Selby Moves Closer To A World Title Shot

By Owen Meek.

'The Second Coming' was the name of the bill, Cleverly was the headline act yet whilst he picked up an impressive debut victory at cruiserweight very little could be taken away from the evening except for the fact he had finally returned to the boxing scene. On three separate occasions he had been penciled in to return following his crushing defeat at the hands of Sergey Kovalev last year, each time his return was delayed.

This past Saturday at the Motorpoint arena he finally made his Cruiserweight bow, it was brief and mildly impressive but given the opponent little else was expected. After all his opponent Shawn Corbin had been taken out inside 2 rounds to one Karo Murat...the very same Murat who Cleverly stopped in 10 Rounds down at Light-Heavy.

Following almost 10 months out of the ring, it was a tentative opening round from the Welshman. Whilst he landed a couple of early jabs he was unable to back the Guyana fighter up, with Corbin failing to throw anything with real intention what was a scrappy opener, Cleverly took the round on his limited success. The end was nigh though as the fight moved into the second, with Corbin looking to counter and Cleverly pumping out the jab a huge right uppercut found it's way through. Corbin was left in all kinds of trouble, though he managed to stay on his feet, two hard right hands followed staggering Corbin against the ropes and Cleverly needed no invite to seize his chance to finish the fight raining down power shots before the referee saw fit to step in and call a halt to proceedings.

It's hard to tell whether Cleverly will be any more of a force at Cruiserweight; whilst he did look natural in size and frame the worry will be that in the brief glimpse of him action he still looked wide open. With the likes of Huck, Lebedev, Hernandez, Jones at the top of the division it's not a given that he will pick up a World title anytime soon (the trinket he won last night aside).

Given the after fight interview and the history, all signs point to a Bellew rematch. The Everton fan and Brit rival was sat ringside for the contest and it would appear both are up for it. Hearn won't be hesitant in making it, given it will be an easy sell...the question is will he wait and take a chance on one of them picking up a World Title first.

In the nights main event Lee Selby moved a step closer to securing himself a World Featherweight title shot following a unanimous decision victory over Romulo Koasicha. For the vast majority of the contest the man from Barry was in complete control, although he had a brief moment of trouble in the 8th Round.

The opening round laid the foundations to how the fight would go through most of the 12. Selby looked to execute the jab and keep it at range whilst Koasicha attempted to get in close and kept coming forward. It was a busy start from both men, though Selby landed the cleaner work, edging the round on that basis.

Into the second, Selby continued to look for the counter. Koasicha missed with a number of punches, but from time to time found success with Selby not quite getting the distance right. The third round threw up perhaps round of the night; Selby getting staggered early before managing to push his opponent back against the ropes and land a flurry of punches. A hard left hand landed from Selby, though it barely moved the Mexican, it was soon followed by a sharp straight right hand which jolted his head back.

After the 3rd, Selby began to take control, with Koasicha seemingly in two minds as to whether to stand off or be aggressive. The indecisive allowed the Welshman to open up a commanding lead, using his speed and footwork to come in and out of range whilst landing the cleaner shots in the exchanges.

With the fight into the 8th round, Selby seemed to have found the swagger with which he approached the ring, yet the contest was from over and he was caught with a huge left hook which rocked him badly. He managed to hold on for a few seconds, regaining his senses and finished the round landing a nice crisp jab, straight left combo.

Koasicha seemed to regain some confidence following the 8th, but it also seemed to wake Selby up and the Welshman went back to his boxing in the following rounds. An impressive 30 seconds at the end of the 9th gave him what had been a close round and whilst the 10th was scrappy he again landed the cleaner work; his jab keeping Koasicha at bay and a quick left uppercut getting through when he attempted to get on the inside.

Into the final two rounds and it was Selby's to lose. Ahead by a fair distance on the scorecards, he only needed to stay out of trouble. Whilst his opponent attempted to walk him down, knowing a knockout was needed, Selby used his aggressiveness against him, circling away and firing off quick multiple combinations.

The judges at ringside gave it 119-109, 119-109 and 119-110 respectively. I personally scored it 117-111, but all in all it was a relatively easy nights work from Selby.

