Stephen McKenna vs Joe Laws (03-08-2024) Full Fight
MORE BOXING FIGHTS: https://www.boxingfightsvideos.com
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/boxingfvideos_
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/boxingfvideos1/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/boxingfvideos_/
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/boxingfvideos_
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/boxingfvideos1/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/boxingfvideos_/
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Remember, I'll be in my command to all team, defend yourselves at all time.
00:09Touch gloves, touch them now.
00:14Victor Loughlin, our referee.
00:20Nice setting on Oakwell, there's a QR code, give that a scan, get involved in live scoring of the fights, live blog.
00:30Round one.
01:00As the referee is trying to get him to go back to the neutral corner, he's miles away from the neutral corner.
01:06Boxing continues and McKenna just piles into Laws again here.
01:10Laws swings with a left hook, swings with a right.
01:13He's got to try and do something to ride this out here, Joe Laws.
01:16Fighting fire with fire is maybe not the best policy.
01:21McKenna looking to rein in with rights and lefts.
01:24Missing as much as he lands, Laws grits his teeth, throws a massive overhand left.
01:29And then the referee comes in to split them.
01:31There is barely time here, Macklin, to draw breath.
01:35Well, this is literally the epitome of a shootout.
01:38Laws comes running across the ring, throwing bombs.
01:42I think he's possibly punched himself out here.
01:45McKenna unloaded with two hands.
01:47Big right hand knocks him back to the rope.
01:49Back comes Laws.
01:50And Laws again there, who I think might have done something to his foot.
01:54He just seems to be limping slightly over on the far side.
01:57Throws another left hand.
01:59And we're not even halfway through the first round.
02:03McKenna just setting his feet and just slinging in that right hand.
02:07Laws trying to dip low at the waist and stay out of the way.
02:10McKenna, feet planted wide, just pouring in with both fists.
02:16Laws leans in and tries to grab a hold of him.
02:19As soon as he does, the referee breaks the two of them up.
02:24Big shot.
02:26And down goes McKenna.
02:28He walks straight up to that one.
02:30What a shot from the Bedwell Bomber.
02:33And he needed that.
02:34It came from absolutely nowhere into the final minute.
02:38And now it's Laws' turn to set his feet and swing for the fences.
02:43Left hand into the body.
02:45Digs in the toes.
02:46Right hand into the body.
02:48I'm trying to get a look into McKenna's eyes.
02:50He felt that left hand.
02:52He still hasn't shaken it off.
02:54Laws needs to try and pick those punches here.
02:57Left hand high on the head.
02:59I think McKenna felt that one too.
03:0130 seconds remaining in round one.
03:04Laws just leans in.
03:05Victor Laughlin breaks him.
03:07Laws knows that he could almost be on the brink here.
03:10Doubles up on the left hand.
03:12McKenna answers.
03:13Right hand from Laws.
03:15Closing stages of the round.
03:17This has been absolutely unbelievable.
03:21He needs the bell here.
03:22Legs are still unsteady.
03:23It doesn't even look like he's got any strength in those punches.
03:26Left to the body there from McKenna.
03:28Laws swings.
03:30Looks for the uppercut.
03:31Doesn't quite land it.
03:33Three minutes of absolute, utter mayhem.
03:52There was the first knockdown.
03:53That was a good shot.
03:55That was it.
03:56That must have been inside the first 30 seconds.
04:00And it looked like it was all McKenna then.
04:03Really for the rest of the round.
04:08And I think he switched off mentally to his own defenses.
04:14And then whack there with that left hook.
04:18He was looking for his own left hook to the body of McKenna.
04:21Right hand was low.
04:22Got clipped.
04:23Boom.
04:24Right on the chin.
04:27Went down.
04:28And even when he got up, his legs, they were unsteady.
04:30And even at the final bell, walking back,
04:33it didn't feel like he really had his feet underneath him.
04:39So into the seconds.
04:41And it'll be fascinating to see if McKenna has managed to recover.
04:44Because as we say in boxing, sometimes when a fighter gets hit,
04:48they stay hit.
04:49It can be very hard to shake it off.
04:51Laws looking to rip with that left.
04:53McKenna digging in with the uppercuts.
04:55And these two just go straight back to it.
04:58There has not been a second's respite in this fight,
05:02right from the first bell.
05:03It's what we expected.
05:05It's what we hoped for.
05:07But already, it has over-delivered.
05:11And Laws again, just looking for that hook.
05:13He thinks that McKenna is ready to go here, I think.
05:16And he's happy to go after it.
05:18Full, full force.
05:19McKenna trying to work to the body.
05:22Trying to do something to deter Laws.
