Duberry: I’m proud of that performance

Team Duberry, with Jaykae second from left

MUSCLED, menacing cruiser Traie Duberry has vowed “it will never happen again” after being dropped in the closing seconds of, what until then, had been a Saturday night shutout for the powerhouse.

In fact, there were times when brave Argentinian southpaw Camilo Castagno seemed on the brink of stoppage defeat as Duberry detonated sledgehammer right hands.

At Nottingham Arena, he was downed in the second, spun round by a left hook in the fifth and given a count, and ended the bout damaged around both eyes.

Yet Castagno attempted to fight back every time Aston’s Traie appeared within grasp of another battering ram victory.

And that dogged determination paid spectacular dividends in the sixth and final round. An overhand left sent Duberry crashing to the canvas with only two seconds remaining and the bell sounded as the prospect hauled his Herculean frame upright.

The 29-year-old looked dazed and unsteady and, I believe, fortunate Castagno was unable to launch a follow-up attack.

But Traie insisted today: “I didn’t feel the shot at all, but looking back at it, it was a good shot. I believe if he’d landed it a minute before, I would’ve been fine.

“That has never happened to me before and it won’t happen again. I was too comfortable, it’s a lesson. You have to stay switched on until the very end.”

Referee Pete McCormack’s 59-53 score was mathematically correct, but didn’t reflect the drama of a very good scrap.

It was Castagno’s toughness that made it a thoroughly absorbing spectacle. The 25-year-old didn’t come to spoil and survive, he came to trade blows – and against a human wrecking ball like Duberry that meant taking flak.

“I was very impressed with him,” Traie, now unbeaten in five, said. “You could see how tough he was.

“When I hurt him I should’ve stepped-up the gears more.” Castagno was hurt on a number of occasions.

Until that final mini-crisis, Duberry had showed patience, authority and accuracy. He fought well.

He unloaded a succession of heavy right hands in the second and when the visitor finally hit the deck it seemed an early night beckoned.

Yet Castagno attempted to blaze back straight after rising and, astonishingly, hurled himself forward in the third.

He waded into the lion’s den and was again being mauled in the fourth. I felt he would finally buckle in the fifth as Duberry really unloaded with the heavy stuff. The right side of his face crimson, Castagno was spun 360 degrees by a left hook, then touched down after taking a right.

Others would’ve crumbled, yet he plugged away – and delivered some payback for the pain in the last breath of an entertaining bout.

“I’m very proud of it (the fight),” Traie said. “I was more measured than in a few of the others I’ve had. Watching it back, it was a really good fight.

“I wasn’t supposed to fight until the end of February, but this opportunity came up. I hadn’t done any real sparring since October. It showed what we have been working on in the gym is starting to work.

“I want to be back out soon. I wasn’t too active last year, this year I want to be active and out there.”

The Boxing Board of Control have called on Traie, part of the McCracken gym and advised by rapper Jaykae, to face Tom Pogson for the vacant Midland’s cruiser title. That, if it happens, is a cracking pairing: Pogson, from Lincolnshire, is unbeaten in seven (one draw).

“If it makes sense, I can’t see why not,” said Traie. “He (Pogson) is a very good fighter. We had a good fight as amateurs and he took the decision.”

*Castagno’s record dipped to nine losses in 13 contests.