“SHOCKING Night, Complete Disaster” Sauerland Blasts The Conditioning Of Matty Harris
- Heavyweight Matty Harris Was Beaten By Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko In A Big Upset
- Harris Dropped Dovbyshchenko In The Second But Was Stopped Three Rounds Later
- Promoter Kalle Sauerland Has Blasted The Fitness And Preparation Of His Fighter
Previously unbeaten Heavyweight prospect Matty Harris was stopped in the fifth round by Ukrainian journeyman Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko (10-13) on Friday night in Edinburgh.
The fight was on the undercard of Lee McGregor-Erik Robles for the IBO world title, a highly entertaining show with three bookies’ underdogs leaving with their hands raised including 6/1 underdog Dovbyshchenko.
Harris started the fight well, putting the Ukrainian down in round two with a strong right hand. However, the tide started to change at the end of round three as Harris was caught with 8-10 clean shots with his hands down.
The Brit looked very tired in round four especially at the end of it with him desperately needing the minute break in the corner. Seconds into round five, however, told you that the sixty-second rest period wasn’t enough.
Dovbyshchenko put a beating on Harris in the fifth landing at will but he himself became tired and the pace slowed down until the end of the round where a dominant spell for the journeyman saw the referee step in and call an end to the bout.
Kalle Sauerland On Matty Harris
“Terrible the conditioning on him,” Harris’ promoter Kalle Sauerland told iFL TV‘s Colm McGuigan in Nashville in the aftermath of Misfits 008.
“He’s such a talent, the conditioning a complete disaster. He has to look at the whole set-up there.”
The Brit has been touted as one of the top Heavyweight prospects out of this country and the loss was not necessarily an indication of that being incorrect but rather a representation of the lack of conditioning and proper preparation in Harris’ camp.
“Massive talent, big guy but sometimes it’s the big guys that think they can do it.”
“He’s gonna have to look back at that. It could go two ways from here: he can take this as a massive boost in his career, or it could go totally t**s up.”
Sauerland believes that this early loss could end up being a positive for Harris if he can learn from it and change his ways. Vica versa it may well be the fight that kills the confidence and self-belief of the 23-year-old; it will depend on what Harris takes from it and how he moves forward,
“Shocking night. The conditioning looked disastrous. It’s so early in his career, it could be a boost. Sort your set up out, whatever you’re doing there’s something wrong.”
IMAGE: Ian Walton/Matchroom Boxing/Kalle Sauerland
By NoSmokeSport