KODY Davies introduced himself to boxing’s professional ranks with a bang in Swansea tonight, while Mitch Buckland’s return to the ring after 17 months away saw him maintain his unblemished record.
On another hugely successful night for Gwent fighters, Pontypool’s Kieran Gething and Newport-trained Lance Cooksey Jnr both picked up their third victories on the bounce.
Davies (below), a former British and three-time Welsh amateur champion, left the GB Boxing set-up in Sheffield in March to pursue a career in the paid ranks.
Now trained by ex-world champion Gavin Rees, the Pontllanfraith light-heavyweight wasted no time in giving his fans at the LC something to cheer.
Poor Latvian Andrejs Tolstihs was like a rabbit caught in the headlights as he was floored four times by Davies, the second resulting in him falling out of the ring.
There were two knockdowns in the first round and two in the second, and it was after the fourth that referee Reece Carter stopped Tolstihs from taking any further punishment.
As for Buckland, he hadn’t fought since May 2016, though there was a very good reason why.
Wife Rachael, herself a top amateur boxer a few years ago, suffered life-threatening head injuries following a fall at home.
Buckland, understandably, had to put his fight career on hold to help Rachael in her recovery.
She was at ringside tonight, along with the couple’s two children, Lorenzo and Ella-Rose, to see Buckland (below) mark his return with a 40-37 points defeat of Darryl Sharp at super-middleweight.
The St Joseph’s man knows he isn’t in the best shape at the moment but is hopeful he will be back at super-lightweight for a possible outing in Newport in December.
Meanwhile, super-welterweight Gething (pictured below) commanded the first six-rounder of his pro career against Jordan Grannum.
Gething did everything he could to stop a fighter who had never previously been beaten inside the distance.
However, in the end, he had to settle for a comfortable 60-54 decision, one that took his record to 3-1-1.
And Buckland’s St Joes stablemate Cooksey (below, right) kept his unbeaten run going thanks to a 40-36 points victory over Naheem Choudhry.
Like Gething, Cooksey made all the running but he couldn’t find the knockout blow against someone who offered very little in return.
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