Lewis "The Sandman" Ritson, 17-1, 11 KO's, had a raucous crowd in attendance as he faced off against Belgium's Francesco Patera, 20-3, 7 KO's. The fight went down at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. Riston started the fight on the front foot working behind the jab. Though Paterra ate a number of jabs, he was also able to successfully land some power shots of his own up top and to the body. Riston was able to control the pace by virtue of him constantly coming forward and cutting the ring off on Paterra. Lewis worked in a number of nice hooks to the body.
Ritson continued to do work on the front foot as the second round progressed. His pressure was on at a similar pace and he was able to bust open the nose of Patera, who remained game. A similar script followed in the third and Ritson started to work the body with more left and right hooks. Patera showed that he had some resistance to offer as he was able to get off shots in spurts, with authority. Ritson did continue to work the body in the fourth and Patera showed some mettle as he hung in and let of shots of his own.
Patera was able to get a a set of multi-punch combinations early in the fifth round. Still fighting off of the back foot, Patera found himself against the ropes and set his feet to get off a variety of shots. Patera was successful in working his uppercuts in a round he legitimately dominated. Patera remained active and in control during the sixth, keeping the momentum gained in the fifth though Ritson stepped if up a bit from the previous round. Patera himself started to work Ritson's body with left and right hooks.
Ritson started to take over the reins once again midway through the seventh. Patera remained active and on the move, but Ritson started to land more shots with more aggression than the previous two round. Patera snatched back the reins during the last several seconds of the round. Patera started the eight with three straight left hooks to the body. He continued to move while getting off shots through the early part of the round. During the latter part of the round the two fighters met and ripped off a number of shots, stepping up the action as the round drew to close.
Ritson continued to press in the ninth and did work to Patera's body in close, primarily when Patera would lay on the ropes. Patera remained active as well and let his right hooks to the head go. Patera rang off a five punch combo in the beginning of the 10th though it didn't seem to do much damage. As the round wore on it was still apparent that the harder shots were being landed by Ritson. Patera, though, still remained active with throwing shots in bunches. Patera saw great success in the latter part of the 10th as he seemed to hurt Riston and continued to follow up with a number of unanswered shots for which ritson offered little resistance. Patera started to fight on the front foot in the 11th as he looked to dish out more punishment on a fatigued Ritson. Ritson threw back in spurts but was visibly tired. Both fighters ended the round well.
In the 12th, both fighters realized the urgency of the round. Patera was able to get off many shots early on as he was the more active–fresher fighter. Ritson was able to get off shots of his own in phases throughout the round as he looked to secure the win. Ritson looked relieved once the bell rang. The judges took a while with the scoring and ultimately the suspense ended. The judges saw it as 116-112, twice for Patera and 116-112 once for Ritson. Patera had a dominant late half of the fight which likely carried him to the victory. Ritson can hold his head high, learn and bounce back from this fight.
With that, we'll be back with more action in an action packed boxing year.
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