Tommy Frank outboxes Matt Windle en route to UD win
In his latest in-ring effort, flyweight fighter Tommy “Super” Frank (14-2, 3 KO’s) picked up his fourteenth professional win. He did so by outmaneuvering Matt “MatMan” Windle (6-4-1, 0 KO) to earn a comfortable unanimous decision win. With the victory, Frank was able to snap a two-fight losing streak. Even better, Frank was able to snag the vacant BBBofC British flyweight title.
Directly prior to this bout, the UK boxer was defeated twice by Roseendo Hugo Guaneros first on December 11, 2019 and then on June 18, 2020. Initially, in the December bout, Frank was unable to fight to the end due to a shoulder injury. The second time, Guaneros beat Super by way of a split decision. Naturally, this comes as a huge setback for Windle who was coming off a June 11 victory over Neil McCubbin. Prior to that win over McCubbin like Frank, Windle had been on a two-fight losing streak. Now that he is 1-3 in his last four bouts, it’s very uncertain what his next move will be.
TOO MUCH TO CHEW
To open the bout, Super came out looking to play the lead by wasting no time getting in Windle’s face. Despite this aggression, there was very little quality action to report from either man. Both threw and landed regularly, with nothing of substantial note connecting for either. That changed very quickly in the first forty seconds of the second round when Frank was able to drop Windle with a crisp, straight right on the chin. Matt Windle took the full eight count and made it to his steady legs. Frank would go on to dominate the round but no further shots were landed that energized the crowd.
Over the first half of the third round, Frank strafed Matman with a great deal of leather. Almost all of this successful offense was supplied by his right-hand. Windle was game and fought back with heart. Unfortunately, nothing that he threw could deter Frank and a significant amount of his volleys flat out missed. In the fourth, Matman put more emphasis on getting in and staying close and was promptly force-fed an unhealthy steady diet of uppercuts for his trouble. Just before the halfway mark, Super wobbled his legs with a heavy left hook to the jaw.
The fight maintained this status quo until the seventh round when Tommy Frank began boxing in a more leisurely fashion. As he took his foot off the gas, Windle’s work looked much better. He was even able to land a handful of stinging hooks. Yet, with that being said, Matman was still missing a great deal and Super still had the heavier hands of the two. Over the next few periods, Windle continued to improve his connect percentage and overall effectiveness. Matman enjoyed his best success of the night in the tenth. Now he was hammering Frank with sobering hooks and uppercuts. For the twelfth and final round, Super resumed his domination of the bout. In fact, toward the end of the period, it looked as if Windle might get finished off. Yet, he soldiered on to the final bell only to drop a unanimous decision loss.
By: Bakari Simpson
