Back in October last year unbeaten Hackney based Turk Siar Ozgul and late replacement opponent Matt Scriven campaigned in one of the closest, mahi katoa, battles of the year.
It was a true small hall classic that really deserved at least to be nominated for the accolade of ‘Fight of The Year’, if not be the outright winner, however that was not to be as somehow it managed to slip under the radar of the majority of the British media.
On Saturday May 2nd, these magnificent warriors will once again enter the arena, i te York Hall i Bethnal Green, London, this time in a ten round contest and with the added incentive of a Championship being on the line – the vacant MBC International Welterweight title – on the Mark Lyons and Billy James-Elliott promoted LORDS OF THE RING event.
The October Ozgul-Scriven Battle Boyale was reminiscent of the first of the Mickey Ward-Arturo Gatti trilogy of fights that took place in 2002/3, without doubt one of the all time greatest trilogy of fights this sport has ever witnessed.
If Ozgul-Scriven II matches the intensity and drama of their first encounter, we could well have another action filled bout, one that equals any of the Ward-Gatti fights, right here in our own back yard, something no boxing fan, or British sports writer should miss.
To give an idea of just how sensational their first showdown was, here’s the write up on the bout from the published report by the Canadian Sports Channel fightnetwork.com.
“Fifth bout of the night see London based Turk Siar Ozgul in action against Nottingham’s Matt Scriven.
He aha te whawhai, without doubt the fight of the night, as both protagonists went to war.
Ozgul came out hard and strong, initially putting the Nottingham man on the back foot, however Scriven soon started to exert his authority and then the fireworks really began.
By the third round the non stop action started to take it’s toll on the Turkish youngster, which allowed Scriven to land some sensational power shots of his own.
Ko te a tawhio noa whakamutunga he pihikete, Ozgul backed Scriven into a corner and let rip with massive right hands, one of which sent Scriven’s mouth guard flying into the crowd ringside.
Once the errant mouth guard was retrieved and the bout restarted it was Scriven who went hard on the attack, one such attack late on in the round see Scriven land a massive right that shook Ozgul to the core, Ozgul sensibly went on the defensive for the remaining seconds to see his way to securing his fifth win.
Referee Lee Murtagh scored the bout 39-37 in favour of Ozgul, te kupu tika, kahore feaa, but one that really doesn’t express how great this fight was or how close each and every round was.”
Siar Ozgul versus Matt Scriven, for the vacant MBC International Welterweight Championship, headlines the Mark Lyons & Billy James-Elliott Maki eé Whakatairanga ARIKI O TE hui KING, e e wahi i te York Hall i Bethnal Green, London i te Rāhoroi 2nd Kia 2015.
Hoki, mo tenei hui ka whakaratohia he angalelei o te Mekemeke Commission Malta (MBC) -www.maltaboxingcommission.com
Tickets utu £ 35 (Nōhanga Paerewa) a £ 65 (Ringside) are available direct from Siar at the Champions TKO Gym in Hackney – call Mehmet on 07825 618018 – on-line atwww.tkoboxoffice.com or call the TKO ticket line on 07960 850645