05:24But there's still that shaky look about him, Matt.
05:26I think he's been stunned, McKenna.
05:28I think he really has knocked a lot of strength out of him.
05:32There was one low there, I thought, from Laws.
05:34McKenna far and back, but he's still...
05:41He's in a daze, isn't he?
05:42He's in a fog.
05:43He's trying to fight his way through that fog.
05:46It's a difficult, difficult thing to do.
05:48If he can do this, McKenna,
05:50then it will be a huge, huge tick in the margin.
05:53It really will.
05:54Just leaning in, trying to double up on that left hook.
05:57They were good shots there from Stephen McKenna.
06:00But Laws again, backs him up
06:02and looks to let his own left hand go.
06:04Joe Laws has put an awful lot into this
06:06in the first four and a half minutes.
06:08And McKenna now just turns him on the ropes
06:11and starts to work his own right hand.
06:22Looking for that left again, Laws.
06:24But McKenna is having a good little passage here
06:27the last 20 seconds or so.
06:29He's just managed to turn off the ropes.
06:32But there again is that left hook
06:36and it rocks McKenna right back onto his heels.
06:39He did well to stay up there
06:41because that again was delivered and landed
06:44very, very clean by Laws
06:46who knows that he has the ability to hurt McKenna
06:49and to put him down.
06:51But the Irishman is showing a lot of spirit,
06:53a lot of bottle here
06:55to dig in and somehow get through this.
06:57Yeah, he's really digging in deep here, McKenna,
06:59because he got shook badly again with that left hook.
07:01He leaned in to throw his own left hook to the body.
07:04Again, the right hand comes down just like he did then
07:07and he keeps getting caught with the left hook to the head.
07:10You know, if I was down in the corner, I'd be saying,
07:12you know what, sack off that left hook to the body.
07:14Every time you lean down to throw,
07:16you're getting caught with the left hook pounded to the head.
07:19Because the state he's in, McKenna,
07:22he's got to somehow try and give those resistance levels
07:25a chance to build back up,
07:26but Laws just will not let him do it
07:29and McKenna happy to engage himself there.
07:32Again, just pushing Laws back to the ropes.
07:34Final few seconds of round two
07:36and another 180 seconds of absolutely breathless action.
07:41And the people in attendance here
07:43are loving every single second of it.
07:45Let's have a listen to the corner maybe.
07:48Well, let's have a look at some replays first of all.
07:51And you can pick any 20 seconds in the round for replays.
07:5430 minutes in the high-low rail,
07:56but it's the left hook to the head that we see there.
08:00Again, shook McKenna,
08:02because McKenna's leaning down too far here
08:05with the left hook to the body,
08:06and he's getting caught with the left hook
08:09to the head from Laws.
08:11It was the same left hook which caught him in the first round
08:14which caused the knockdown.
08:15So that left hook, that left hook,
08:17which he liked to throw,
08:18and the left hook to the body,
08:20got to be careful of those shots.
08:22Because Laws got his shorts around,
08:24the shorter punches,
08:25big leap to the punch.
08:28Brilliant, brilliant.
08:33Little bit of blood coming out of the nose there for Joe Laws.
08:36They both scored a knockdown in that opening round.
08:38Laws finished it the strongest,
08:39so he would make that his round.
08:41That would have been a Laws round in the second round.
08:43I doubt that we're going to need the scorecards,
08:45but nothing can surprise you in this sport at times.
08:49McKenna looking for that uppercut.
08:51A slightly clearer look about his eyes
08:54at the start of this third round.
08:55He takes another left hand there,
08:57and somehow, again, manages to stay up.
09:09McKenna's got to be careful with his own right glove.
09:11He's got to keep that right hand tucked on his chin.
09:14He's dropping it too low.
09:15He's open for the left hook.
09:17Right there from McKenna, the great Laws.
09:19And down he goes in that far corner.
09:23It seems to land almost on the top of that.
09:25He goes back to the blue corner.
09:27I'm not quite sure what's going on here, to be honest.
09:30The gun shield has been spat out.
09:32He's looking into the corner for something.
09:36They're replacing his gun shield,
09:38but I think he was looking to try and buy
09:40a little bit of time there, Joe Laws,
09:42because that overhand right, I think,
09:44has really scrambled him.
09:45And Laws just comes out to the center of the ring
09:48and looks to throw himself,
09:49but he's in trouble here, Laws,
09:51McKenna lands a big left hand,
09:53plants those feet wide.
09:55Laws is all over the place here.
09:57Dix Lockman having a look,
10:00but he's not going to step in just yet.
10:03And he can't get too reckless here
10:05with his own defenses, McKenna,
10:06because we've seen this before
10:07when Laws is hurt, he's still dangerous.
