner to Amir Khan tomorrow night, 40K richer for his troubles. Now he must rebuild his career and somehow persuade Glyn Rhodes that he is prepared to live the life of a professional athlete both in and outside of the ring. Let’s take nothing away from the impressive Gethin though who has snapped his second undefeated fighter in a row after he stopped Naddim Siddique in July. What Gethin lacks in speed and footwork he makes up for in patience, determination and power.
In the night’s other English title showdown, Derby’s Scott Hayward narrowly outpointed Wolverhampton’s Dean Harrison to claim the championship vacated by Nigel Wright after a bruising ten-round encounter.
