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(continuation of post #325)
While McCallum had apparently put little effort into preparing for his professional debut, his opponent Elisha Obed had gone in the opposite direction. According to his minders the 17 year-old had "trained the house down", pushing himself day after day to exceed all expectations. Removing his robe after entering the ring all of that hard work was evident as Obed presented a ripped, muscular physique highlighted by an impressive six pack. He wore an expression of fierce determination, regarding McCallum with something much greater than anger. Obed would later say that he had concentrated on "hating" McCallum ever since finding out that the Jamaican would be his first tournament opponent.
Both men wore trunks in the colours of their nation's flags: McCallum in gold with black and green trim, Obed sky blue with yellow and black piping. When they were brought together for the pre-fight instructions it was clear that something was not right with the Jamaican: he avoided Obed's heated, intense gaze, preferring to stare at his feet. Obed shook his head and gestured at McCallum as he returned to his corner, confidence burning in his eyes.
The action was fast and furious in the opening round, Obed catching McCallum with a rapid-fire combination and then a jolting right cross within fifty seconds of the bell before the Jamaican replied with a sweetly-timed uppercut as Obed was closing in on him. The shot backed up the Bahamian but Obed was quick to fire back, staggering McCallum with a left jab/right hook/left hook salvo, the final punch of the trio wobbling the gold medallist. The crowd was going ballistic, on their feet cheering. McCallum wrapped up his hyped-up opponent, the action slowing during the final minute of the round as they took an early breather, content to probe with the jab.
Round two saw McCallum come out all guns blazing, rattling Obed with three seperate assaults before the round was a minute old: a straight right early followed by a flush right hook and then an uppercut that snapped Obed's head back. Obed actually had the better of the remaining two minutes, forcing McCallum to back off after a fierce exchange near the two minute mark. But the Jamaican's fantastic early work was enough to convince two of the judges to score the round in his favour.
The 3rd round started slowly, although Obed dictated the pace beihind a series of pinpoint jabs, keeping McCallum on the backfoot. Obed then found the mark with a left-right combo just before the round entered its third minute, the salvo hurting McCallum and opening up a cut above his left eye. But McCallum responded strongly, planting a hard right on Obed's cheekbone as part of another rapid-fire exchange and then staggering the teenager with a left-right-left combination. Obed fired back as the round was drawing to a close, a right hook to the body followed by a left hook and a straight right that worsened McCallum's cut. The Jamaican pawed at it as he returned to his corner, trying to wipe the blood out of his eye.
Referee Richard Steele asked the ringside doctor to inspect the wound during the intermission, bringing a rush of excited talk and consternation from the crowd. McCallum was allowed to continue and although looking tired he made a good start to the 4th, landing a hard combination, an uppercut and a pair of damaging body shots during the first minute. But when Obed responded with an uppercut of his own and then a smashing right hook Steele halted the contest. That single hook undid all the work McCallum's corner crew had done on the cut, splitting it open to where it was now a bleeding, inch-wide gash. Steele led McCallum to the ringside doctor who confirmed within moments that the bout should be stopped, Obed jumping in the air and then doing a backflip, so ecstatic he was. McCallum trudged back to his corner and sat on his stool, a bemused expression showing on his face. The official time of the stoppage was 1:09 of round four. The crowd applauded as Obed celebrated mightily, mounting the ring post in his corner, shouting, thumping his chest with his right glove and pumping his fists in the air.
"I really cannot believe it!" exclaimed an excited Obed. "People in my hometown, some of them tried to convince me that I couldn't win. They tried to make me think that there was no way I'd be able to defeat a gold medallist but I didn't listen to them. I just told myself that he's only a man and that if I work my hardest and prepare myself properly I could beat him. It helped me that he took the fight so lightly and it gave me a lot of confidence when I saw him at the weigh-in yesterday and the way he was when he stepped in the ring. It was like he didn't want to be here and even though he fought hard I always felt that I had a great chance to win. I don't really know what could have been going through his mind to be so underprepared for a fight but I'm not worried about that. I'm just so happy that I've achieved this victory."
Punch totals
McCallum: 90/156 (57.7%)
Obed: 96/192 (50.0%)
McCallum left the ring without speaking to HBO's reporting crew, moving up the aisle like a person traumatised. He was a mere shadow of the man who had achieved Olympic gold in Sydney two years ago and it will be interesting to see if his professional career ever reaches the heights that his amateur one did. As for Obed, this is obviously the greatest start that he could have dreamed of making to his campaign. The win will certainly give him great confidence for the bouts to come and should catapult him into contention for a berth in the World Championship tournament. The only question will be whether or not he suffers a let down in his upcoming bouts. If he prepares himself in the same fashion as he did for tonight's contest, that shouldn't be a problem.
(to be continued)
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