Repeat or Revenge – British middleweight champion Jason Welborn and former titleholder Tommy Langford go to war in the Battle of the Baggies 2
Tim Rickson of BBN previews the eagerly-awaited ‘Battle of the Baggies 2’ showdown this weekend in Birmingham, live on Sky Sports.
The rivals reverse roles as Jason Welborn (23-6) enters the Birmingham Arena as the defending British middleweight champion and Tommy Langford (20-2) emerges as the challenger to his former crown.
Battle of the Baggies
Rewind the clocks back four months to a balmy evening at the Walsall Town Hall on May 4 when the two local boxers locked horns for the British middleweight championship and ended up delivering a fight of the year candidate.
The small hall was packed to the rafters, both boxers had rallied as many West Bromwich Albion fans to their corners as possible, as the warring pair met in the ring over 12-rounds to decide who was the better man.
Both Brummies are Baggies, champion Langford was adorned in the blue and white home kit colours, the challenger Welborn sporting the away yellow and green.
It was the first time that promoter Errol Johnson’s modest Black Country Boxing Promotions had ever staged a British title fight and the views on their Facebook live page reached record levels for the small promotional outfit.
Local lad Welborn, 32, grew up just a stone’s throw away from the Hawthorns but 29-year-old Langford, a former England amateur captain, was born and bred in Bideford in North Devon. The talented youngster, a multiple national amateur champion, landed a sports scholarship that allowed him to study at Birmingham University, as he has family in the Black Country where his dad, David, grew up. The university graduate joined Hall Green ABC under the guidance of history-making trainer Tom Chaney with Frankie Gavin as his teammate.
Since then, over a decade on, Langford has developed an unmistakable Brummie burr and become a firm favourite at the Hawthorns, where the fans have renamed him the ‘Baggies Bomber’ and even became a regular columnist for the match day programme.
The local rivalry between the former sparring partners that claim allegiance to the same football team saw choice words exchanged in the build up to fight night and the contest itself lived up his hype when it caught fire in the second round after Welborn landed a perfect left hook on the champion’s chin that saw him back-pedal to the ropes, causing referee Terry O’Connor to step in an give a standing eight-count.
In true champion style, he rallied back to boss the ensuing rounds before Welborn stormed his way back into the contest in the championship section, overwhelming his rival, desperate to land the coveted Lord Lonsdale belt that had eluded him on two previous occasions.
The narrowest of scores – 114-113 twice to Welborn and 115-113 to Langford – caused another major shock on the same weekend that also saw Tony Bellew destroy David Haye in five rounds, ending the Hayemaker’s career for good.
Tale of the Tape
Form
Tommy Langford last six fights:
LOSS vs Jason Welborn – SD 12
WIN vs Jack Arnfield – UD 12
WIN vs Miguel Aguiler – PTS 6
LOSS vs Avtandil Khurtsidze – TKO 5
WIN vs Sam Sheedy – SD 12
WIN vs Timo Laine – TKO 7
Combined record of 122-53-3
Jason Welborn last six fights:
WIN vs Jason Welborn – SD 12
WIN vs Christian Haskins Gomez – PTS 6
WIN vs Marcus Morrison – UD 10
WIN vs Casey Blair – PTS 4
LOSS vs Craig Cunningham – PTS 10
LOSS vs William Warburton – PTS 6
Combined record of 77-141-12
The Aftermath
The first fight taught us a few things, firstly that Jason Welborn can bang at middleweight. Despite the thrilling encounter with Langford reaching the the final bell, Welborn’s heavy hands were evident to see throughout the 36 minutes.
The second lesson learnt is that Langford is a warrior through and through! Despite being caught with a peach of a punch that threatened to down him, he stayed on his feet and refused to be sunk. He then fought fire with fire and came back in style to win many of the following rounds before Welborn’s late surge did just enough to nick the decision.
Langford’s only other loss on his ledger was when he stepped up to world level, perhaps too soon, for the WBO interim world title against Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2), the Georgian known as the ‘Mini Mike Tyson’ who is now incarcerated facing serious RICO charges in America. The slugger floored the Birmingham boxer for the first and only time in his career, but the trooper rose to his feet and was desperate to fight on, had it not been for the slightest stumble of feet as referee Phil Edwards was completing his count.
He does not go down easy and won’t stay down either. Welborn, however, has been stopped before, on three occasions to a young Tyan Booth (2-0) in just his second pro fight and to former world champion Liam Smith (16-0-1) and world title contender Frankie Gavin (14-0). Both bouts with ‘Beefy’ and Frankie were for the British belt, first at 147lbs against Gavin and, secondly, at 154lbs against Smith – both were cut short during the middle rounds courtesy of crippling body blows.
The two-time Midlands Area champion has had his last four fights at middleweight and won them all, surprising Joe Gallagher’s unbeaten prospect Marcus Morrison (14-0) in March 2017 to win the WBC International Silver title and culminating in the win over Langford to land the Lonsdale belt on his third attempt.
Welborn’s confidence will be sky high going into his first British title defence in a division he is clearly thriving in, and he is no stranger to the big stage on Sky Sports.
Langford could either be more resolute in the role as challenger or lacking the confidence that comes with being the champion.
Verdict
Langford was arguably unlucky to lose the first fight having bagged most, if not all, of the rounds from the third to the ninth. The first round swayed back and forth with the champion in control, the challenger only successful in bursts but he did land the very first and the very last punch of the fight. He finished strong and the ringside judges gave him the nod…just.
It was a single point that clinched it for Welborn on his home show, but had it been held on a different promoter’s card then it could, arguably, have been a different outcome.
The champion lost his head in the pre-fight antics and got embroiled in war of words with his opponent for the first time in his career. He has since admitted to overlooking Welborn, having seen off the mandatory challenger Jack Arnfield (25-2) less than three months prior in February with a wide points win. He also alluded to feeling drained after experiencing back-to-back training camps.
The first fight went the way Wellborn wanted, as he dragged the talented champion into his own fight, allowing him to get inside and land heavy hooks and uppercuts.
In the rematch, Langford will have to box clever, knowing what it cost him the first time around when he neglected to.
The danger is that Welborn could come on strong and tangle Langford up to land those heavy shots in the clinches, but I’m backing a rejuvenated Langford to stay smart and keep him on the end of his sharp, long-reaching jabs and one-two's.
I would expect to see Langford win on points by a fairly wide margin, but he also has a chance of stopping the contest early. Round nine of their first encounter saw Welborn rattled on a few occasions but he shook his head and continued to plod forwards. A fit and energetic Langford will have far more sting in his shots this time and a stoppage win in the second half of the fight could well happen, or Welborn's corner could decide that enough is enough and withcraw him from the contest.
If I was a betting man, I would put my money on a points win for Langford.