Anthony Fowler looks impressive in recent knockout win
WBA International super welterweight champion Anthony Fowler (15-1, 12 KO’s) continued to shine in his latest at bat. Fowler accomplished this by securing an eighth round knockout of German pugilist Rico “Pretty Boy” Mueller (28-4-1, 19 KO’s). The defeat effectively shattered a three-fight win streak that Mueller had enjoyed since losing to Jeremias Ponce on September 14, 2019.
Perhaps Mueller was sliding back into the ring too quickly, having fought only 21 days before his dustup with Fowler. Pretty Boy was a late replacement and took the bout on three week’s notice. This recent win will extend Fowler’s current knockout streak to four. Naturally the victory will help improve Fowler’s standings, who is currently ranked #10 (WBO), #12 (WBA) and #14 (IBF).
ONE-SIDED AFFAIR
From the very outset of the fight, Fowler began landing his thumping jab at will. By the end of the round, Fowler added occasional hooks and uppercuts to his ever-present jab. For his part, Mueller was putting on a great impression of Rocky Balboa. The scrappy German did little outside of swim through a daunting river of impactful, damaging punches behind his high guard to land one or so of his own.
With his shorter arms, and often inaccurate delivery, Mueller widely missed a great deal of his shots. Fowler’s nimble feet didn’t help much of anything. The obscenely lopsided distribution of offense left the German’s face growing more red and bruised with each passing round.
By the fifth round both combatants had slowed a bit and the fight was contested near exclusively in the center of the ring. Fowler was still easily outscoring Mueller, only now he was bouncing more hooks and power shots off his head than he was jabs. Now the Pretty Boy was solely trying to walk Fowler down and only threw occasional single shots. For the last thirty seconds of the sixth, the UK fighter really turned on the pressure by hammering Mueller especially hard to the head and body.
STOP THE VIOLENCE
After being methodically chopped up in the seventh, the Pretty Boy’s resistance had been worn nearly completely away. When he came out for the eighth, Rico Mueller only covered up and retreated. Given this free opportunity for mayhem, Fowler began unloading on the German. While he was not reckless, he was steady and unrelenting. Caught in the flurry of punches with no more useful energy, Mueller was battered up and down the ropes.
Oftentimes in boxing referees are held to account for stopping fights too fast, but here referee Bob Williams may have done the opposite. Williams got shoulder to shoulder close with the fighters and watched Fowler mangle, abuse and pelt Mueller around the ring without returning fire for more than forty seconds before finally halting the onslaught.
By: Bakari Simpson
Be the first to comment