George Hennon defeats Fonz Alexander in comeback fight
27-year-old welterweight George Hennon (5-1) rounded off a six-fight card at the York Hall on Saturday, June 25, with a polished performance to win all four rounds against veteran journeyman Fonz Alexander (7-131-1).
Trained by George O’Mahoney in Aylesford, Hennon was roared on by over 250 fans he brought from Maidstone to Bethnal Green. Despite the long layoff after almost six years away, the talented welterweight rose to the occasion to deliver a punch-perfect performance against the 138-fight veteran from Newark, who had his former trainer Johnny Greaves in his corner.
The Kent puncher had five professional boxing fights under ex-pro Greaves between 2015-2016, winning four home bouts and losing one away fight against Sam Ball in Scotland.
Having been back in training with O’Mahoney for an entire year in preparation for this comeback, George was straight on the front foot from the first bell, using his jab regularly as a rangefinder, but also as a constant nuisance to continually keep his man thinking.
Hennon’s last fight was in July 2016, so he was slightly cautious to start, but in a good way. He managed to unleash a few flurries, including backhand uppercuts, but didn’t ever get too greedy. He delivered the combos then stayed safe, not staying in the pocket for too long to take anything back from his experienced opponent. When Fonz did try to attack, Hennon was quick on his heels to back away swiftly enough to avoid his charges.
In the second round, Hennon was growing in confidence, having shaken off the nerves that inevitably come with so many years away from the ring. He was boxing perfectly, landed another backhand uppercut, which is a tricky shot to throw, then he caught Fonz’s counter left hook on his right glove when the away fighter attempted to fire back.
Hennon was boxing better with each passing round. The experienced Alexander attempted to come forward a few times during each session, but Hennon was so quick to evade his attacks, but in this third round he was happy to keep his feet in range at times to trade back.
In the last round, Fonz tried to entice Hennon into a war, but he wisely stuck to his boxing and stayed disciplined. There were times when Hennon fought fire with fire even though he didn’t need to, but he was exuding such confidence and not taking any shots cleanly from the Nottingham man.
You could tell at the final bell that the journeyman, who has been in with hundreds of prospects such as current British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Gavin Gwynne, was clearly impressed with his opponent by the end. He was quick to praise Hennon straight after the fight finished and clapped him when the scores of 40-36 were read out.
Hennon barely took a single shot all fight but had such a high output throughout. He peppered his man with his orthodox left jab all fight long and only whipped in power shots, which he mixed up from body to head, when the occasion allowed.
Busier and better, Hennon won all four rounds comfortably and is expected to be back out again in September on another Goodwin Promotions show at the York Hall.
Post-fight, the jubilant Hennon said, “I didn’t take a shot, I felt really comfortable in there. We know with Fonz he’ll always throw a big, looping hook so you can’t get too greedy, so I was throwing a few little throwaway shots, then digging a couple in, then stepping back.
“The main thing is that I felt so relaxed in there and I just need to take that into every fight. Obviously, there’s always improvements to be made, so we’ll take it fight by fight and see where we can go.
“Going forward, hopefully be back out in September.”
Hennon took one day off from training, then ran a 26-mile marathon around his local area in Snodland on Monday!
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