Richard Riakporhe Storms Past Turchi With World Title Shot In Sight

By Regan Slaymaker

Richard Riakporhe breezed past Fabio Turchi in just two rounds at the OVO Wembley Arena, to place himself in to contention for a world title shot later in the year.

Richard Riakporhe has been passing each test that has been put in front of him late, but Fabio Turchi presented a different type of challenge. Turchi is a very active, fringe world level, cruiserweight with his only loss being to a reformed Tommy McCarthy in 2019. 

A lot of pressure was building on Riakporhe with this fight being billed as an eliminator for the IBF World Title, and he passed with flying colours. A sickening body shot dropped Turchi in Round 2. Whilst Turchi made the count, his corner knew what was about to happen… 

A brutal performance like that should set Riakporhe up for a shot at a World Title but Ben Shalom seemed very unsure whether that would be next… If this opportunity isn’t next the rematch with Chris Billam-Smith, a fight with Krzysztof Glowacki, or Michal Cieslak would all be excellent opponents! 

All in all, an excellent performance by the midnight train! 

Fighter of the Night

I have two choices for fighter of the night. 

I thought Lauren Price was excellent! Price has already carried her Olympic pedigree into the professional game so well. In and out with the jab, being very aware there was no longer a head guard involved. Price’s hand speed was also very impressive, landing shots that only very talented fighters see in real time. She did develop as the fight went on, but it was her professional debut against a fighter with a winning record! A few rounds we needed to gather information and execute the gameplan. 

I really hope BOXXER develop Price the same way Matchroom are doing with Galal Yafai, quickly but carefully. They are Olympic Gold medallists, they already have the talent, lets put them in with opposition that will show their class!

Viddal Riley also impressed with a BRUTAL KO in Round 2! It was a very measured performance whilst it lasted. He seemed to make the angle for the shot where there wasn’t one. He does need a step up from the level of opponents like Jone Volau now, he’s another fighter that can be progressed very quickly! 

The Undercard

BOXXER opening the show with Chris Congo Vs Sebastien Formella was a very good decision. An excellent fight with decent test for Chris Congo; Formella is a tough, durable opponent who hasn’t been stopped by elite Welterweights. Whilst this was Congo’s aim, he won a very calculated and measured performance on points (97-93, 97-94, 98-92). Congo proved he had enough power to tame Formella but his more significant shots landed later in the fight. Congo is another fighter who appears to grow in confidence round by round. 

Ebonie Jones and Shannon Ryan both impressed. Jones was relentless against Bec Connolly, outclassing her every round. This is exactly what you need to do against Connolly if you want to progress as a contender. Shannon Ryan is a class operator, her head movement and shot selection showed that she was levels above her opponent.

Germaine Brown Vs Zak Chelli was topped as a potential ‘Fight of the Night’ contender, but it failed to impress. It was cagey at times with Chelli edging most of the rounds through power punches alone. Chelli is such a talented fighter, but he loads up on too many shots, he needs to make them less readable. Faint, through them behind the jab, change the rhythm of his combinations. If he doesn’t make these changes, he may fall short when fighting at a higher level. 

Jeamie TKV and Jimmy Lee also showed they were levels above their opponents, both gaining stoppages after landing with ease on their opponents. 

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