Big Joe has to settle for a draw in debut

Big Joe Bourne…suffered injuries in Saturday’s fight. Pic: Queensberry

THE hotly anticipated pro debut of colossus Big Joe Bourne did not go to plan, with the Leamington heavyweight labouring to a draw on Saturday night.

Under the TV lights at Liverpool’s Echo Arena, the 27-year-old shared the spoils with Cristian Uwaka after four, at times, messy rounds, referee John Latham scoring 38-38.

That’s the same Cristian Uwaka comprehensively outpointed by Big Joe’s stablemate, former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lewis Williams, last month.

Both Joe and Lewis are guided by major promotional outfit Queensberry. Muscled Portsmouth dock worker Uwaka gave them two very different nights’ work.

Lewis dominated the 40-year-old behind a textbook left jab. Against Bourne, Uwaka, who has won only one of seven, stuck to his opponent’s chest and connected with right uppercuts and left hooks.

Only in the last did Bourne really let both hands go and I thought the Pompey body beautiful looked unsteady as former powerlifter Joe poured on the pressure. Both felt the pace down the stretch.

It was too little, too late. Before the match, much had been made of Bourne’s big hitting ability and classy jab. They were seldom on display.

Fans expected an earthquake, yet the ground did not shake.

Manager and trainer Edwin Cleary stressed there were mitigating factors for the failure to subdue Uwaka.

“Joe’s left hand is being X-rayed today,” he said. “It’s badly swollen and he couldn’t jab with it, I think it might be broken.

“His achilles went in the second and he still can’t walk properly, he’s hobbling. And with 18 months out, there was a bit of ring rust.

“He’s not happy and I’m pleased he’s not happy, but it was a draw. It’s not the end of the world. Watching him in the first, I thought if he can do that for 12 rounds we’ve really got something.”

Then the injuries took their toll.

Bourne was scheduled to start his pro career in Wolverhampton seven days earlier. When that contest fell through, he filled a vacancy on the Liverpool bill caused by the withdrawal of Birmingham’s Boma Brown.

Big Joe is a big man, standing 6ft 4ins. But I was surprised by his weight at the weekend - 19st 8lbs. That was more than four stones heavier than Uwaka.

There is excess to shed and Cleary wants him down to around 18 stone.

Not surprisingly, Uwaka elected to stay close, work on the inside, roll under Joe’s swings and make a thorough nuisance of himself. He came to win and landed a particularly eye-catching left hook in the second.

But Bourne plugged away and at last put a dent in his opponent down the stretch. We now know that last round was vital.

We must not forget Big Joe has turned over after a fairly limited amateur career that peaked at Midlands title level. He is a work in progress.

He learned something about what’s needed to succeed in the pro game on Saturday night.