Joshua Clottey subdues Ayittey Powers

Joshua Clottey won a unanimous decision over Ayittey Powers at the Globe Cinema Hall early Saturday morning when they fought over 10 rounds in a catch weight contest on the maiden bill of Landmark Promotions.

The fight, which had generated a lot of hype because of the verbal salvos both boxers had fired in the build up, was clearly dominated by the lighter boxer, welterweight Clottey who dictated the pace throughout against his super welterweight opponent.

As early as the first round the trend became conspicuous when Powers failed to connect a single punch and was hit at will, with jabs and hooks by Joshua.

The second round was not different from the first as Joshua chased Powers around, bombarding him with some good jabs and quick body punches. Powers kept on smiling as if the shots from his opponent did not hurt but when he tried to fight back Joshua pedaled backwards and avoided his shots and stunned him with quick counters in the process.

It remained a one-way traffic and Powers appeared zapped in the third when he was caught on the head in a neutral corner by a barrage of solid hooks from Clottey who failed to go in for the kill.

Joshua continued amassing points and frustrated Powers by clinging anytime the latter corked to fire.

Early in the fifth round Powers appeared rejuvenated as he forced Clottey back with some powerful punches but the more experienced Joshua soon regained the offensive, piercing through the guard of Powers with right uppercuts and pulping his body with right and left bombs.

There was no doubt in the minds of the fans as to where the fight was going as the sixth and seventh rounds fitted the status quo, with the lagging Powers failing to increase his pace and instead, he contended himself with some clowning to the consternation of his supporters.

The two boxers had a point deducted from their haul in the eighth when Powers was adjudged by referee Bob Sackey to have butted Joshua who was also penalized later for persistent pushing.

Powers tried to open up in the ninth round but Joshua exhibited his better knowledge of the sport by clinging and holding to slow down the pace and flexing back swiftly at the box command after each break.

Joshua danced from corner to corner in the tenth, which saw little action and raised his right hand in jubilation at the sound of the final bell and indeed, there was no question mark about his victory.

The real star of the bill, which was dubbed "The Three Stars," was Beninnois lightweight Ange Adjaho who pummeled home boy Sarfo Tyson into submission via a sixth round technical knockout in their 10 round international contest.

Ange who is the African Boxing Confederation (ABC) champion did everything right as he jabbed, hooked and connected a variety of punches anytime he wanted to. His defensive skills were also super and he easily bobbed and ducked punches or parried them away while his ability to counter punch was a marvel to watch.

The Beninnois' stance and display drew cheers from the large crowd, which patronized the promotion and some fans thought Sarfo had done very well to last five rounds with him.

James "Hot Ice" Toney increased his fight record to 14 wins in as many fights when he recorded his 13th knockout against Jean Thomas of Cote d' Ivoire in four rounds in a middleweight contest. Jean retired at the end of the third round.

In a super featherweight contest, Abdulai Amidu won a third round TKO over Fustin Rustan, the Ivorian national champion who failed to respond to bell for round three.

Welterweight Philip Kotey won a unanimous verdict against Ishmael Tetteh when they fought over six rounds and Mustapha Appiah made a successful professional debut when he won a six round decision over Alfred Odai.