By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten featherweight contender Derry Matthews (20-0, 11 KOs) made easy work of his opponent Nikoloz Berkatsashvili (14-3, 5 KOs), stopping him in the 1st round of a scheduled eight-round bout on Saturday night at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London, England. Matthews, 24, dropped Berkatsashvili twice in the first round with left hooks to the midsection. After the second knockdown, the referee counted Berkatsashvili because he was in too much pain and counted make to his feet in time. For Matthews, who’s ranked #4 in the World Boxing Organization and #10 in the International Boxing Federation featherweight divisions, he was simply far too good for the limited Berkatsashvili to handle.
In the opening moments of the 1st round, Matthews immediately pounced on Berkatsashvili, 22, hitting him with wide hooks with both hands, and flailing on him without much return coming back. Of the few punches that Berkatsashvili did attempt to throw, they badly missed their mark by a long shot, as if he was punching with his eyes closed. Within seconds, Matthews unloaded with a big left hook the midsection that dropped Berkatsashvili to the canvas where he lay there for a moment clutching his stomach. However, he quickly gather his legs together and got back on his feet, and the action resumed.
Berkatsashvili then fired off a right hand, which incredibly, landed. Unfortunately, it would be the last punch that he would throw, for Matthews hit him with a quick left-right to the head, followed by another combination, this time to his midsection, knocking Berkatsashvili down for the second and final time in the round.
It was a very impressive showing for Matthews. However, he needs to start stepping it up against better competition, because the low level opposition that he has been fighting isn’t going to help get ready for the quality fighters in the featherweight division, like WBO champion Steve Luevano or IBF featherweight champion Robert Guerrero. I’d hate to see Matthews go from a fight like this to a bout with one of the champions, because it would be a huge step up in competition, one that Matthews may not be ready for due to the low quality opponents he’s been put in against in his career.