By Ken Hissner: At the Eagles Community Arena, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, UK, Saturday over Sky Sports and the Zone (DAZN) Eddie Hearn – Matchroom Boxing presented in the Main Event WBA Inter-Continental champion ranked No. 6 Lewis “Sandman” Ritson, of Forest Hall, New Castle, UK, was stopped by ranked No. 5 Jeremias “Jere” Ponce, of Bueno Aires, ARG, in the tenth round for IBF Super Lightweight World Title Eliminator.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
In the co-feature, Super Bantamweight Thomas Patrick Ward came off the canvas defeating Edy “Dinamita” Valencia over 10 rounds.
In the Main Event, Lewis “Sandman” Ritson, 21-2 (12), #139¾, of Forest Hall, New Castle, UK, was stopped by IBO Super Lightweight champion Jeremias “Jere” Ponce, 28-0 (17), #139¾, of Bueno Aires, ARG, at 1:24 of the tenth round of a scheduled 12.
In the first two rounds, Ponce completely dominated Ritson with body-hurting him and headshots the entire round with referee Steve Gray looking closely about the punches Ritson was taking without return.
In the third round, Ponce landed chopping rights to the head of Ritson, who tried fighting back but didn’t score enough.
In the fourth round, Ponce was warned about butting by referee Gray. Inside the final minute, Ritson landed his best punch up to that point, an overhand right on the chin of Ponce, this being Ritson’s best round so far.
In the fifth round, both fighters had their moments when Ritson landed flush on the chin of Ponce; it seemed to spur Ponce on to come back that harder.
In the sixth round, Ponce landed half a dozen punches without return, several times having Ritson on the defense.
In the seventh round, Ponce had a big round landing almost at will with chopping headshots while Ritson countered mostly with body shots.
In the eighth round, Ponce almost had Ritson down at the end of the round with chopping rights on the head.
In the ninth round, Ponce had Ritson almost exhausted from the continuous punches landed.
In the tenth and final round, Ponce scored a pair of knockdowns, causing the corner of Ritson to throw in the towel, but referee Gray tossed it out of the ring.
The final knockdown was more of a push down to the knees of Ritson, with referee Gray finally stopping it.
“First of all, I want to thank the fans here and my promoter Frank Warren and my opponent for how tough he was.
I actually hit him with a terrific body shot that I think was called a low blow. I knew I could keep it up for all the rounds. I look forward to the world title fight with Josh Taylor,” said Ponce.
In the co-feature, Super Bantamweight Thomas Patrick Ward, 30-0-1 (4), #128¾, of West Rainton, UK, defeated Edy “Dinamita” Valencia, 17-6-6 (5), #126¾, of Sinaloa, MEX, over 10 rounds.
In the first four rounds, Ward’s foot and hand speed countered the ever-oncoming Mercado, with Ward holding a 3-2 edge.
In the fifth round, Ward was caught with a left on the chin off the shoulder and hit the canvas on his bottom with the referee Howard Foster ruling it a knockdown.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Ward continued to outbox the southpaw Mercado with a jab and lead rights.
In the tenth and final round, Valencia continued throwing punches to the body of Ward. By the end of the round, it was Ward who had Valencia against the ropes with a flurry of punches.
Scores were Ron Kearney 97-93 with Steve Gray and Victor Loughlin 98-92 as did this writer had it. “I’m coming off a bad fight, but tonight was a good night. I’m looking forward to a title fight,” said Ward.
Welter Joe “Benwell Bomber” Laws, 10-1 (5), #149¼, of Benwell, UK, defeated Chris Adaway, 10-70-4 (1), #146, of Plymouth, UK, over 6 rounds. Referee Ron Kearney had it 60-54, as did this writer.
Super Welter Cyrus Pattinson, 1-0 (1), #151¼, of Ashington, UK, knocked out Yonch “The Little Flash” Markov, 4-3 (2), #152¾, of Sofia, Bulgaria, at 1:57 of the second round of a scheduled 6. The referee was Victor Loughlin.
Heavyweight Solomon Dacres, 2-0 (1), #225½, of Warley, UK, stopped Alvaro Terrero, 5-12-2 (3), #215¾, of Chiclana, Spain, at 1:36 of the fourth round of a scheduled 6. The referee was Ron Kearney.
Super Welter April Hunter, 4-0 (0) #152¼, of Wallsend, UK, defeated Klaudia Vigh, 3-28-1 (2), #149¼, of Budapest, Hungary, over 4 rounds. Referee Victor Loughlin scored it 40-37.