by James Slater – Tonight, at The Brentwood Leisure Centre in Essex, 21-year-old Tyson Fury somehow kept his unbeaten record and advanced to 8-0(7) with a ten round points win over 29-year-old John McDermott. Winning via a score of 98-92 that was handed in by referee and sole judge Terry O’Connor, Fury won his first pro title, the English heavyweight championship. McDermott fell to 25-6(16).
I’ll get to writing up the night’s action later, but first the quite disgusting scoring of O’Connor must be addressed. How on earth he had Fury winning by a whopping SIX points in what everyone else saw as a close fight that the more experienced McDermott deserved to win is beyond me, as it was beyond SKY Sports commentator and former world lightweight champion Jim Watt. “Has he [O’Connor] got the names mixed up?” Watt asked on air as the referee’s weird scoring was announced. And it was a valid question.
The way Fury was made to eat right hand after right hand tonight made it clear that this had in no way been a dominant showing by him. Sure, the huge 21-year-old showed grit as he fired back with body shots, but no way did he deserve a win by such a big margin.. Fury, to his credit, did say he’d give McDermott a rematch, but he also claimed he knew he’d won. Deep down, though, he must have been surprised at how hard his night’s work had been.
There will certainly be plenty of questions about tonight’s fight, and “Big Bad” John, a close loser on points to Danny Williams recently, must feel as though he just cannot get a break. The man Fury disrespectfully dubbed “McMuffin” sure made Fury eat his words at least.
The action was good throughout, and what surprised most viewers was the way the 29-year-old local man got inside the Manchester fighter’s long reach so quickly. Also startling were the number of clean right hands McDermott landed on Fury’s chin. Even dropping his hands near the end of the 1st-round, and taunting Fury, McDermott was paid back by having Fury rub his head in his face. Some after the bell nastiness appeared as a result, and the ref warned both men at the start of the 2nd-round.
The pace was good for most of the action, and Fury threw lots of left jabs and he also dug in some good shots to the body. Never once did he appear to hurt McDermott to the head, however, and at times the bigger, taller man was forced on the back foot. It was clear early on that this fight was going to test Fury like no other.
McDermott’s hand speed was troubling Fury, and at times the giant looked disorganised. McDermott appeared to sweep the opening three rounds, and there had to be concern in Fury’s corner. The prospect showed real determination, though, and his stamina held up quite well considering how he’d never previously gone past four rounds. McDermott tested Fury’s chin with his left hook as well as with his right hand a number of times tonight, and it must be said that though McDermott is no great puncher, the 21-year-old passed the test.
Both men were visibly tiring by the 7th-round, and there was a touch more holding. But round-seven also saw some great trading, which made the big crowd roar its approval. Were Fury’s long legs looking a little shaky though? Perhaps. Two big rights to the head landed flush for McDermott in the 8th, and Fury knew he had to fire back, which he did. Fury also backed off, though, dropping both hands by his sides.
Fury, a lump developing above his left eye, really worked hard in the last two rounds, sucking it up and going for it. The big effort won the most talked about heavyweight in Britain the last two session, but was it enough to have won the fight? I didn’t think so, and neither did Jim Watt, Glenn McCrory, Johnny Nelson or, sitting at ringside as he was tonight, David Haye. All four of these experts had “Big Bad” John winning quite handily. I wouldn’t want to be in Terry O’Connor’s shoes tomorrow!
For what it’s worth, I had McDermott winning by three points.