Olympic super-heavyweight bronze medal-winner Frazer Clarke secured his third quick win against the horribly overmatched Pencho Tsvetkov, who was knocked down twice before the fight was stopped in just 65 seconds in Liverpool.
The Bulgarian came in with a 7-0 record, including four first-round wins, but there was nothing to suggest that he could really trouble Clarke.
While he wasn’t much taller than the Bulgarian, Clarke’s physique was much heavier and the 31-year-old rocked Tsvetkov with the first right he threw. And after following him around the ring, Clarke landed a left hook to the body that dropped the Bulgarian. The fight at that point was only 35 seconds old.
Tsvetkov was up quickly but looked to his corner in a way that suggested he wanted a way out. A left jab and right, both of which seemed to hit the gloves, and then left hook to the body had Tsvetkov jumping on the floor again and, while he was up again quickly, referee Steve Gray waved off the mismatch.
Clarke could not hide his disappointment. “I’m fuming,” he told Andy Scott of Sky Sports. “I want to apologize to everyone who came and paid good money to come and watch me. I just have to say that’s not acceptable and it’s not my fault. People have got to do better and it is as simple as that.
“I apologize to everyone here, I apologize to the opponent, he shouldn’t be in the ring with me, it’s dangerous. Go home, pack my bags, go back to the gym and go again. But I can’t take that no more.”
Adam Azim continued his destructive start to his professional career as he knocked out Michel Cabral of Argentina in 114 seconds of the first round.
It was a third successive first-round finish for the 20-year-old, who moved to 6-0.
He did not rush his work but the end came from a vicious left to the body. The punch backed Cabral up before a follow-up right went behind the head and another landed in the ear to send him to the floor, where he sat shaking his head as referee Steve Gray counted him out.
“He’d never been stopped before, which is a statement in itself,” Azim said. “I tried to go rounds but I am ready for whoever is put in front of me.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.
