Liam comes through first southpaw test

Liam O'Hare...boxer didn't have it all his own way at Excelsior

AT the plush Excelsior Club, Midlands super-middleweight champ Liam O’Hare faced his first southpaw – and encountered difficulties with the “lefty” style.

If I hadn’t been told Dzmitry Atrokhau was O’Hare’s first southpaw test, I would’ve guessed it. That’s a measure of the difficulties encountered in Cannock last night (Thursday).

But he won beyond argument, stretched his unbeaten streak to 10 and closed in on a Celtic title fight.

Those are the important positives to take from the evening’s six rounder.

In doing so, he dropped rounds – referee Chris Dean scoring 58-56 – and got hit cleanly too often. Atrokhau, from Belarus, proved a nuisance throughout.

Those are the negatives – and they didn’t prevent former ballet dancer O’Hare performing his now customary pirouette when the verdict was announced. Liam, from Hereford but fighting out of Birmingham’s Eastside gym, is an immensely and likeable character: it takes a lot to wipe that broad grin from his face.

O'Hare has his hand raised after tough battle with Atrokhau

Veteran manager PJ Rowson wasn’t smiling, however. He candidly admitted: “I did not like that, I don’t want to see that again.

“He took more punches tonight than he’s done in the whole of his career. Where was the footwork?”

PJ has a point.

That was the third time I’ve been ringside for an O’Hare fight – and it was the least impressive performance.

It was, by Liam’s standards, a not particularly good day at the office. To call it a bad day would be stretching things. Hopefully, important lessons have been learned.

“It was my first southpaw,” Liam said, “and I sat in the pocket too long, I should’ve been moving a bit more. I got drawn into his style of fighting.”

Atrokhau came with a curious record. He racked up 15 straight wins, mostly in Minsk, then became a near total stranger to victory.

He certainly had his moments against O’Hare. Liam (11st 7lbs) was caught by a flurry of shots in the fourth and an eye-catching left hand landed flush in the fifth. Atrokhau’s clusters of punches proved an irritant throughout.

But the more correct, cleaner blows always came from the rural Rocky. He jabbed his way in in the first, worked head and body in the second and by the third was letting both hands go.

Atrokhau (11st 9lbs) was pinned in a corner in the fifth, but found the space to unleash that big left hand.

O’Hare sealed the win by working behind a stiff left lead in the last round.

And it wasn’t long before the dressing room was filled with the 27-year-old’s infectious belly-laughs.

He informed me he now wants to step-up to light-heavyweight and fight for the Celtic title in that division.

Why?

“It’s a good purse and I need some money,” he chuckled.

It’s as good a reason as any.