Turned out, Juan Ocura was the fighter Carl Greaves was looking for.
The Mexican had the savvy, the chin and the pride to last six rounds with wrecking machine Sam Bowen in Leicester on Saturday night.
Bowen has made a habit of making Greaves look a bit daft.
Greaves has kept finding opponents he thought were durable – and Bowen has kept walking through them in a couple of rounds.
Ocura left Braunstone Leisure Centre with his durable reputation intact – but his ribs will hurt like hell for days.
Greaves has said from the start Bowen will win major honours – and the 25 year old super-featherweight is close now.
The British Boxing Board of Control have made him the mandatory challenger for the British super-featherweight title, held by Martin J Ward.
Bowen has got there without television and without beating any top contenders.
Not that the latter is Bowen’s fault.
Greaves has a list as long as Bowen’s 70-inch reach of fighters who have turned down the chance to fight Bowen, good fighters too.
Fighters like Zelfa Barrett, Craig Poxton and Paul Holt.
It’s understandable. Boxing is a business and, as we are oft told, it’s all about taking the right fights at the right time.
Boxing isn’t a business to Bowen.
To him, it’s a sport where you get yourself in shape, get in the ring and the best man wins.
He isn’t fussed about protecting his zero. He just wants to fight.
If you haven’t seen him – and chances are you haven’t – Bowen gets on opponents fast and once he’s hurt them – usually to the body – he doesn’t let them off the hook.
Ocura showed incredible resilience to get through the six rounds with him.
This was a Bowen with hand trouble who had been struggling with ‘flu up against a game Mexican who had fought quality lightweights and super-lightweights such as Yvan Mendy and Andreas Scarpa and taken rounds off them.
Bowen battered Ocura from pillar to post throughout – and gave him a count in the last.
Bowen had him backing up and gulping in air with a left hook to the body – and was all over him instantly, smashing him to his knees for ‘six.’
Somehow, Ocura made it through to the final bell.
Whatever Greaves paid Ocura, he earned every penny.
Defensively, Bowen isn’t the greatest. He sometimes stands a bit tall and forgets to move his head, but in 106 amateur bouts and 12 pro fights, his chin has yet to let him down.
Ocura did catch him cleanly – and Bowen simply ignored the punches and carried on beating him up.
Bowen is North West Leicestershire’s answer to ‘The Terminator.’
So if he is this good, how come you don’t know all this already?
Good question.
Eddie Hearn liked the look of Bowen, but not enough to invest – Sam isn’t a big ticket seller – and Frank Warren seems happy enough with his clutch of 9st 4lbs fighters.
At his own expense, Greaves has got Bowen where he is now with fights on his own small-hall shows that have cost him money and he now waits to hear what happens next.
The expectation is Ward will vacate the British title after winning the Lonsdale belt outright, but whatever happens, Bowen won’t care.
He will just get in there and fight.
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