[kenyan_cheena]

NOTTINGHAM POST

Thursday 3 August 2006

BENISTON FAR TOO GOOD
FOR TETTEH

Story by Michael Jenkins

He may be just 19 years old but following his victory over Ghana's Joe Tetteh last night Nottingham southpaw Charlie Beniston is only two victories away from becoming the International Boxing League's first Inter-Continental Featherweight champion. Beniston scored a comfortable eight-round unanimous decision win over Tetteh in the tournament's quarter-finals, the card held at London's Alexandra Palace. As he did to his stage one opponent Welcome Ncita, Beniston sent Tetteh to his first professional defeat, the Ghanian dropping to 6-1(4) while "Beno" improved to 7-0(3). Establishing control early behind a damaging right lead, the lanky Beniston was solid through the first three rounds but put the verdict beyond doubt with a dominant middle section. He swept rounds four to six and went on to win by identical verdicts of 78-74 on all three scorecards.

To his credit Tetteh never gave up but he was simply outclassed by Beniston, who beat him to the punch time and again. Beniston landed 180 of 535 punches (33.6%), Tetteh 144 of 540 (26.7%). Beniston's quest becomes considerably tougher in the semi-finals as he'll face the #1-seeded Italian Loris Stecca, who put Thailand's Withaya Paholpat to sleep with a single right cross midway through round one of the evening's co-feature. The win saw Stecca up his record to 12-1-2(8). No doubt he'll be a difficult proposition for Charlie but as the saying goes, he's got "nothing to lose". Still less than a year into his pro career Beniston could not have dreamed he'd see such early success. He said as much during the post-fight interview.

"I knew when I signed with the IBL that it would be a real step up for me," Beniston said, wiping his forehead with a white towel. "My management team had been bringing me along slowly and the plan would have been to keep going with that if I hadn't decided to come here. I'm glad I made this choice because I feel like I'm learning a lot more by being in these "win or go home" situations. That fear of losing really heightens your senses, makes you put everything into every round. I'm really enjoying it and if I can end this tournament as champion it'll be incredible, 'cause I didn't even think I'd make the semi-finals. Really, how great would that be? Me, Charlie B. from Nottingham, with an Inter-Continental belt after just nine bouts? That'd be bloody incredible!"

In the other semi-final Blackpool's Ronnie Clayton takes on Portugal's Bruno Alves. Clayton made it through after his bout against Australia's Johnny Famechon ended as a draw. Simply put, it was a poor decision as Clayton outlanded Famechon 213-126 and looked the superior fighter in most of the rounds. He was not in the best mood after the verdict, asking the judges if they'd been "sleeping during the fight" and accusing them of "messing" with his career. Clayton remained undefeated, his record now 9-0-2(7). Alves dominated the Frenchman Francois Salvaterre, winning by unanimous decision in a display that was even more convincing than Clayton's. The Portugese marksman improved to 10-1(6). Predicting a winner between Clayton and Alves will be a difficult task as they're both assured, skillful fighters.

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Results

(#12) Beniston UD8 (#13) Tetteh
(#3) Alves UD8 (#11) Salvaterre
(#1) Stecca KO1 (#9) Paholpat
(#2) Clayton D8 (#10) Famechon

Semi-final matchups

(#2) Ronnie Clayton (9-0-2(7)) vs (#3) Bruno Alves (10-1(6))
(#1) Loris Stecca (12-1-2(8)) vs (#12) Charlie Beniston (7-0(3))

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