Ellis Zorro tuvo otra dura pugna, pero noqueó brutalmente a Hosea Burton
Daniel Pi
@BastionBoxeo
York Hall, Londres, Reino Unido. Peso crucero.
Tras su muy exigente batalla ante Dec Spelman, el peso crucero británico Ellis Zorro 16(7KO)-0 esperaba mostrarse más dominador en su combate contra su compatriota Hosea Burton 28(12KO)-4(3) y lograr un triunfo igual o más contundente que el que consiguió ante éste el peso semipesado Dan Azeez. Esta última parte de su objetivo Zorro la cumplió, ya que ganó con un espectacular knockout en el séptimo round, los mismos que necesitó Azeez, pero de nuevo tuvo una pelea muy dura y en la que tuvo que aplicarse a fondo.
En un inicio Zorro intentó presionar calmadamente escogiendo sus jabs arriba y abajo y sus derechas rectas a la cabeza, tratando de evitar las ofensivas de su rival con pasos atrás o buscando contragolpearle con manos diestras. Así, en el segundo asalto logró anotar buenos puños contra Burton, que llegó a parecer algo estremecido.
Sin embargo, el no favorito, que había señalado antes del combate que se retiraría si no podía ganar y que era apoyado por una importante masa de fans, se mostró mucho más activo en el tercer y el cuarto asalto, arrojando ofensivas, llevando hacia las cuerdas a su oponente y golpeándolo con combinaciones, que agravaron una hemorragia que padecía Zorro y que parecieron llegar a dañarle un tanto.
De todos modos, aunque en adelante los asaltos siguieron estando disputados y alguno de ellos se lo pudo anotar Burton, el hecho es que éste no estaba en óptimas condiciones físicas (durante gran parte de su carrera ha sido un peso semipesado), y dio la sensación de que podría terminar pagando el precio de sus esfuerzos en forma de pérdida de resistencia. Efectivamente, así fue, ya que, tras asaltos en los que ambos cruzaron sus jabs y hubo ofensivas esporádicas de uno y otro con irregulares aciertos, en el séptimo asalto Zorro impactó un derechazo que dañó a su contrincante, que en la ofensiva posterior terminó cayendo por un empujón. Por lo tanto, no hubo cuenta, pero en la reanudación Zorro sacó un velocísimo directo que desplomó aparatosamente sobre la lona a Burton sin posibilidad de continuar.
Con la captura de un cinturón menor WBO, Zorro ingresará en el ranking de dicho organismo, y sus dos emocionantes pugnas consecutivas harán que muchos tengan interés en ver sus próximos combates. Aun así, está teniendo demasiadas dificultades para imponerse a rivales muy por debajo de la élite británica y ante los que tenía importantes ventajas, de modo que, si no logra dar forma a una evolución rápidamente o resuelve sus brechas más serias, en poco tiempo la exigencia de sus enfrentamientos superará a su nivel boxístico y le llevará a una derrota.
Ellis Zorro had another tough fight, but he brutally knocked out Hosea Burton
Daniel Pi
@BastionBoxing
York Hall, London, United Kingdom. Cruiserweight.
After his very hard fight against Dec Spelman, British cruiserweight Ellis Zorro 16(7KO)-0 expected to be more dominant in his clash against his compatriot Hosea Burton 28(12KO)-4(3) and achieve a victory at least as forceful as the one that light heavyweight Dan Azeez scored against this same opponent. This last part of his objective Zorro fulfilled it, since he won with a spectacular knockout in the seventh round, the same number of rounds that Azeez needed, but again he had a very tough fight and in which he had to apply himself thoroughly.
Initially, Zorro tried to put pressure calmly, picking his jabs up and down and his straight right hands to the head, trying to avoid his opponent’s offensives by stepping back or looking to counter him with right hands. Thus, in the second round he managed to land good shots against Burton, who was somewhat rocked.
However, the underdog, who had stated before the fight that he would retire in case of defeat and who was supported by a significant number of fans, was much more active in the third and fourth rounds, throwing offensives, driving his opponent towards the ropes and hitting him with combinations, which aggravated a bleeding that Zorro was suffering and that seemed to hurt him a bit.
In any case, although from then on the rounds continued to be contested and some of them were won by Burton, the fact is that he was not in optimal physical condition (for much of his career he has been a light heavyweight), and it seemed that he might end paying the price for his efforts in the form of loss of stamina. Indeed, that was the case, since, after rounds in which both exchanged jabs and there were sporadic attacks by one and the other with irregular success, in the seventh round Zorro landed a right hand that damaged his opponent, who ended up falling in the subsequent offensive due to a shove. Therefore, there was no count, but in the restart Zorro connected a very fast right hand that spectacularly knocked out Burton.
With the WBO minor belt captured in the bout, Zorro will enter the ranking of that organization, and his two exciting consecutive fights will make many feel interest in watching his next matches. Even so, he is having too many problems defeating opponents well below the British elite level and against whom he had significant advantages, so if he fails to evolve quickly or can’t fix his most serious flaws, before long the difficulty of the fights will exceed his boxing level and will lead him to a defeat.