Viddal Riley marks his London debut with stunning knockout victory over Jone Volau, before Zak Chelli defeats Germaine Brown via unanimous decision to win English Super Middleweight title.
Saturday 11 June 2022 23:48, UK
Chris Kongo out-worked a stubborn Sebastian Formella to clinch a unanimous decision victory and the WBC international silver welterweight title as he continued his ascent in a talent-rich division at Wembley Arena on Saturday.
Fan favourite Viddal Riley later produced fireworks on his London homecoming with a first-round knockout victory against Jone Volau, while Zak Chelli announced himself in what was tipped to be fight of the night with a controlled victory against Germaine Brown.
The 29-year-old Kongo, who improved his record to 14-1, was handed the toughest test of his career yet against a Formella who showcased the grit, wily ring coverage and endurance that previously saw him last 12 rounds with both Conor Benn and Shawn Porter.
Kongo was on the front foot throughout and landed a beautiful uppercut in the sixth round that appeared to draw blood from the nose of his German opponent.
But Formella remained busy and consistently sought to offer a reply to Kongo's slick combinations, though often to little avail as the Londoner absorbed shots impressively.
The 35-year-old did begin to tire over the second half of the fight, and despite inflicting a cut above Kongo's left eye was unable to match the production of his counterpart, which included two thumping right hands in the final round.
It proved a welcome test of fight management for the largely dominant Kongo, who showed maturity in his variation between head and body shots in the latter rounds with the knowledge he was up on the scorecards.
"This is a learning curve, I'm going to get better from this," said Kongo.
"To be honest, I think I started too fast and then thought 'hold on, I need to slow down', at the end of the day I got the win so I'm happy.
"Whoever wants it I'm here, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and keep moving forward. This is Chris Kongo's time."
YouTube sensation Riley, eager to prove there is far more to him than his social media fame, marked his London debut in style with a devastating first-round knockout of veteran Jone Volau, who has served in the British Armed Forces for over 20 years.
Riley had carved an opening for himself cleverly with a step to the right before exposing his opponent's blind spot with a thumping left hand, extending his professional record to 6-0.
"I told you it's the homecoming, I needed to put on a show, I said that, I'm a man of my word, the people came out and I said 'I'm in my home so I'm going to put on a show'," said Riley.
"Coming back after two years out against Willbeforce Shihepo, former world title challenger, he taught me a lot, that performance and fight set me in good stead. We went to the gym, cleaned up what we saw was wrong, got more serious."
Zak Chelli produced a commanding performance to pick up the biggest win of his career as he frustrated Germaine Brown to win the English Super Middleweight title.
The 24-year-old, who quit his job as a teacher to focus on boxing, grew in confidence and knowledge as the fight progressed and eventually saw his superior willingness to take risks rewarded with a unanimous decision victory.
Chelli proved the busier of the two and combatted Brown's calculated approach with an awkward, unorthodox style while tempering his desire to be aggressive with composure over the second half of the contest.
Despite Chelli leaving himself open at times, Brown found little joy with his counter-punching tactics and eventually left himself with too much to do.
"Near the end I got better, I believe. At the beginning I didn't know what I was doing, then as the rounds got on I knew what I was doing and had a plan," said Chelli.
"Once you start getting hit, you've got to change the plan and that's what I did, so I believe I'm improving."
