Lenny Fuller made it five in five on JE Promotions’ six-fight ‘Unleashed’ card
Unbeaten super-welterweight Lenny Fuller (5-0) kicked off 2019 with a fifth straight points win at Mote Park, Maidstone on February 23.
Nine months on from his pro debut, the 24-year-old from Maidstone impressed in his first six-rounder, despite being subject to a last-minute change of opponent.
‘The Main Man’ was due to face Danny ‘Lethal’ Little (7-53-2) but was replaced at the 11th hour by Karim Khan (0-6), and 'The Sledgehammer' came into the away corner more than half a stone heavier than Fuller.
The new face in the opposite corner proved to be a tricky customer with an awkward, elusive style, but Fuller adapted well. Despite the weight advantage, the 27-year-old Yorkshireman couldn't hurt Fuller with his punches.
The Chart Sutton resident said, “It’s never perfect having to deal with a last-minute change of opponent because the last two weeks I was training to prepare for Danny Little but then when it changed the day before I just accepted it got on with it.
“I was happy with performance, but I got a lot of things I need to go back to the gym to work on.”
Hailing from Sheffield, Khan displayed a style similar to Prince Naseem and managed to catch the home fighter a few times early on with difficult screw shots, but Fuller turned it into a competitive fight very quickly and managed to win every round, scored at 60-54 by referee Ian John Lewis.
Both fighters switched stances in the opening rounds, but Khan couldn't do anything to better Fuller, who had him trapped on the ropes in the third stanza and duly unloaded, marking up Khan's face significantly by the fourth. Fuller went back to his stinging, long jabs in the penultimate round and knocked out Khan's gumshiled in the sixth and final round.
“Yes, he was tricky but I outboxed him for six-rounds and it was a good learning curve for me. There was a bit of weight difference but I didn’t care on the day, I just wanted to fight, but I think I’m going to drop down to welterweight for my next outing and see how I fair with that.”
There were wins on the show for all six home fighters including Martin Hillman; Danny Barrett; Jack Budge; Danny Shannon; and Chris Matthews.Fuller next fights on April 27 back at More Park, Maidstone on a JE Promotions event.