Powar and Pride: Gully leads the way on Black Country card

By Paul Webb in Wolverhampton

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GULLY Powar put in another assured performance with a shutout points win against Joshua Ocampo in the main event at the Hangar Venue in Wolverhampton on BCB Promotions’ Pride of the Black Country. 

The 21-year-old from Wolverhampton is one of the most active prospects in the Midlands. His eleventh win in just eighteen months as a professional was arguably his most impressive. He frustrated and dominated his Colombian opponent, who barely landed a glove on him. 

Powar may lack a high knockout ratio, but he is starting to sit down on his shots and keep up a high intensity throughout the six rounds. 

Ocampo was doing his best to make the fight ugly, and both men went tumbling to the canvas after a messy exchange, but Powar kept to his game plan, finishing the fight strongly and taking the 60-54 point decision on referee Ryan Churchill’s scorecard.

Brandon Bethell turned a boxing show into an Oasis gig with his Liam Gallagher-inspired ring walk, which went down a storm with his army of fans. 

The 22-year-old from Wolverhampton didn’t let the theatrical entrance distract him, as he didn’t wait for any feeling-out process; instead, he went straight to the body of his Honduran opponent, Jayro Fernando Duran, ripping in left and rights with a sustained attack that would have stopped most. 

The experienced Duran switched southpaw and started to tuck up as Bethell continued to push the pace in the middle rounds.

It was the Wolves season ticket holder’s first fight at the six-round distance, and after the frenetic start, it was to be expected that he would start to slow down, and Duran did land the occasional left hand when Bethell was a tad over-eager, managing to nick a round on Peter McCormack’s score card as the fight went the distance.

Jermaine Osbourne-Edwards is on the verge of landing a major title shot and got in some valuable rounds against Ukranian Mykhailo Sovtus, going the full six-round distance. The 35-year-old from Wolverhampton has already picked up a Midlands title at super-lightweight, but he knows his future likely lies up at welterweight, where he carries more power.

Normally one to sit at range, the ‘Kundalini King’ seemed to want to box on the inside as he landed numerous uppercuts and showed good fitness. 

Bigger tests will come for the Wolverhampton Boxing Club man, but he is becoming a far more complete boxer and rightly took the scorecard 60-54.

It was another classy display from Danny Skidmore, who made it three wins from three with four one-sided rounds against Stefan Vincent. The 28-year-old from Tipton began by mixing his shots well, looking for openings against his defensive-minded opponent.

‘Skiddy’ was working well to the body at one point, landing a triple left hook, which forced Vincent to temporarily switch southpaw to negate his punishment. More heavy body shots rained down in the fourth, and they were often followed by a rangy jab. Vincent has only been stopped twice, and he saw the fight out while having occasional moments of success himself. Not that he was ever in danger of troubling the scorecard, as Skidmore took it 40-36.

Prospect Omarah Taylor picked up win number three in a bloody encounter with Poland’s Bojana Libiszewska, taking a shutout points victory. The 30-year-old from Birmingham made a confident start, landing her jab with accuracy and getting through with some sharp, straight right hands. Libiszewska looked to hold and slow the pace down, but she was finding it difficult to cope with the flurries of punches coming her way.

A left hook to the body in the sixth seemed to sap a lot of energy from Libiszewska, and her situation worsened when she sustained a wide cut over her right eye from a suspected clash of heads. 

Taylor sensed the opportunity of a second straight knockout and finished the fight with a sustained attack; however, the Joby Clayton-trained talent couldn’t force the stoppage, instead settling for a 60-54 points win.