Calum Cooper vs Amir Unsworth Friday 12th July

By Ross Tuohy - 07/13/2013 - Comments

By Ross Tuohy: Friday Night saw the North Kevsteven Leisure Centre transformed into one of the best showcases of boxing talent. The very supportive and vocal Lincoln fans rallied behind their local talents, feeding every fighter and allowing them to put on a great show even in the sweltering heat of the venue, which was compounded by the spotlights that illuminated the ring.

The crowd showed their appreciation as four promising fighters debuted. David Kealy triumphed over ‘Dirty’ Dan Carr in a four round light welterweight contest, as did Welterweight Andy Collins when he went head to head with the South African ‘Becks-Tiger’ Behki Moyo. Another welterweight Daryl Bapist came out on top over London’s Danny Donchev. Jack Heath from Slough fought well against the more experienced Super Bantamweight Bobby Jenkinson but did not pick up the win despite showing tremendous heart.

The final fight of the night was without doubt the most anticipated with serving soldier Amir ‘Unzy’ Unsworth (32) stepping through the ropes to battle Birmingham’s Calum Cooper (24) in a contest to decide who would take home the vacant Midlands Area Light Welterweight crown.

Both fighters were riding high going into the fight with each having won their previous contest and it looked to be a interesting fight to say the least. The Lincoln crowd showed respect to both combatants with one side of the room cheering for Cooper while the other roared for Unsworth.

Round One began with Unsworth pressuring Cooper by favouring the inside, attempting to counteract Cooper’s southpaw style and prevent him gaining momentum, using his weight to press Cooper into the corner and on the ropes. This strategy backfired when an accidental head clash near the end of the round caused a cut above Unsworth’s eye, which would cause problems for the rest of the bout.

Cooper exploded from his corner at the start of Round Two with Unsworth visibly rattled as a result of his injury, while drawing energy from the deafening crowd he managed to weather the storm of Cooper’s combination punches which Cooper utilised from then until the end of the fight.

Round Three saw Unsworth try to shut down Cooper again with the same strategy, attempting to lean on Cooper and go to work on the lighter fighters ribs however this left Unsworth’s head very vulnerable and for the next two rounds Cooper’s quicker movement and tight defence served him very well with a few more short sharp combos resulting in a bloody nose for Unsworth.

The beginning of Round five saw Unsworth attempt to pull things out of the fire, landing single but powerful blows to Cooper’s jaw causing the younger fighter to back off a little and attempt to find range with his jab, adapting to Unsworth’s new tactic by focusing on punishing hooks to the body.

Round six saw the referee step in, warning the fighters to watch the placement of their body punches as both clashed on the left side of the ring.

As the bout raged Unsworth’s strength began to ebb and despite the best efforts of the crowd to keep him energised it was obvious that Cooper was the fighter with the superior stamina, appearing the fresher as he stepped out in round seven, his blistering work rate and the precise placement of flurry after flurry of punches displayed shades of the undefeated fighting pride of Wales Joe Calzaghe. It was interesting to see the very different approaches of each fighter, as the fight wore on and Unsworth made a push to capture the last few rounds with his heavy power punches, knowing that a knockout was his last chance to capture the title while Cooper used his speed to his advantage, never allowing himself to throw single punches instead relying on combinations of twos threes and fours.

It took eight rounds before Cooper showed signs of slowing but he managed to keep his composure and take Unsworth the distance despite being the less experienced fighter, rocking Unsworth with a huge set of body punches halfway through the ninth.

Ultimately it came down to the judges decision with Cooper rewarded a victory of 100 to 92 and the belt, both fighters received huge praise from the crowd with Unsworth receiving a well deserved standing ovation from everyone present in recognition of the sacrifices he made while fulfilling his duties as a soldier, which made for a both heart warming and sobering image. It was gratifying to see such a massive show of support not just for Unsworth but all the British servicemen and women who put their lives on line in service to the country.