Ellis Zorro proved a level above his competition to win the BOXXER Cruiserweight series at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester tonight.
The 29-year-old (14-0, 6 KOs) was rarely troubled in his three fights as he took care of James Farrell and then Jamie Smith before defeating schoolteacher Ricky Reeves in the final.
The tournament favourite’s most uncomfortable moment of the night came in his quarter-final when Jay Farrell burst out the gates in the first round. It wasn’t long before Zorro had the fight under his own control and cruised past his opponent to a points win.
Jamie Smith and Jack Fay brought the fast and furious format to life in their quarter final. The two men went hell for leather with power punching the only shot in town during round one. Fay was then forced to take a knee as Smith turned the screw and ended the fight in round two.
Finalist Reeves kicked off his competition having to deal with half Scottish, half Pakistani Annes Taj whose wild tactics proved his undoing as an uppercut dropped him at the end of the first. Behind 10-8 on the cards Taj roared back and threw everything he could in the second. His efforts continued into the third as each man met in the middle and swung. It was Reeves who would get the nod though.
In the final bout at the last eight stage the Johnny Nelson mentored Sheldon McDonald outpointed Wolverhampton livewire Ryan Cotterell. A jab dropped Cotterell in the first and he began to get tagged for fun but to his credit he pushed McDonald back in the second and tried to walk through his opponent in the third. The smart boxing of McDonald backed up by the knockdown was enough to take the decision.
The semi-finals pitted Zorro against Smith and Reeves versus McDonald.
Once again Zorro didn’t look like he had to hit top gear to beat his opponent. Smith ate the jab constantly and did little to upset the applecart.
Reeves and McDonald, friends, and sparring partners, brought the drama in semi-final two.
McDonald controlled round one, the second was a tighter affair but the fight looked like it was his to lose, and he did. Reeves landed the best punch in the fight during round three with a heavy right hand. It sapped the energy from McDonald who wilted allowing Reeves to capitalise. The Sheffield cruiser was hurt, he held on but a left and a right set up the final shot which put McDonald down heavily with 56 seconds to go ending the bout.
The final proved to be an underwhelming affair. Reeves did his best to trouble Zorro by boxing the boxer then moving inside to make matters uncomfortable, but he played into the favourite’s hands. Zorro, from Bromley, had Reeves in trouble during the final seconds of round two. An uppercut had the schoolteacher wobbling and in the third session he got caught flush on the inside near the end to rubber stamp the victory for Zorro who walks away with the £40,000 prize.