Denton Vassell wins Commonwealth title in thrilling battle
There was an early contender for domestic fight of the year on Friday night in Wigan, as Denton Vassell went to war against a dynamic Lee Purdy to take the vacant Commonwealth welterweight title.
It was a thrilling and demanding contest where neither pugilist gave an inch from the first bell until the last. As a boxer Vassell went into this bout a boy and came out a man, Purdy made him work his socks off in the first 12-rounder of his career and he more than earned his strap.
So many young boxers are mollycoddled and protected these days, a faultless record being held in higher regard than significant scalps, so it was great to see two young sharp-shooters given the chance against one-another.
Many people think Vassell could be the real deal and there was a buzz to match that anticipation as proceedings got underway. Purdy was intent on being the fly in the ointment and he went toe-to-toe with the hard-hitting 25-year old from the off. Both fighters went in close with Vassell landing a high quantity of body shots, something that would become a staple for the duration of the fight. It was Purdy who stole the round though, clearly having done his homework on Vassell he produced a fine defensive display that he supplemented with excellent counter-punching.
“Lights out” then followed up his sterling start by dominating the next two rounds. The tempo had been set at light-speed and Vassell was feeling Purdy’s jab in the second as the crowd began to suspect a shock might be on the cards. It was three rounds in a row for the Colchester-born fighter as he rocked Vassell with a short right; however the former ABA-champion continued chipping away as Purdy sacrificed his body to save his chin.
For the first time in Vassell's career he was being properly tested. However he never lost his composure, sticking with his tactics of working Purdy with hooks and landing a few uppercuts, they started to take their toll and by the end of the sixth round both fighters were level pegging.
The seventh would prove the most crucial round; Vassell had control of the fight by this stage, but almost paid for his over-confidence. He has always fancied himself as a switch-hitter and proceeded to turn southpaw near the end of the round. An awful decision, as Purdy saw his opportunity and unleashed a combination on Vassell who went reeling back. Vassell was hurt from this exchange and would have surly dropped if it wasn’t for the bell. Needless to say trainer Bob Shannon was livid with his young charge. He won’t be switch-hitting again in a hurry.
That revived Purdy and gave him the impetuous to push on and the last five rounds were an abject lesson in championship boxing at its best.
Following his wobble, Vassell stormed into the eighth as if it didn’t happen, the bell had denied Lights Out the chance to live up to his nickname as the Manchester-born native fought his way back in. This electrifying encounter was epitomised by the ninth, the two warriors just traded head shots in the centre of the ring; neither gave an inch as crosses and hooks rained in. Again Purdy looked the more lethal puncher but again Vassell took the hits with courage and dished them right back.
By the 10th the fight had taken its toll on Purdy as he began to fade. He had shown extraordinary heart to go this far but was undone by Vassell's superior conditioning. Vassell sensed blood and stalked Purdy, trapping the spent force in corners and unloading. There was a brief moment of reprise for Purdy when he knocked Vassell’s mouth guard clean out towards the end of the 11th, but it was too late by then.
The 12th just wrapped things up for Vassell, by now Purdy’s hands were now too heavy to go for a knockout, even if his spirit hadn’t floundered. With well over a 1000 punches landed, Vassell polished-off a hard night’s work safe in the knowledge that he won’t have many harder fights than this.
There wasn’t a clinch or a pause in this bout as both boxers refused to let up. The judges scored the fight a comprehensive 117-112, 115-114, 117-111 a unanimous decision to Vassell which doesn’t tell the story of the admirable work done by Purdy. Vassell takes the Commonwealth crown and can now look towards upping the calibre once more, while it’s safe to say this isn’t the last we have heard of Purdy.
Keep an eye on both of these two for the future.
Meanwhile the somewhat farcical match-up between Craig Watson and Badru Lusambya was a damp squib by comparison. The two fought for the Commonwealth light-middleweight belt and it was Watson who prevailed.
Both these fighters were very late replacements for Thomas McDonagh v Gary Woolcombe, due to a hand injury for Woolcombe while McDonagh didn’t fancy taking on Lusambya.
No idea why that was after this showing, the Ugandan looking second-rate throughout. Watson is a natural welterweight and so neither should have been fighting for this title, it just smacked of “last minute bodge-job”.
Lusaymba ran round like a headless chicken, widely flapping at his smaller opponent and in the second round he lived up to his nickname “Mr Crush” as Watson proceeded to squash him. The Manchester fighter had his opponent on the deck four times before putting him out of his misery with an overhand left.
A bizarre, one sided match-up which saw the little guy prevail, which is always nice. Lusyamba, who was only due to fight little-known Lee Edwards in a non-title fight, must be heading back to Uganda wondering what on earth just happened.
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