John O'Donnell vs. Tom Glover Report
Class Of Commonwealth Champion Shines Through
John O'Donnell was the heavy favourite going into this fight. He has the speed and skill to give most welterweights in the world problems, but there was always a chance Tom Glover could upset the odds. He was coming off excellent wins over Jon Thaxton and Nadeem Siddique, but Tom just didn't have quite enough for the dominant O'Donnell.
How O'Donnell vs. Glover Went
Glover started fast, and arguably took the first round on workrate alone. He was getting in close with O'Donnell and landing a few shots, but the eye catching punches were coming from O'Donnell, who was made to look very quick by Glover.
In the second he only looked faster. The fight was contested at long range more often which favoured O'Donnell, who possessed a five inch height advantage.
Glover took some serious punishment in the third. His nose was broken by the stinging combinations of O'Donnell, and at this point it looked like the Irish born resident of London was well on his way to an early victory.
The Maldon bricklayer showed his heart though and came out fighting for the fourth. He didn't do enough to win the round, but he gave O'Donnell a lot to think about by using his lower centre of gravity well.
He continued his hard work and may have even taken the fifth round. However, it was probably more the case that O'Donnell was taking a breather in this stanza, but nontheless, it was a much needed round for Glover.
It wasn't to matter though as the fight was stopped in the next session. Glover walked on to a ton of shots, and after a massive left straight, with eighteen seconds remaining in the round, referee Richie Davies called a stop to the bout. It was a fair and compassionate decision.
While O'Donnell will invariably move onto bigger and better things, the modern 'Cinderella Man' seems to have peaked. He always gives as good as he's got, but unfortunately, he just hasn't got the skills to back up his massive heart.
Steve O'Meara Fails To Impress
Steve O'Meara had his hands more than full against Kevin McCauley, and the 60-54 decision he earned was very flattering. O'Meara couldn't get off, and was consistently getting tagged with punches that he didn't need to take in the early going.
Last week, O'Meara sparred with Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that didn't appear to rub off on him at all. He was hesitant, and didn't use his greatest attribute - his speed. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here, and hopefully, he will put in a better shift in his next outing.
Best Of The Rest
Yassine El Maachi impressed en route to stopping the durable Drew Campbell in the third round. He has an exciting, unorthodox style and can bang, so he will be one to look out for in the coming months.
'Kid Galahad' Abdul Barry Awad defeated Delroy Spencer on his debut. He lacks no confidence, but how far he can go remains to be seen. He is another unorthodox fighter inspired by Prince Naseem Hamed, but he most likely lacks the substance to go as far as his hero.
In their second bout together, Lee Purdy beat Peter McDonagh on points taking their mini series to 1-1. While it didn't have the fireworks of their first encounter, both showed real grit and this made for a solid encounter. Purdy walked away with a 98-94 points verdict, and the Southern Area light welterweight crown to boot.
Overall: A Good Card
While it lacked big names, in all the fights on the show a good amount of heart was shown, and on the undercard there were some really good fights. The main event also pleased, and John O'Donnell should be very proud of his performance. Most likely next for him is the Ghanaian Philip Kotey, and he should be more than capable of handing Kotey his fifth defeat.
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