Half a decade ago today: Ovill McKenzie vs. Matthew Askin

The Upsetter versus the Assassin. Commonwealth and BBBofC Great Britain cruiserweight titles at stake (McKenzie's second and first defenses, respectively).

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I had to dig through five years' worth of boxing history on this date to find a meaningful bout. I'll warn you, though - while meaningful (at least in the context of the UK domestic scene) and making for a somewhat interesting scoring exercise (given all the point deductions, and some close rounds) it doesn't exactly make for the prettiest viewing. The first half was moderately decent, and in fact was largely controlled by Askin. It seemed the Upsetter would be the one getting upset by the upstart - but then a big right hand* changed everything, and it degenerated into a foul-fest with clinching and cheap shots after the bell galore.

*Oh yeah...both of these guys punch a lot harder than you'd figure by scanning their records for a quick glance at their KO ratios (Ovill a mere 34% and Matty a higher but still deceptive 53%) - so if you had seen a fair bit of either you might have gone into this expecting a fun war, ending in somebody getting kayoed. And you'd be wrong on all counts.

I had it 115-110 for McKenzie on the night in the RBR:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/ovill-mckenzie-vs-matty-askin-rbr.532562/

 

Crazy, this fight precedes TMVAS by over 1½ years.

 

Oh man... Well, this fight won't necessarily disabuse you of that impression (but is eminently more watchable than any Okolie fight ) ...but check out Askin vs. Tommy McCarthy; if you can get past the dreadful 1st round it does pick up.