The victory sees him edge towards a possible shot at Jhonny Gonzalez for the WBC title (this fight was an eliminator for that title), though talk afterwards from himself and Hearn suggested that they were also looking at a possible bout with Filipino star Nontio Donaire.

Personally I would keep him away from both at the moment, however he is in a difficult position moving forward. I think it's too soon for either of those contents but also feel he is the type of fighter who will stagnate quickly if you keep him at this level.

An accusation leveled at him in the past is that he has a tendency to switch off, something that he again found himself doing. At times he can look classy and his ability to put together punches is world class. However, much work is needed on a defence, which can leave a bit to be desired. He has good foot speed, which he can rely too much on when getting out of trouble. Instead he needs to work on keeping the hands higher and holding a tighter guard when in close. The biggest concern when he eventually steps up to World Level is his lack of power, both in his punching and when fighting on the inside.

A possible option moving forward would be a next stepping stone fight against someone in the mould of Celestino Cabellero. If Hearn want's to get him in for a World Title shot then perhaps IBF champion Gradovich is the best bet. Yet given his now lofty ranking with the WBC (3rd) it seems that is the route, Abner Mares lies 1st and has shown enough vulnerability of his own to suggest that could be a good fight as a final eliminator.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated contest of the evening was a rematch between Gary Buckland & Gavin Rees. Having edged an enthralling contest in February, Buckland was determined to prove it was no fluke. For Rees it was a last chance to rewrite the script and close out his career on a positive note. He had spoken in the build up to this contest that this would be his last outing, win or lose.

The noise was deafening as both fighters made their way to the ring; the crowd expectant to be served up yet another enthralling encounter. They were to be treated to one as well.

As the opening bell sounded both men made there way forward to the center of the ring and began to get their shots of. There was no feeling out process; both landed hard-hitting shots though both came through unscathed in the opening stanza. By the midway point Rees landed a clean left which rocked Buckland back, but the younger man responded with a left hook. He ended the round the better of the two but work rate alone wasn't enough and I gave it to Rees who had the cleaner work.

Rees began the 2nd moving around Bucklands punches, avoiding the right and landing counters, particularly the left. However in scenes similar to the first Buckland began to work the body and as the round neared it's end both men went toe to toe with Buckland gaining the upper hand, the volume of work giving tying it up at 1 a piece on my card.

There was no let down in pace in the next two rounds, Buckland fighting on the front foot as was expected and Rees looking to use his superior boxing skills to counter. Whilst Buckland remained aggressive it wasn't effective and Rees landed the better of the punches in the 3rd to move ahead; but again Gary came right back in the 4th, enjoying a lot of success in the opening stages of the 4th round.

The pace began to drop over the course of the next 3 rounds. Buckland attempted to keep up the aggression but often found himself smothering his own work up close. Whilst Rees lacked snap in his punches, he was landing, a nice one-two in the 6th and a convincing round in the 7th the highlights.

As the contest enters the last quarter, 'The Rock' uses his experience to pick off Buckland with lefts when he comes in close.

With the pace now gone from Buckland, the aggression turned to him just walking forward, a fight, which suited Rees. A big 9th round saw him land several hard shots, a huge body shot near the bell leaving Buckland gasping as he headed to the corner. At that point the contest was firmly in Gavin's favor and there were signs that Buckland's earlier work had left him wilting in the latter stages. But much like the 1st there were still some twists ahead; Rees began the 10th where he'd left off the round earlier, only to have Buckland come right back at him with a brutal assault, backing the elder fighter up and landed some hard shots into the body whilst opening a cut above Rees's eye.

It proved to be more of a last stand from Buckland though, the final two rounds saw him running on empty, the 10th seemingly taking all he had left out of him. Rees found success with a couple of short cuffing lefts in the 11th and kept him at bay with the jab.

In scenes reminiscent to their first encounter, both men embraced before the final bell. In possibly his last 3 minutes of action, Rees found a big overhand right, stiffening the legs of a weary Buckland; another big right lands soon after though Buckland counters. With the clock ticking down both men began to trade, giving it every ounce of blood & sweat. It turned into a scrappy last few seconds and as the bell signaled the end everyone within the Motorpoint arena rose from their seat to give both a rousing ovation.

