Nathan Mizon headlined Friday night’s Fightzone show at the Tower Hotel, London, going into his fourth bout and looking to add a second stoppage to the one already on his 3-0 ledger. He stepped in against Poland’s Jakub Laskowski.
In support were Harry Mullins and Johanna Wonyou, both getting wins on the six-fight card. Louise Orton and Dee Allen both took debut wins and well-supported Alfie Winter took to the ring for his second contest, taking a second win.
Mizon has been consistently impressive in his short professional career, but taking centre stage at the top of a broadcast bill did feel more than a little premature. Understandably, that was of little concern to Mizon’s army of fans, who roared their man on from start to finish.
Mizon displayed rare poise and balance, moving around his man at will and landing hard right hooks to the body in the opening minutes.
Mizon found plenty of chinks in his opponents armour, landing to head and body, but resisted the urge to dive in prematurely. Patiently boxing the first round on the back foot, he picked accurate shots and created angles to leave Laskowski looking slightly out of his depth in the early going. The trend continued through the second, with the Englishman turning up the heat bit by bit.
He staggered the Pole with a left hook as the third started. A fatigued Laskowski tried to mount his own attacks in reply but they became increasingly wild and inaccurate, leaving him open to hard counters, left and right, from Mizon.
The bout was fought in a good spirit and Laskowski tried his best to force the issue at times , but the lateral movement and footwork of Mizon meant he seldom found the target with any meaningful shots.
In the fifth Mizon made a real dent in his man, but the hardy Pole hung in there, despite a barrage of crisp shots. The away fighter moved, spoiled and held his way through the final round – somehow managing to survive. Mizon took a 60-54 decision.
In the evening’s chief support bout, Harry Mullins stepped into his fourth contest against Stephen Jackson, a man heralded by many of his fellow British journeymen as one of the best on the circuit.
The Curtis-Gargano-trained away fighter looked unphased as ‘H-Man’ Mullins made a big entrance, followed by a half-British-half-Ukrainian flag and accompanied by his trainer father, Sam Mullins.
There wasn’t much of a feeling out process in the opening stanza but ‘H-Man’ bagged the opening round with his more accurate work. Jackson landed plenty of effective shots to make his own case.
The fight progressed in a similar vein, with Jackson moving forward, often beaten to the punch by Mullins, but looking relatively unphased by his attacks. When Jackson fired combinations he was able to force Mullins back to the ropes, where the two repeatedly tangled. Three rounds in Mullins was 2-1 up on our card, with it all to play for in the final round.
After a tired third, Mullins bit down on his gum shield in the last stanza and showed real grit, taking a 40-36 decision. Jackson probably deserved a round and Mullins certainly won’t forget fighting him.
French Flyweight Champion, Johanna Wonyou looked unimpressed as she headed to the ring. She faced Tanzania’s Sarafina Bela, who had a somewhat chaotic record, boasting three stoppage wins and two stoppage losses on her 4-4-1 CV.
Wonyou held her hands low, moving in and out of distance with the same icy confidence she walked into the ring with. A flurry of hooks early in the first round saw Bela’s legs go completely and referee, Chas Coakley, called an understandable halt to proceedings 55 seconds in.
Amateur stand-out Louis Orton was well supported on her long-awaited professional debut. Her impatience didn’t show though and she picked her shots well against a cagey opponent to comfortably win the opening round of her professional career.
Machela came into the fight in the second round using lateral movement and accurate counters, but Orton overcame some hesitation and was back on top in the third, outlanding her opponent by a wide margin. In the fourth and fifth Orton did enough to win, but never wholly took control of the fight, getting clipped with a few straight right hands to make the bout a useful learning fight.
In the final round, Orton seemed to shake off some debut nerves and find her flow, throwing accurate hurtful combinations.
Orton took a 59-55 win, which tallied with our scores at ringside, with Machela having taken the second.
Berlin-based Bulgarian, Milena Koleva, had the advantage of experience as she stepped into the ring for her 24th fight, against Dee Allen, who was making her debut. However it was Allen who looked the more assured.
A much more physically imposing figure, the Londoner came out confidently and looked to trade hard blows. She was on the wrong end of the initial exchanges though and suffered a flash knockdown in the opening seconds. It was a matter of seconds until she put Koleva down in return though and as the Bulgarian struggled to regain her feet, Chas Coakley waved the bout off. It was a barnstorming debut, but Allen will no doubt look for a more composed performance second time around. The stoppage came just one minute and 20 seconds into the bout.
Russia’s Rustem Fatkhulin was booed as he made his way to the ring to face touted second-timer Alfie Winter.
Surrey man, Winter, had taken on one of the circuit’s best-known names on his debut, going the distance against Kevin McCauley. Of course, he didn’t stop him and so few do. As a result, Winter was keen to land hard shots from the off against the Russian and seemed to want to make a statement.
Given his novice standing in the professional ranks, Winter showed confidence and ring generalship throughout, keeping a tight defense and consistently, aggressively pressuring his opposite number.
Fatkhulin tried to evade Winter’s work and counter where he could, but spent the whole fight on the back foot, pressed by the effective aggression of the younger man. Winter showed defensive proficiency too, as he marched forward, catching the majority of the Russian’s shots on gloves, elbows and forearms. His followers sang ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ as so many fight fans do, but didn’t have to change the words as much as most bands of fights fans. Winter took the decision 40-36.