Boxing master-class from local lad Evans

Winning team…Evans after scoring sixth win on the spin

INFRONT of his hometown faithful, Zach Evans produced another performance that endorsed his title contender credentials.

Last month in Cannock, the 26-year-old showed power to halt Iliyan Markov in two rounds.

Last night (Thursday) in the same town and on promoter Scott Murray’s Excelsior Sporting Club show, Zach displayed poise and polish.

Opponent Connor Meanwell – a very intimidating individual with broken features that back-up his “Pitbull” nickname - was at the wrong end of a masterclass in “in-fighting”.

He gamely stuck in there and even had his moments, but Meanwell, from Nottinghamshire, simply couldn’t match Evans’ variety and work rate. Referee Kevin Parker gave Zach, who registered his sixth straight win, every round. I thought Meanwell, tough as old boot leather, shared the fifth.

Maybe that’s charitable, but Connor, who has now lost 10 of 12, deserved something for taking a stream of clean shots and always attempting to fight back.

The 28-year-old, who ended the fight cut and swollen over the right eye, has never been stopped and last night showed why. He has a chin of granite.

“I have a head like a nugget,” he told me afterwards. “I can’t be stopped.”

I like Evans. He’s easy on the eye and has been well schooled by trainer Mitch Pearce. He caught Meanwell time and again with right uppercuts and bent low to the left to deliver sickening body shots.

Evans showed an old pro’s trick: tapping with the first left hook to the body, then driving home the money shot.

He’s out again next month at the same Premier Suite venue – this time on Murray’s public show. After that, a Midlands title shot at light-middle cannot be far away.

Evans told me: “I’m pleased – it was a nice, mature performance. My trainer told me to keep pumping out the jab, which is something I’ve neglected to do in the past. I don’t think I missed with one.

“I got six good rounds in at a good pace which is something I needed to build the reserves.”

He added: “I fought three-and-a-half weeks ago and stopped him in the second. I needed to get six rounds in and they were hard, competitive rounds. I wanted to keep a high pace because we want to go forward to 10 rounds.”

Evans (11st 2lbs) set the blueprint for the battle in the first, drilling home stiff jabs, piercing Meanwell’s guard with uppercuts, then changing the angles to drive home left hooks to the body.  Within minutes, blood seeped from the visitor’s eye.

At times, the local lads shot selection and clinical boxing were a joy to watch. One big body shot in third echoed around the hall.

Meanwell (11st 5lbs) absorbed everything and in the fourth attempted to push his opponent back, but was being outworked.

He had his best moments in the fifth and landed his best punch of the night – a clumping left hook. Evans also copped a right downstairs, yet while the favourite’s work flowed, Meanwell’s gritty endeavours appeared forced.

Zach finished with a flurry and Meanwell, now bleeding from the nose, shook his head and shouted “no” in an attempt to show he could take everything Evans threw.

The bottom line, however, is Evans threw and landed a lot more than he did. No amount of theatricals could disguise that.

“I only came back from Spain last weekend,” Meanwell told me. “He’s sharp and a good lad, but I wasn’t fit enough to really push forward when I did land.
“At the end of the day, if I’m remembered as someone who always came to fight and always gave value for money then I’ll be happy.”

The “Pitbull” has a terrier’s tenacity. At the Excelsior, that wasn’t enough when faced with a ring technician.