Johnny Jowls vs Tony De Lago

January 22, 1994. Manchester, England

So Johnny's title opportunity was here at last. He'd worked hard to get here and suffered some humiliating defeats along the way, but his recent form had been superb. The British Commonwealth heavyweight Championship! Over from the Bahamas was Tony De Lago. He was undefeated in his last 17 fights since moving his base to the States. He'd shown he was able to absorb heavy punches and was still on the rise on the world stage.

Their respective records:

Tony De Lago (Champion) 21-18 [9]-1-2

Johnny Jowls (Challenger) 13-9 [5]-0-4

On the Lambourne Fighter Index, De Lago was rated 188 with Jowls fairly close on 180. Jowls had the better control and power but De Lago could take punishment and would be a lot stronger as the fight went on.

Round 1. De Lago was pressing forward right from the start. It was Jowls though that made his mark. A left hook to the side of the head and then a right hook inside after De Lago was forced to clinch. De Lago did come back with a right and left late on, but Jowls had controlled much of the round and landed the better punches.

Round 2. Much better from the champion. Successive connections with a left swing and right swing put De lago in the driving seat. Although Jowls controlled the middle part of the round well, connecting with a left uppercut and missing with several others, De Lago was not to be denied and he came back with a left uppercut of his own. Round to the champion.

Round 3. Jowls took the fight back to De Lago, landing a left hook and then a left cross, both to the head. De Lago tried to counter and caught Jowls with a left swing that connected above the right eye, opening up a cut which poured blood. Although Jowls fought on bravely, the champion seized his opportunity and caught Jowls twice on the chin with a left cross and a right uppercut. fairly even given Jowls's energetic start but the cut probably won De Lago the round.

Round 4. Jowls cut opened up again in the clinch and his vision must've been impaired somewhat. but then he caught De Lago with a wonderful left hook which put the champion flat on his back. De Lago had no chance to recover from THAT shot and he was counted out 36 seconds into round four.

JOWLS WAS NOW BRITISH COMMONWEALTH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!

Well that single punch certainly put Jowls on the international boxing map. He had shown in the first three rounds he could go with De Lago, but in the fourth put him away with a wonder punch. Was he lucky given the bleeding cut over his eye?