Elite talent Adam Azim makes short work of Anthony Loffet at the Skydome Arena in Coventry; Olympic medallist Karriss Artingstall wins on pro debut; Sam Eggington wins fourth successive fight with wide points victory over Przemyslaw Zysk
Sunday 26 June 2022 11:40, UK
Adam Azim needed just 66 seconds to stop Anthony Loffet and claim the WBC Youth Inter-Continental super-lightweight title.
Azim was stepping into his first scheduled 10-rounder in only his fifth professional contest against Loffet, but did not even need half a round to complete the job on his Belgium opponent.
He pounced on Loffet and dropped him before half a minute was up. He showed the right hand before bringing through a tremendous left uppercut. That hurt Loffet. Azim saw it and stepped in with two more right hooks to put Loffet down.
Those had hit with real spite. Loffet rose only uneasily.
Azim resumed his attack with spectacular speed. He blasted Loffet with repeated right hooks, shaking him, hurting him.
The towel soon flew in from Loffet's corner and when the referee saw it he ended the bout, sparing Loffet from an inevitable, brutal finish.
Azim's celebration was almost as spectacular. He cartwheeled across the ring before launching into his now trademark backflip.
"This is the first of many," the 20-year-old from Slough said afterwards. "If anyone gives me the first shot and I land it straight away, you're getting hurt straightaway.
"I want so many other titles, I'm going to grab them with both hands."
Azim's promoter Ben Shalom declared, "He is the future of British boxing."
On the undercard local hero Dylan Cheema had an unexpectedly hard four rounder with Stu "Little Canelo" Greener. The latter caught him and took a round off Coventry's popular Cheema, the winner of a recent BOXXER Series tournament, but nevertheless Cheema prevailed, winning 39-37.
Cheema is still an opponent who's caught Azim's eye. "I love that fight," Azim said. "If Cheema wants it, he can have it."
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall made her professional debut on this BOXXER Breakthrough event. It was an assured outing against veteran Vaida Masiokaite as Artingstall brought her power punches to bear and took an impressive six round points win.
Sam Eggington dominated a bruising encounter with Przemyslaw Zysk to seal a fourth successive victory.
'The Savage' made a brilliant start against his unbeaten opponent and looked to be on course for an early stoppage as he repeatedly rocked Zysk in the opening rounds.
However, after narrowly surviving the early onslaught, Zysk appeared to become comfortable handling Eggington's power, as the Polish fighter continued to fire back despite receiving near-constant punishment.
The pace slowed as the 12-round contest reached its halfway point, and there was concern for Eggington as Zysk suddenly looked the fresher of the two.
However, the 28-year-old Englishman found his second wind to regain control and comfortably see out the final rounds, sealing a 119-109 decision from two judges, along with a 117-111 margin from the third.
The victory, which saw Eggington collect the IBO world super welterweight title, improves his career record to 32-7, and keeps him on track for bigger fights in the division.
