Two important WBA eliminators took place on Saturday night at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.
In a WBA super lightweight eliminator, Ohara Davies (25-2, 18 KOs) brutally stopped Lewis Ritson (23-3, 13 KOs) in round nine with a body shot. Ritson went down for a count of ten and then some.
In a WBA featherweight final eliminator, Thomas Patrick Ward (33-1-1, 5 KOs) was abused over five rounds by Otabek Kholmatov (11-0, 10 KOs). Ward was on the canvas three times before his corner threw in the towel in round five.
He’s going to have to wait on Wood to get his rematch most likely (at least), but Lara – Kholmatov would be fun stuff!
Ritson needs to retire. He’s the perfect example of how boxing is such a mental game. He has all the technique and athleticism, but when he starts taking some damage he just slowly falls apart mentally and starts feeling sorry for himself. Just like he did with Ponce.
The Ward fight was more shameful though. How can a pro fighter unbeaten in 34 fights be facing his FIRST decent non-domestic opponent? You can see what protecing a fighter does, he had no clue what to do. That last knockdown, if you watch it closely, he doesn’t really get hit, he just decides to go down and lie on his back so they’ll stop it. This is the type of opponent he needed twenty-five fights ago in an eight-rounder, when he was developing.
Always take the body out and the head will follow