Archie Sharp eventually earned an eight-round decision win over Argentina’s Reuken Kona Facundo Arce, 17-15-2 (7 KO), but the super heavyweight had to be picked up twice to do so.
Sharpe, 25-0 (9 KO), reached the WBO No. 1 position before promotional changes, inactivity and poor resistance saw him fall out of sight and out of mind.
The 29-year-old is still ranked fifth in the WBO world rankings, but his entire career flashed before his eyes during a terrifying opening round.
Within seconds of returning to the television screens, Ares covered a casual Sharpe hard with a well-timed left hook. With a potentially life-changing victory, Arsi went berserk. He launched a wild attack, eventually dropping Sharpe with another left hook. A more clinical finisher would have brought out a likely and vulnerable Sharpe, but Ars’ recklessness allowed him to return to his corner after a terrifying three minutes.
Averting disaster, Sharp righted the ship in another. He took the center of the ring, put some weight behind his punches and – most importantly – changed the southpaw. Ares suddenly began to struggle to find range.
As the tide turned for the third time, Sharp dropped Ars with a short left hook. After getting the eight count, Arsi awkwardly went forward and straight, with a better left, somehow staying upright. Confidence restored, Sharp was ready to grab his feet as Ares launched his wild attacks.
A pattern has been created. Sharp held the center of the ring, keeping an aggressive but rough core at a distance and scoring with heavy left hands while the Argentine took every opportunity he could to land wild hooks. When Sharpe kept it simple, she had her own way, but there was always a sense of vulnerability when she opened up and lost her shape.
After eight rounds, Bob Williams scored the fight 77-73 in favor of Sharpe.
It was an unflinching but polite return from Sharpe, who had been vocal in his criticism of himself between rounds throughout the fight and was clearly troubled by the way the contest had started. He wants to jump back on the horse as quickly as possible and build some momentum.
Thetford cruiserweight Tommy Fletcher, 8-0 (6 KOs), picked up another victory with a routine six-round decision over Viktar Chvarkus, 5-13 (3 KOs).
The 6ft 7in “Norfolk Nightmare” looked set to attack in the opening exchanges but quickly settled behind his southpaw. At times Fletcher got a little left hand, but Chvarku wasn’t quick or athletic enough to capitalize.
Fletcher made his name with a series of quick, explosive knockouts, but took his time opening up. If Chvarkow was lulled into a false sense of security, a brilliantly executed short left uppercut to the body quickly took the wind out of his sails in the second.
Instead of rushing to work, Fletcher continued to bide his time and pick out Chvarku, but the Kazakh held firm and even found the occasional counter-attack when the 22-year-old got a little closer and let the crowd do their own work. Fletcher quickly realized that Chvarkow was made of sterner stuff than his previous opposition and backed away, clearly intent on scoring a few valuable rounds. Fletcher turned up the intensity in the sixth and final round, landing a combination and headbutt on Chvarku, but never came close to finishing. The judge, Amy Poe, scored the fight 60-54 in her favor.
Royston Barney-Smith, 10-0 (5 KO), has been in excellent form in recent months, but was given eight valuable rounds by Brazil’s Jonatas de Oliveira, 6-9 (5 KO), at super bantamweight.
De Oliviera is usually one of the most aggressive journeymen currently campaigning in Britain, but – realizing that approach would be a recipe for disaster against a quick, calculating operator like Barney-Smith – he threw up his hands and offered very little of Barney-Smith. Dominated the opener behind his jab and long left hand.
The 20-year-old from Southampton began running into the second in his repertoire, looking for a knife to the body and a left uppercut. De Oliveira’s response was to try to get back on his feet, but he did so without throwing punches and Barney-Smith was able to move around the ring, keep his distance and only allow the Brazilian to work inside.
Perhaps sensing that some of the bite had left Barney-Smith’s work, De Oliveira finally began to open up in the fourth. There was nothing to celebrate, but the approach meant that Barney-Smith’s output dropped as he concentrated on defense and footwork and looked for accurate counter-kicks.
What started as a one-sided parade turned into a decent night’s work for Barney-Smith, who found success as he put distance with his jab but let De Oliveira inside too easily when he ignored him.
After eight rounds, the referee scored the fight 79-73 in favor of Barney-Smith, who will learn a lot.
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