CHARLIE EDWARDS won the European bantamweight title with a tough win over Thomas Essomba at York Hall.
Essomba, who is managed by Edward’s brother Sunny, may feel a bit aggrieved at the judge’s scoring in what was a hard-fought clash in east London.
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‘I feel mint’
Sams said: “It was raining all day, I finished work, got home at 2.30pm and got the call. I said yea I’ll take it.
“I was definitely coming for the win. I saw his hands going low so I’d see if he could take [the power].
“I’m buzzing, I feel mint, so proud.”
Tommy Sams out of nowhere
Let’s just reiterate what we’ve just seen there, on Friday afternoon Tommy Sams was at work in Yorkshire and did not know he’d be in the ring tonight until he got a late phone call.
The Doncaster-born boxer made his pro debut in 2019 and then had five years away from the sport.
He drove down to London today and then just put on a brilliant show, moving on to 4-0.
Hasnan Ali vs Tommy Sams – Round 1
Well that was not in the script!
On his debut, Hasnan Ali had massive support inside York Hall – it was arguably louder for that fight than for Charlie Edwards.
Tommy Sams only got the call to fight this time last night and comes out swinging.
He then catches Ali with a huge right hand – hanging his chin out – and from there Sams doesn’t miss a shout against the wobbling east Londoner.
The referee eventually steps in and stops the fight midway through the first round.
Ali is then left needing oxygen in the corner and, thankfully, is fine.
What next for Edwards?
Charlie Edwards has a pretty clear pathway to what he wants in the coming 12 months.
Wearing a t-shirt with Paul Butler on it, the new champ called out the bantamweight as well as his trainer, Joe Gallagher.
He also said he was interested in going over to Japan to fight one of Akhiko Honda’s stable.
Edwards said: “Thomas [Essomba] is a tricky operator, I knew that coming in, but I’ve put myself in a good position.
“Mr Honda, I would like to come out there (Japan) and take a belt off of one of your champions!”
And the new!
Charlie Edwards steals the European title from Thomas Essomba and his comeback journey continues on from here.
The judges score it 117-111, 116-112, 118-111 – the fight felt a lot closer to me than that, but clearly the judges were more impressed with the work rate and volume done by Edwards over the bigger power punches by Essomba.
We’ll hear from the new champ shortly.
We await the judges scorecard now…
Judges scorecards will be red out any second now, it’ll come down to how the judges see it – work rate or quality of shots.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 12
Into the final round here and it starts with neither man really changing their tactics.
Essomba still on the back foot but not willing to throw more than one shot at a time – although they are more painful – and Edwards throwing in a bit more volume but doing minimal damage to his opponent.
Essomba lands a nice right hook and is met back with a nice left hook from Edwards.
The champ now has his hands down and looks a bit more willing to exchange – but that looks to be a mistake as Edwards finds his mark with two good shots.
He then gets a decent combination in that sends Essomba needing to take a step back.
Edwards keeps coming forward and keeps throwing with volume – I think he may have done enough to steal that round.
Just before the bell both men start celebrating as if they are the winner and, honestly, I’ve got no idea which way that’ll go.
I score it 7-5 to Edwards but wouldn’t be surprised by any outcome.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 11
Essomba stepping up the pace here and throws a couple of wild lefts, neither of which get anywhere close to reaching their targets.
Edwards then fires in a nice sharp jab, although it doesn’t look like it has done much damage.
Essomba continues to pick and choose and now there’s a decent sized welt under Edwards’ right eye – he’s still throwing the more hurtful stuff.
But the challenger keeps throwing and keeps coming forward.
Edwards then ends the round with two really nice combinations, a one-two-three to the body and a triple jab.
Essomba immediately lands a big hook of his own before Edwards gets a good shot in to the body.
Final round next and this could go either way!
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 10
Wow again, this fight is just non stop back and forth.
As soon as one fighter lands a good shot he is immediately met with a strong return – both Edwards and Essomba will probably be thinking they won that round.
Each fighter landed a couple of good shots and, therefore, took a couple of good ones.
At this point it’s anyone’s fight – I have it level at 5-5.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 9
Edwards starts the round very well with a sharp left hook and a good combination.
But then, bang, Essomba lands a beauty of a right hand straight down the middle that has the crowd gasping.
Edwards was certainly a bit stunned by that one – he had started the round coming forward but then noticeably took his foot off the gas for the the next minute or so after he was caught.
The round ends with a nice little exchange with both fighters landing a couple of clean shots that would have caused a bit of damage.
Again, these are all extremely tough rounds to score but heading into the final three I have it 5-4 to Edwards.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 8
Well eight rounds in now and this has been very difficult to score – it really will depend on what way the judges want to see it.
