Rising British Heavyweight, David Adeleye, impressed in his latest victory against Ukrainian Dmytro Bezus by stopping him in just the second round of their ten-round bout. The match was held on Friday, February 17th, in London at the York Hall.
Both fighters sported undefeated records prior to their bout, and though the betting odds had David Adeleye (11-0, 10 KO’s) as the favorite – mainly due to being the home fighter, the two were roughly at the same point of their career with both having started their pro boxing careers in 2019 and having around a double-digit number of fights. Their match was therefore more of a do-or-die contest rather than a simple bout between Heavyweights, with the winner establishing themselves as a viable future threat in the Heavyweight division.
From the onset of the fight, Dmytro Bezus (10-1, 5 KO’s) did not seem gun-shy in the slightest as he stated his intention with several hard and clean hits on Adeleye while forcing him on the backfoot. The momentum completely changed however in the latter stages of the first half of the 1st round when Adeleye dropped Bezus with a stiff jab during an exchange where Bezus attempted to pressure Adeleye.
Bezus recovered fairly quickly, and seemed eager to continue moving forward and putting Adeleye on the backfoot despite suffering a knockdown. He remained a threat throughout the rest of the round, and came back in the second round with the same amount of pressure which often forced Adeleye against the ropes. Forced to fight on the backfoot and rely on counters and clinches, Adeleye showed his resilience and ring IQ when he caught Bezus with a lethal left hook while being pressured on the ropes. As Bezus slumped down for the second time of the match, Bezus rose on wobbly legs and looked past the condition of being able to fight, prompting the referee to stop the fight. The bout was thereafter ruled a stoppage win for David Adeleye.
Though short, the fight was a memorable experience for both fighters. Bezus, a former kickboxer and muay thai pro, had used a similar approach as he did with Adeleye in all of his previous matches which resulted in at least half his fights ending in a stoppage or knockout victory. That same approach would prove to be ineffective against Adeleye who showed intelligence, patience and skill by stopping an aggressive fighter who was hell-bent on stopping or knocking him out, and Bezus learned a hard but vital lesson in the drawbacks of using such a style against a more skilled fighter.
Though it did look like Adeleye was in trouble throughout the match due to Bezus looking to establish dominance by pressuring him, Adeleye’s quick-ended victory was an important learning curve for him to deal with pressure fighters. Instead of covering up and looking to avoid Bezus’ onslaughts at all costs, Adeleye switched to a counterpunch style of boxing that proved to be very effective against an assertive fighter such as Bezus, and Adeleye can put this experience to good use as he progresses through the Heavyweight rankings.
Though far from ready to face the top Heavyweights, David Adeleye joins the list of other talented Heavyweights who may be able to make their mark in the division and at 26 years of age has the added advantage of youth as he continues his boxing career. Signed under the Queensberry Promotions banner, headed by longtime promoter Frank Warren, Adeleye is one of many talented Heavyweights on a roster filled with them, including the likes of Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s), Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KO’s) and Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KO’s).
Like Joyce and Dubois, Adeleye currently boasts a 90% KO ratio, and there’s every reason to believe that he may soon also become known as one of the most top-rated and hard-hitting Heavyweights in the division if he continues on the right track.
