By Danny Winterbottom:
Battle hardened Liverpudlian Tony Dodson; 28-6-1(14) has vowed to rip the Commonwealth light heavyweight title from the grasp of “Glorified Journeyman” Ovil McKenzie, 19-11(8), when the pair clash at the Bowlers Arena in Manchester on Friday February 3. Steve Wood promotes and Boxnation televise live.
This intriguing trade fight has a sense of genuine “needle “about it, with both parties quick to tell anyone willing to listen how they will go about beating the other. The 31-year-old challenger, from the south of the city of Liverpool, has made it clear he has no respect for the punching power of the champion despite his recent 15 second destruction of Welshman Jeff Evans. “When you look down his record he has only knocked out kids that weren’t on his level or at the level I’m at” said Dodson.
The former Central Area, English and British super middleweight champion, now under the tutelage of Oliver Harrison in Salford, has competed in good class in his career, sharing the ring with the likes of Carl Froch and Paul Smith but hasn’t quite lived up to his early promise despite valiant displays in his biggest fights, something Dodson is acutely aware of. “This is my time now, this is what I should’ve achieved a long time ago, and I’ve been here before but never performed”
After suffering back to back Merseyside derby losses to Tony Quigley and Paul Smith, the “Garston Warrior” took almost a year out of the ring before returning in Matchroom’s Prizefighter tournament in January 2011, where he showed good form in reaching the final before a bad cut suffered in his semi final win curtailed his chances to fight for the £32,000 winner’s cheque.
The former standout amateur won seven national titles and a Junior Olympic Gold, all in just 38 fights, before making his bow in the pro ranks aged just 18, giving him vast experience against a variety of opposition. His career has been an up and down one, but his move to light heavyweight, a change of trainer and his more mature approach to the game seems to have settled him down, and with quality sparring available to him in the form of Martin Murray, Dodson will never have had better preparation for a fight.
In the champion he faces a man with a reputation of upsetting the odds. 32-year-old Ovil McKenzie, originally from Jamaica but now residing in Derby, has become an avoided man over the years due to the power in his fists and that mystique was enhanced when he dropped world title challenger Tony Bellew heavily in their first meeting before getting knocked out, and losing the return on points. The former Prizefighter winner then fought for the Commonwealth title vacated by Bellew, scoring the aforementioned knockout of Welshman Jeff Evans.
Without a title McKenzie was simply classed as too dangerous a risk for little reward by many of the top light heavyweights, but the Shinfield trained brawler has been labelled as a “3 round fighter” by many observers. However, the pre fight taunting by Dodson seems to have ignited his fire. “I don’t care what he’s said about me, he’s trying to sell the fight which is fine” said the belt holder. “Dodson is getting knocked out, I just can’t decide whether I’m going to take him out early or let him go a few rounds”
This has all the makings of an exciting up and down affair, one in which we could see both men hit the canvas on several occasions. Dodson, despite having more knockouts on his resume, would be foolish to have a toe to toe shootout with the champion; instead he should be looking to use his better technique and championship experience to take the heat out of McKenzie’s punches before opening out a lead to take the title on points. No doubt the Derby man will look to unload his bombs on the Liverpudlian early; his overhand right is particularly dangerous, and will be looking to put the hurt on the challenger.