Edwards is throwing so many more punches but a lot of them are just finding nothing at all.
Essomba is carefully picking and choosing his shots but definitely has been the more accurate and is, seemingly, landing with a bit more power.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 7
Essomba is still content just to throw his shots in ones rather than offering up any combos.
When he does land though he really is hitting with some power, but Edwards is happy throwing back whenever the distance is closed.
Would love to see the stats on this one because Edwards seems like he’s thrown about five times as many punches.
He’s not landing clean, however, while Essomba definitely is – he just needs to up his work rate.
This is extremely finely balanced now we’re into the back half of the fight.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 6
Essomba certainly has some power inside them gloves but he’s just not been unwilling to unload too many.
He’s landed one decent right in that round, but Edwards then unloads a flurry – but gets an uppercut back for his troubles.
Much better from the champ this time as he’s found a bit of range and landed quite a few decent shots in that round – Edwards still in front for me, though.
I have it at 4-2 after six.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 5
Strange performance so far from Essomba, in my opinion, there’s a thin line between waiting for an opportunity and looking inactive, and he’s on the wrong side of it.
Edwards continues to come forward and although he isn’t landing the cleanest set of punches, you do imagine the volume and work rate will be impressive the judges.
Essomba then does come in and Edwards glances – not quite flush – with a wicked uppercut.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 4
A little bit inactive from both men in that one, with Essomba looking especially unwilling to really unload his shots.
Edwards landed a nice right and probably did just enough, again, to win the round.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 3
Southpaw Essomba starts the round with a solid left hook to the body and is clearly happy to punch off the back foot.
Edwards keep pressing and finally lands a nice little 1-2 straight down the middle, before following it up with a solid uppercut.
That uppercut stunned Essomba and that’s a clear winning round for Edwards, good stuff from him.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 2
European title is up for grabs at York Hall remember, Edwards looking more active and throwing more, but his punches haven’t yet found much range if we’re honest.
Lots of feinting and movement by the pair, but little in the way of clean shots.
Excellent finish to the round by Edwards and I think he may well have stolen that one.
Essomba vs Edwards – Round 1
I could write that was a cagey start by both men but that would be seriously underplaying it – I don’t think a punch was landed by either man.
Just as I’m typing that the 10-second bell goes and both unleash a quick flurry to try and steal it.
Not sure exactly what landed but you’d be hard pressed not to score that round 10-10 – although the commentary team seems to think Essomba was in control.
Sunny looking hot
In case you missed it, Charlie Edwards’ brother Sunny is in the OPPOSITE corner tonight, working with Thomas Essomba.
In case you missed it, he was the one wearing the impressive fur coat in the ring just then!
Here we go…
Both Essomba and Edwards are now in the ring and we’ll be ready to go any second.
Big fight ahead!
Tom Welland
That was extremely impressive from Tom Welland, really good stuff.
The first round proved a little bit of a tougher test than many would have expected, but after relaxing into the second round, Welland showed his class and unloaded some absolutely venomous punches that put Martinez down three times.
Onwards and upwards for the youngster.
Welland vs Martinez – Round 2 – IT’S ALL OVER!
After that tight first round, Welland starts working behind his jab and lands a couple of nice shots flush.
Martinez is throwing wildly and Welland then catches him with a sharp counter to stop the Nicaraguan in his tracks.
Welland then walks on to an incredible right hand from Welland that sends Martinez crashing to the canvas – he gets up on eight but Welland then unlaods.
Incredible combination with two or three HUGE body shots and Martinez is down on one knee for a second time in the round.
Welland smells blood and pounces on Martinez, swarming his opponent with some incredible shots – Martinez is down for a third time in quick succession and the ref waves it off!
Clinical from a fighter who – aged just 20 – has a massive future ahead of him!
Welland vs Martinez – Round 1
Good start from ‘Atomic’ Tom Welland, throwing some lovely jobs and looking extremely active against his much older opponent.
But Martinez does land a nice right hook that briefly makes Welland think.
Welland looking more in control in that round for me, though, but this is certainly not going to be anything like a walkover.
Welland vs Martinez first
Well, it seems the running order for tonight has changed with Tom Welland up before Charlie Edwards.
We’ll have round-by-round action for that one, which will be a four-rounder, which means we can expect Edwards vs Essomba at around 10.30pm.
Both Welland and Darwing Martinez – who has a record of 8-23 – are heading to the ring now.
Not long now
We’re not far away from the action getting underway at York Hall.
As well as Edwards vs Essomba, highly-rated prospect Tom Welland is another name on the card that boxing fans are getting excited about.
The Essex boy is hoping to make it seven wins from seven and faces Darwing Martinez.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
