It didn’t happen under the
most ideal of circumstances, but Brampton boxer Denton Daley can call himself a
double champion.
The 31-year-old won the vacant
North American Boxing Association cruiserweight title last night (June 1) at
the Hershey Centre after French champion Faisal Ibnel Arrami separated his
shoulder in the fourth round and wasn’t able to continue.
“Of course, you want to either
go the distance or get a knockout to solidify your title, but that’s just the
way it goes sometimes,” said Daley, who also has the North American Boxing
Federation cruiserweight belt after beating Richard Hall three months ago.
“It could have been me, it
could have been him, but it’s a good thing that I was okay when I left the ring
at the end of the day.”
Saturday’s fight was the main
event on a six-card show presented by United Boxing Promotions.
After feeling out his opponent
through the first two rounds, Daley noticed Arrami was getting tired from
swinging. He tagged the frenchman in the third round and landed a furious
combination before landing another hard shot in the fourth round.
Before the fighters came out
of their corners to start the fifth round, Arrami walked over to Daley and said
he couldn’t continue because of his shoulder.
After the fight, Arrami’s
trainers said he re-aggravated a previous shoulder injury.
Daley, who improved to 10-0 as
a professional, said Arrami was the strongest opponent he’s faced so far.
Daley accomplished a rare feat
by claiming two championships since turning pro in 2010.
He has only fought 31 times —
21 times as an amateur — but what he lacks in experience, he makes up for with
superior athleticism.
Daley looks forward to the
pressure of defending his titles from now on.
“Everybody wants the titles I
have, so that puts me in the shark tank, but that’s fine,” Daley said. “I rise
to the occasion and when I get a better guy in front of me, I fight better.”
Daley’s promoter, Don
MacDonald of United Promotions, expects the champion to move into the top-10 in
the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association cruiserweight rankings.
“They’re very excited about
someone like Denton continuing to fight,” MacDonald said. “His style of
fighting, because he’s from Canada, will pay dividends on the world stage
because of the way they perceive us.”
In the co-main event,
45-year-old Fitz Vanderpool of Kitchener couldn’t make it through the first
round against Ajax’s Brandon Cook in a fight for the vacant Canadian super
welterweight championship.
Cook was powerful from the
start and earned the knockout with one second remaining in the first round.
He remains undefeated with a
10-0 record and six knockouts.
The evening also consisted of
four undercard fights.
Hamilton lightweight Steve
Wilcox improved to 7-0 with a unanimous decision win over Italy’s Raffaele
Laezza, Montreal heavyweight Sylvera Louis knocked out Belleville’s Dillon
Carman in the fourth round, Whitby cruiserweight Brock Arthur and Barrie’s
Jordan Smith battled to a draw while Hamilton middleweight Kevin Higson won his
pro debut by unanimous decision over Toronto’s Thomas Silva, who was also
making his pro debut. (Source)