10:10There's a right hand followed by a left from McKenna.
10:13And Laws is rocking and rolling here
10:15midway through the round.
10:16He'll do very well to get through this.
10:18McKenna just looking to tee off,
10:20and he did have a more alert Michael Ayrton
10:23at the start of the round.
10:24Down goes Laws again here
10:28for the second time in a round,
10:30for the third time in the fight.
10:34Victor Lockman has a good look at him,
10:3670 seconds left in round three.
10:39Can McKenna close what has been
10:41an utterly, utterly exhilarating show?
10:43Big right hand there from Laws,
10:46checks the chin of McKenna again.
10:51Laws just managing to dip at the waist,
10:55but a good combination from McKenna
10:57finds him once again.
10:59He's trying to rip that left hand,
11:01but it doesn't land this time.
11:03He's stuck on the ropes here, Laws.
11:04He knows he has to get off him.
11:06And down he goes to an ear,
11:08Natal has come in from the corner.
11:11He looks disappointed now, Joe Laws.
11:14But Matt Jones wasn't going to let that go on any longer.
11:19What a fight we have just seen.
11:22A three round shootout,
11:24the like of which you very rarely see.
11:28Laws was down early in that first round,
11:31and he was in trouble.
11:33Then the equalizer with the left
11:35just flips everything on its head.
11:37And in that second round,
11:39he looked like he might be able to go on and win it.
11:42But Matt McKenna came out for the third,
11:44and he was revitalized.
11:46Put him down with the overhand right,
11:48and again, he went down to a knee that third time, Joe Laws.
11:53Unbelievable.
11:56You know, McKenna, I actually thought,
11:58was the more hurt of the two in the first round.
12:01And even when he got clipped again,
12:04and then you could see his defenses were
12:06a little bit scattered when they were trading off.
12:08The right hand, that's something he's got to look at.
12:10He was getting caught with too many left hooks from Laws.
12:13And even in the end,
12:14when it looked like the tide had totally turned
12:16in McKenna's favor,
12:18Laws would still fire back with the unbeaten massive hook,
12:22and it would just whistle past the chin of McKenna.
12:25And you're thinking, wow.
12:27You know, it wasn't over till it was over type thing,
12:29and I mean, that was a mental fight.
12:36It was. It was carnage. It was mayhem.
12:39It was chaos right from the start.
12:43And these are two men of mayhem.
12:45That's what they like.
12:46That's what they promised us.
12:48And that's what they gave us.
12:50They promised it.
12:51They gave it.
12:52But even at that, it exceeded anything we thought they could.
12:56You know, even when they,
12:57we think if they both deliver on what they're saying,
13:00we still didn't expect it to be as chaotic as that.
13:05To be, you know,
13:06literally the first bell Laws just came out and initiated war.
13:11And McKenna was more than happy
13:14to meet him in the middle.
13:17And for McKenna to be able to ride that out and somehow recover,
13:21because at the start of the third,
13:22he looked like he hadn't come back and win the fight.
13:24That is, that is quite something.
13:27Yeah. Powers of recovery.
13:29Because like I say, he was, for me,
13:30McKenna was the more hurt of the two, but he, his fitness,
13:34his conditioning, he was able to shake it off and come back.
13:39And then also put the punches together and get the finish.
13:42He, again, he just both hands there, let them go.
13:44Buddy had every which way he could possibly land them.
13:48He was throwing them.
13:50And that's the second time that he goes down in the third round.
13:54And then now it goes down to the knee and the corner.
13:58No, at that point that the game is up, it comes to town.
14:01Victor Lockman is extremely unlikely to let him continue after a,
14:04a third knockdown anyway.
14:07And that drew to a conclusion and utterly exhilarating
14:11adrenaline fueled three rounds.
14:15Obviously many levels below, but it was like a,
14:18a British heckler herds.
14:21It was, it was,
14:22it reminded me of Chris Edwards against Kevin Lushing at your
14:26call back in the nineties.
14:28That was another fight I watched last week for some,
14:30for reasons that are not even known to myself.
14:32I found myself watching it again and you see fights like that and
14:35they just stay with you because it is such a spectacle.
14:39There was just nothing like this sport, nothing like it.
14:50Barbslee, another round of applause for the show.
14:52These two put on.
14:57Referee Victor Lockman calls a stop to this contest at two
15:01minutes, 36 seconds of the third round.
15:05Declare your winner by TKO and the new WBC international silver
15:12super welterweight champion.
15:24The belt goes around the waist of Stephen McKenna, 15 and 0 with
15:2814 knockouts now, but that by.