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Boxing
Owen Cooper bounces back from first pro loss with win over Chris Kongo
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NOTTINGHAM, England - Owen Cooper (11-1, 4 KOs) returned to winning ways on Saturday night with a points win against Chris Kongo (17-3, 7 KOs) in Nottingham.
Cooper looked to set the tempo from the opening bell with his jab, but Kongo landed a few shots of his own. The first then calmed down as both men looked to feel each other out with Cooper’s vocal support providing an electric soundtrack to the opening fight of the main card.
Kongo’s supporters sitting a few yards from my ringside position were calling for their man to be faster in the second. A Cooper left hook narrowly missed Kongo just before the minute mark, and while Kongo was looking to establish a jab of his own, his punches were connecting with Cooper’s arms.
The third saw Cooper land the first significant blow with a left hook. The two then engaged in a firefight in the corner before taking the action back to centre ring. Kongo opted to position himself on the outside which worked in Cooper’s favour. The Worcester man’s jab kept Kongo at bay as he struggled to throw anything of note.
The chants coming from Cooper’s supporters clashed with Kongo’s teams who were giving out instructions, the most common being to use the jab. Whenever Kongo threw this punch, it missed Cooper by inches in a quieter fourth session.
A Kongo right uppercut in the fifth was his best moment of the contest so far and for the first time, it was Cooper who found himself on the backfoot. A one-two from Cooper prompted cheers of encouragement from the crowd, but then Kongo hit back with another right uppercut whilst backed up on the ropes. A right hook from Cooper with just over 30 seconds remaining saw this fight explode into life.
The sixth came to a brief pause with 1:45 remaining due to an issue with Kongo’s mouthguard. When he was walked into the neutral corner, Kongo looked towards me where a group of his supporters were sitting, with one ordering him to “Box smarter!”.
There did seem to be a look of tiredness in his eyes and for the rest of the round he was inactive whilst Cooper’s punches failed to make any significant inroads.
It was clear to those ringside that Kongo would struggle if he were to continue absorbing Cooper’s power shots. In round seven, he needed to avoid being caught up in the toe-to-toe exchanges where Cooper thrived. Whenever Kongo attempted to move away, Cooper would be immediately with him, backing him up and getting to work.
An uneventful round eight saw Kongo try and go the offensive in the ninth. As had been the case throughout the previous rounds, Kongo forced to escape a more energetic Cooper.
“Hit and move, hit and move.” Those were the instructions and when this strategy was implemented, Kongo’s power lacked any sort of power compared to those being thrown by his opponent.
The tenth and final round was one where Kongo had to hold on. Cooper made his final charge, throwing plenty of shots whilst his opponent braced for impact. If a stoppage were to come, it would have been in this round. There was a Kongo flurry with 30 seconds remaining and then the two went at it to close out the fight.
After the final bell, Cooper was declared the winner with a 96-94 score from referee Kevin Parker which delighted his passionate supporters after losing to Ekow Essuman in July.
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