Whilst not as enthralling as the first match up between the pair, the fight was a barnstormer by normal standards. There were moments where it seemed to be heading into similar territory to that famous first clash, but each time Buckland began to get back into Rees used his head and reverted to boxing rather than trading. The middle rounds on my card were key, with 'The Rock' pulling away from Buckland with the tidier and crisper work, coming in tandem with the drop in pace in the fight.

Most observers at ringside had Rees winning the fight by a fair few rounds, yet as the scorecards were read out concerns etched faces after one judge scored it 116-113 to Buckland; however sensibility prevailed and Rees got the decision albeit it a split one following scorecards of 117-113 and 117-112 from the other two judges.

I myself had the contest scored 116-112; whilst Buckland forced the pace for much of the fight, Rees had learnt his lessons from the previous encounter and changed his tact. He was less inclined to trade early, instead countering and only standing when necessary...this allowed him to take over in the middle rounds as Buckland began to tire. The classier of the two, his boxing skills ultimately won out and it was a fitting end to what has been a tremendous career.

Following the contest, he more or less confirmed his retirement; whether he stays true to this is another matter. At one fight each there will be those close to both who may persuade them a 3rd and final bout to settle it is in need. If the money is right then I would hazard a guess that we may just see it, however I would like to see Rees bow out on the back of this He has had a wonderful career and has been a credit to British boxing, showing all the guts, heart and determination that fight fans love to see.

As for Buckland, he has been in some tough fights and one wonders how much he has left in the tank following these two bruising encounters. He will always provide plenty of entertainment when stepping between the ropes however and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a few more 'domestic fight of the year' contenders before his career winds down.

In the nights other action it was celebration all-round for the Smith family. Paul Smith opened the night with a 2nd Round TKO of David Sarabia; having put his opponent down in the 1st with an over the top right he finished the job in 2nd stepping up the pace and landing a flurry of unanswered punches before the referee stepped in.

The former opponent of James DeGale & George Groves is in line for a shot at the WBO title in the Autumn (currently held by Arthur Abraham), whilst he will start as an outsider there are enough signs to suggest that he could be catching the German at the right time given Abraham's lackluster performances of late.

Following on from his brother, the young Callum Smith was up next, taking on local lad Tobias Webb. This was supposed to be a stern test for him, fighting away from his hometown of Liverpool for the first time in his pro career. The opening round saw Webb try to force the action, with the Welshman being the busier of the two. Smith struggles to find the range with his punches and fans ringside would have been forgiven for thinking they could have a closer contest than first thought on there hands.

However, any ideas of that were quickly expelled in the 2nd with Callum coming out of his corner with urgency. He immediately caught Webb with a couple of crisp jabs, soon after he floors Tobias with a crippling body shot, it's looks like he is done but somehow he gets to his feet. A hard right to the body lands and Webb goes down for a second time; yet again Webb gets to feet only to be put down once again from a body shot, the referee should have been looking to step in after the 3rd knock down...however he didn't and Webb made it to his feet; his reward a body shot, this time a left hook lands cleanly and Webb fails to beat the count.

It was impressive end to the fight from Smith; who responded well to not having things all his own way for the first time. There is a danger that he becomes reliant on the body shots, though given the power and accuracy of them, they may very well be enough to take him to the top. Yet he should focus on mixing it up; he possesses good reach and has a solid enough jab with an ability to throw from some nice angles.

Where he goes next is anyone's guess, but it would seem Hearn is eager to step up the competition with talk of moving all four brothers on another level in their next outing.

All in all it was a good night of boxing at the Motorpoint Arena; with Selby on course for a World Title bid and Cleverly set for a couple more bouts before a possible rematch with Bellew it would seem that for now at least Cardiff has returned as a home for boxing. If fans get an encounter like Buckland v Rees each time (though I'm sure they won't want to get into Pacman v Marquez rematch territory) and a look at some of Britain’s prospects then they will continue coming back.

Nights other results: Alex Hughes TKO 4th Round vs Mark Till/ Turley Won via RTD 2nd Round vs Marc Callaghan/ Dale Evans DRAW TD 4th Round vs Mark Douglas/Mitch Buckland beat Daza Usher via points 60-54

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