Fowler v Harper
On the undercard of Harper v Jonas, super welterweight Anthony Fowler (13-1, 10 KO’s) defeated Adam “Hurricane” Harper (9-2, 0 KO’s) by way of seventh round technical knockout. The win marks his fourth consecutive victory since suffering his sole professional loss to Scott “Fitzy” Fitzgerald (14-0, 9 KO’s) last March 30, 2019.
Right from the start Fowler came out pumping a steady, thudding jab that had Harper completely befuddled. Outside of getting punched, shelling up and get pushed backwards, the only thing that the Hurricane did of note in the entire fight was loudly complain about borderline low blows. Fowler did land a pair of punches that somewhat strayed low in the first. However, they did not appear all that powerful, or especially illegal.
Harper found a bit more rhythm in the second, but not much. He was still absorbing much more punishment than he was dealing out. He also finished the round with his left eye cut. Referee Ian John Lewis would deduct a point from Fowler when another mild lowball landed.
After the second period, the Hurricane would never find a way to get in the fight offensively or defensively. Harper was simply too slow and not a hard-enough puncher to effectively back his aggressive opponent up. He also seemed to lack the footwork or in-ring IQ to switch his plan of attack. Left with no other recourse, the Hurricane simply tried to be as tough as possible while taking a beating.
During the seventh round, Fowler managed to pin Harper to the ropes for the umpteenth time and began hammering him to the head and body. The action was so one-sided, and the Hurricane’s demeanor so subdued, that referee Lewis jumped into to halt the action.
By: Bakari Simpson
