Knockout king Harris suffers shock defeat

Matty Harris with AJ…a boxer who was being given a big build-up

THE unbeaten record of KO king Matty Harris came to a shocking end in Edinburgh last night (Friday).

The huge Coventry heavyweight – on a run of four first round round victories going into the Meadowbank Sports Centre bout – was beaten by Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko in a shocking upset.

Dwarfed by his 6ft 8ins opponent, the Ukrainian overcome a second round knockdown to overwhelm Harris in the fifth.

There was nothing remotely scientific about the Eastern European’s work. An iron chin allowed Dovbyshchenko to withstand Harris’ punches, then he went to work with crude, roundhouse blows.

Harris, unbeaten in five going into the bout, appeared to run out of gas. With Dovbyshchenko swinging wildly and nothing coming back, referee Kenny Pringle signalled the end.

Dovbyshchenko entered the contest with solid credentials – nine wins in 23 (one draw), six by stoppage – but was considered simply a part of Harris’ build-up to big fights, another lesson in Matty’s pro education.

Ominously, he had never been stopped and that resilience was key as Harris threw bombs early on.

Matt entered the ring brim-full of confidence, swaying to a Chaka Khan soundtrack during his ring walk.

And that confidence seemed well justified in the first two rounds. Relaxed and boxing smoothly, he let the big punches go, decking Dovbyshchenko with a right.

The tide began to turn in the third and, by the fourth, it was apparent Matty was in deep water, his energy levels draining dramatically. The big man looked distressed and breathless in his corner between rounds.

The end was near and Dovbyshchenko, built like a bull, knew it. He threw punches as if engaged in a bar-room brawl, he worked the body and with the favourite spent, the bout was stopped with only one second of the fifth remaining.

Before the contest, Harris’ respected trainer Edwin Cleary told me his fighter needed rounds under his belt.

Edwin said: “I’m waiting for his experience to catch-up with his talent.”

Essentially, that’s what told last night.

And in a previous interview, the man himself said: “Having the power punching ability, being able to knock someone out with a single shot - that's a gift but it can also be a curse.

"Because I can hit so hard, it's easy to neglect boxing ability.”

That, too, came to pass last night.

In Edinburgh, Harris succumbed to the curse of the heavyweight division’s big hitters. He ran out of energy and ideas.

Matty – as is the case with big fighters with big power – attracted national media attention. That puts pressure on a boxer still wearing L Plates. It came too soon.

Before the fight, I was contacted by someone orchestrating his publicity with the offer of an interview.

Such PR now needs to be put on the backburner to allow Cleary to quietly continue with his boxer’s apprenticeship.

The string of early knockouts led the public to forget one important point: in the pro game, Matty is a raw novice. He is a beginner and beginners make mistake. His was made in front of TV cameras.

It is not a case of rebuilding the young man – Cleary had only laid the foundations.

It is a case of allowing him to learn free from the hype and pressure.