Belfast – Leli Buttigieg got his professional career off to a flying start last month with a first round stoppage but the super welterweight was made to work much harder by Artjom Spatar in the first fight of Matchroom’s show in Belfast tonight.
Buttigieg began the fight by working behind a heavy jab and quickly reddened Spater’s right eye but whether he felt Spatar’s power and decided that the Estonian posed little threat or whether he was set on chasing another eye catching knockout, he quickly dispensed with it and began to load up on his shots. Spatar comfortably made it through the round and apart from a nice left uppercut, he wasn’t given too much to worry about in the second either.
Buttigieg clearly has ability but is still figuring out ways to impose himself. When he began his attacks with his solid jab, he found the openings easier to come by and occasionally he was able to put his right hand behind it. He landed a couple of those shots in the third but Spatar absorbed them easily and although he wasn’t interested in pressing the action himself, he was able to read Buttigieg’s attacks fairly easily.
Buttigieg dropped his hands, feinted and tried to draw Spatar (4-5, 1 KO) into making a mistake but was unable to make a significant dent in him. After four rounds, referee Eamonn Magill gave Buttigieg (2-0, 1 KO) a clear 40-36 decision and the 18 year old will have learned plenty from the outing.
2020 Olympian Kurt Walker (10-0, 1 KO) had a tougher than expected night’s work against Nicaragua’s Darwing Martinez (8-18-2, 8 KO’s).
Martinez signalled his intent from the off, letting a couple of big right hands go and winging in some heavy shots in the opener. The more compact Walker kept his shape, countered when he could with simple straight punches and set about drawing Martinez’s sting.
Walker began to get off first in the second round, walking Martinez on to punches before edging back out of range and starting the process again. The jab and right hand were his best weapons but Walker began to get a little more imaginative with his leads too, using nice hooks and uppercuts. To Martinez’s credit, he retained his ambition and kept stalking forward, firing away with heavy but wild hooks and forced Walker onto the back foot.
Walker was much more talented fighter but although he was putting together some impressive bursts, he was letting Martinez build momentum by rolling forward and every time his back touched the ropes, Martinez would unload with heavy shots. Walker came out for the fifth with a bit more intent and, scoring with a nice one-two and looking to take the centre of the ring and once again, getting off first.
Martinez came out for the sixth with real ambition, walking directly into range and letting his punches go. Walker timed him with a nice uppercut but took a right hand from Martinez and had to stay switched on right to the end.
After six rounds, Eamonn Magilll gave Walker a 60-54 decision which didn’t tell the story of the fight.