Hamzah: Prospect packs in the punters
Team Hamzah celebrate the whitewash victory. Pics: Jack Perry
HAMZAH Ahmed is one very, very well supported fighter.
I watched a steady stream of the Walsall lightweight’s fans exit the Holiday Inn hall, in Birmingham city centre, following his dominant points win over Logan Paling last night.
That was surprising, the main event – Ijaz Ahmed’s failed attempt to take the British super-flyweight title – followed.
Insiders are getting excited about Ahmed, trained by Shiney Singh, managed by Anthony Manning. I can understand why.
In only his second outing, the 23-year-old looked pin-sharp, elegant and injected spite at the right moments to take every session of the four rounder against Birmingham’s Paling. Referee Chris Dean scored 40-36.
I can also add, the Black Country boxer is a thoroughly likeable individual, to boot. He shook my hand after the contest, offered me a seat and chatted about his performance.
“I want to take it slowly,” he said. “As I’ve said before, this is a marathon, not a sprint. I need more fights and next year we’ll look at the Midlands (title). I hurt my hand, which meant I couldn’t hit as hard as I wanted to, but the uppercuts were taking their toll.”
He added: “The fight went the way I expected, but Paling was tougher than I expected.”
Logan sportingly applauds as Ahmed’s hand is raised
Logan, who lost for the 11th time on the spin, is a tough customer. He survived the incessant attacks, was never rocked and can now look forward to fighting again next week.
Under Cogan, he’s earning well. He came away from last night’s clash unmarked, unscathed.
With Shiney shouting instructions and providing his fighter with a round by round countdown – “30 seconds left…10 seconds”, Ahmed peeled off combinations.
Tattooed Paling (9st 12lbs 9oz) was kept honest with stiff jabs before being speared by right hooks to the body, straight rights to the head. Ahmed (9st 12lbs 2oz) would touch with shots, then look to bang in a big one.
Ahmed’s uppercuts, both right and left, were particularly impressive.
Paling did sink a left hook to the body in the third, but it was a rare success. He took a meaty left hook downstairs as payback.
Hamzah was warned for a low blow in the final: it only briefly interrupted his momentum. He fired jabs down the stretch and closed the show with an eye-catching uppercut.
We’ll know more about what Ahmed has to offer when the opposition is stepped-up. The army of supporters he brings to shows should make him very popular among promoters.