Lewis Benson Final Report – Belgrade Winners
64kg Final: Lewis BENSON (SCO) v Jr ULYSSE (CAN)
Leading up to the final, Lewis had dispatched the tournament favourite in the quarter-final and a top ranked Kazakh in the semi-final. Lewis was now up against the tough but slick Canadian Ulysse in the final, who had shown his class during his tournament progression. From the opening bell, the Canadian was looking to draw Lewis’s long lead then slide into close range to unleash his effective bent arm counters. Lewis looked to utilise his reach to control the boxing distance, and was forcing the Canadian to move his target area in order to avoid the Jab. The game of chess was fairly stalemate going into the second half of the round, but the Canadian started to draw Lewis in from long range enabling him to unleash sharp scoring counters. Unfortunately Ulysse took the momentum with his successful countering, with the score at the end of the first reading 1 – 5 in favour of the Canadian.
Although 4 points down going into the second round, Lewis remained focussed on the task in hand, and dashed to the centre of the ring as the bell sounded. Still having to launch attacks from long range in order to nullify his opponents tactic, Lewis added to his arsenal by drifting in and out of mid-range wisely trying to draw the bent arm punches then answer with a second phase. The Scotsman did not give his opponent any opportunity to pinch a rest through the round, and maintained solid front foot pressure as he stalked Ulysse around the ring. However, the slick pattern of movement employed by the Canadian made it very difficult for Lewis to launch successful attacks, and in doing so managed to catch the Scotsman as he escaped around the blind side. Score at the end of the second round, 3 – 9 to the Canadian.
With an enviable lead of 6 points going into the third and final round, the Canadian would prove very difficult to pin down in the last 3 minutes. However, the will to win and desire Lewis had portrayed throughout the tournament carried on into his final 3 minute push. Consistently applying educated pressure from the opening bell, the Scotsman pushed hard and fast in order to make his opponent work for his lead. With exchanges occurring at close to mid-range, Lewis had no choice but to take it to the Canadian. Roared on by the Team Scotland contingent in the crowd, Lewis gave his all right up to the final bell. Unfortunately however, all Lewis’s perseverance and heart could not pull back the strong lead the Canadian had mustered during the first 2 rounds, with the final score reading 5 – 13 in favour of Ulysse from Canada.
Winner: Jr ULYSSE (CAN)
With the tournament now over, ABS can reflect on a very positive experience in the highly rated Belgrade Winners tournament. With a marked improvement on last year’s medal tally, ABS can be very proud of their boxers to return home with 2 Bronze (Connor Law, Charlie Flynn) and 1 Silver (Lewis Benson). Well done lads!
