Cooper demolishes Colombian in two!

Cooper….now it’s time for much bigger things

ONE short, concussive left hook ended Colombian Eber Tobar’s brief – but violent – meeting with hot prospect Owen Cooper.

The shot took everything out of the visitor, it scrambled his senses. Tobar’s hands dropped and he lurched into the ropes like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

Referee Chris Dean should be applauded for stepping in at two minutes, one second of the second round before Worcester’s Cooper could land another destructive blow. Tobar was gone. Tobar was defenceless.

At Telford International Centre last night (Saturday), Cooper, trained by former Birmingham contender Malcolm Melvin, showed what he’s capable of.

After eight wins and a Midlands belt, the 22-year-old welterweight now needs a high profile fight against much tougher opposition.

Tobar was never going to stall Cooper’s rise to the top. He came into the scheduled eight rounder with two, back-to-back stoppage losses on his record – and that’s not the form-line that suggested he had the tools to deliver an upset.

In my preview, I said it had to be all about the performance for Cooper. Frankly, I’d taken victory as a given.

He produced a faultless performance. If he put a foot wrong, I missed it.

I can’t recall a professional fighter taking so many flush, heavy punches in the opening two rounds of a contest. Tobar was dragged into a meat-grinder from the first second and Owen was not prepared to give him a moment’s respite.

Left hooks, snapping right hands and lead uppercuts were all drilled home.

What did surprise me was Tobar’s courage and ambition. He came to win and attempted to force Cooper back: that only made the night more painful for the Spanish based South American, that only reduced the time he’d share the ring with Owen.

My notes for the first sum-up Cooper’s dominance: “Cooper landing hooks; Cooper jabbing head and body; Tobar coming forward; two good rights from Cooper and left hook; good right to body; Tobar walks on to left hook.”

And so it went on.

Tobar attempted to push Cooper back in the second and was riddled by numbing blows.

After the victory, Owen said: “I usually tend to start a bit slow. Credit to Eber, he was game, but we knew he was there for the taking.

“Now it’s (about) looking for bigger fights and pushing on. I want any belts. I know I’m only 22, but I believe the better the opponent, the better I will go. (The final punch), it’s what me and Malcolm had worked on – coming round the right hand side and moving them onto the left hook.”

Worcester is a city known for rugby. Cooper may soon make it known for boxing.