Skip to main content

Larry Ekundayo won't be rushed, says Spencer Fearon

Pictures by Lawrence Lustig

Larry Ekundayo stormed to victory in the Betfair Prizefighter Light-Middleweights III – becoming the first man to pocket the £2,000 KO bonus after stopping Terry Carruthers in the final.

Ekundayo entered the tournament with just two pro contests on his CV, but beat the favourite Craig McEwan in the opening quarter-final and followed that up with another impressive win, this time over McEwan’s fellow Scot Kris Carslaw in the semis.

Carruthers’ took six gruelling rounds to reach the final, kicking off with a barnstorming win in the third quarter-final of the night against Peter Vaughan. A split decision win over Nav Mansouri in the second semi-final got Carruthers into the final, but the first two fights took their toll on the Birmingham man and Ekundayo cashed in, controlling the fight in the opening two rounds before pouncing as the third round drew to a close, forcing the stoppage with 24 seconds left to graduate to the big time with a healthy bonus in his pocket.

“This is a massive jump for me and it's what I was made for,” said Ekundayo. “My team know what's best for me, they told me to go in Prizefighter and I won it so they are great judges of what I can do.

“All these guys are really tough fighters, Terry is a warrior and I am glad I had him last as he was more tired. He is heavier and bigger than me but I didn't engage with him and that's what got me the win.

“I got to the semi-finals of the ABAs but never won it so this is fantastic. I've got a great team around me that drive me on and push me to train hard.”

Ekundayo’s manager Spencer Fearon revealed after the fight that he will now unleash his charge on the welterweight division.

“We're going to get him down to his natural weight which is welterweight but we don't want to rush things with him,” said Fearon. “He's got his natural skill set and I'm glad he's showcased his talent in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

“You only got to see snippets of Larry. I've known Craig for years, he's only lost to two guys before, Andy Lee and Peter Quillin, one's fought for a World title, the other is a World champion, and Larry beat him.

“It couldn't happen to a nicer guy than Larry – they say nice guys finish last but that couldn't be further from the truth for him.”

Despite coming up short in the final, Carruthers was thrilled with his nights work and his stock continues to rise after adding his Prizefighter runners-up spot to impressive performances in recent clashes with Chris Eubank Jr. and Eamonn O’Kane.

“I put my all in and couldn't have done any more,” said Carruthers. “I had two gruelling fights before the final and the best man won on the night. I think I have won a lot of fans tonight, I am gutted I got stopped but I think that I did myself a lot of good.”

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragedy of Billy Collins Jr.

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor  Collins after the fight Williams Ray Collins Jr. or Billy Collins Jr. as he became known, was born to a boxing father in Antioch, Tennessee in 1961. His father William Sr, once fought Welterweight Champion Curtis Cokes and wanted his boy to follow in his footsteps, so decided to train Billy himself. Collins Jr. turned pro in 1981, a welterweight, just like his father before him and impressively won his first 14 professional contests, 11 by knockout with eight inside the first three rounds. It was 1983 and Billy was matched up against Puerto Rican journeyman Luis Resto on the undercard of Roberto Duran v Davey Moore at Madison Square Garden in a ten rounder. Resto wasn’t known for his punching power but Billy took a sustained beating for the full ten rounds, his face, badly damaged and his eyes were almost shut. After the fight, which Resto won on decision, Billy’s father shook Resto’s hand and noticed there wasn’t much padding in his gl...
Read more

Rico Ramos captures world super- bantamweight title with KO

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Suavecito’ scores 20th straight win over Shimoda Undefeated Californian Rico Ramos produced a world-class left hand in the seventh round of his WBA title challenge against Japan’s Akifumi Shimoda to rip the belt away from the older southpaw in his first defence. The 24 year-old looked far from a world champion in the first five rounds, only gaining a foothold in the fight in round six, but ultimately produced the equalizer in the seventh to take the crown. Shimoda, 26, will be furious with himself as he bossed the majority of the fight and was up five rounds to one on my card going into the seventh round. One lapse in concentration with only thirty seconds left in round seven and Shimoda hit the canvas. The champion tried to get up at the count of nine, but stumbled over and the referee counted him out. The now former champion stayed down for a full minute before being helped to his feet and realising he no longer held the WBA belt. Also on the card i...
Read more

Private invegstigator: Arturo Gatti death clearly not suicide

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor An investigator hired by boxing legend Arturo Gatti’s manager Pat Lynch have given his verdict after a thorough investigation into the death of the two-weight world champion, who died in Brazil in 2009. Chicago-based P.I Paul Ciolino has put his findings into a detailed report, which will be released on August 30 th , but gave his opinion to New Jesery-based newspaper The Jersey Journal  after a ten-month operation. Gatti died aged 37 whilst on holiday with his wife Amanda Rodrigues and his young son in north east Brazil and after an investigation by the Brazilian authorities was deemed a suicide. Brazilian police had said that the exciting prize fighter was drunk and depressed and used his wife’s purse strap to hang himself whilst his wife and son slept upstairs, which Ciolino totally disagrees with. "I think that when we get done with the press conference it will be pretty clear it was not a suicide,"  Ciolino told The Journal. ...
Read more