Morris: a fine fighter still in the making…

Lewis Morris…back in action at the Eastside Rooms tomorrow (Saturday)

LEWIS Morris is a work in progress. He has fine footwork, puts his punches together in impressive clusters and delivers moves straight from the manual.

What I enjoy witnessing is the way Richie Carter – a very respected coach – is gradually turning a style that still carries the echoes of Lewis’s amateur days into something that will gain glory in the paid ranks. Subtleties and sneak punches, even spoiling, have to be instilled. More power has to be added. He needs to make the left lead an iron bar, not just a points-stealer.

Tomorrow (Saturday) the education continues at Birmingham’s Eastside Rooms. The 21-year-old, from Walsall, faces lightweight Tatenda Mangombe, from Chatham via Zimbabwe, over four rounds. Mangombe has won only one of eight and been stopped twice.

I envisage a comprehensive victory for Lewis who has won six on the spin, all on points, only one over the six round distance. The Black Country lad is, at times, a joy to watch, if not a concussive puncher.

Now for the more controversial paragraphs…

Birmingham’s Nyall Berry has publicly aired his frustration over Lewis’ refusal to face him for the Midlands featherweight title.

Frankly – and this will gain me no friends at tomorrow’s show – I get the reason for Team Morris’s reluctance.

I’ve been at ringside for all Berry’s fights and he bangs with dramatic, frightening power. What’s more, he’s relentless.

You cannot tackle Berry with one, one sided six rounder under your belt. You only gain the concentration needed to face a beast like Berry by indulging in distance fights. You only learn the tricks needed to frustrate someone like Berry in tough distance fights. And it takes hours upon hours upon hours of tuition from an old school trainer such as Carter to do it.

Secretly, Richie Carter may realise that. Pro boxing is a business: it’s not about bravado and bottle. As much as anything, it’s about timing. Why would Carter expose his fighter to such a risk when the job at hand has not yet been completed? That doesn’t make business sense.

That’s not a knock against Lewis, he’s a very accomplished boxer being turned into an accomplished pro by Carter.

But there is still work to be done. Lewis is yet to be the complete article: when he is, the Black Country potentially has a very good boxer.