COUNTY Durham’s Martin Ward cantered to the Commonwealth bantamweight title on Saturday after securing a lop-sided points victory over Gabriel Odoi Laryea.
The pair squared up at Newcastle’s Centre for Sport for the vacant title and the wide scorecards of 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108 reflected Ward’s dominance over the 12 rounds.
Although Ghana’s Odoi Laryea had only lost two of 20 fights, and had 11 KOs on his ledger, this was his first trip outside his homeland and he looked lost at times in the ring.
The cagey opener set the scene for much of the contest. Odoi Laryea beckoned Ward in when the West Rainton man landed but Ward wasn’t fooled and stuck to his game plan of quick hands and feet to outsmart the African.
In the second the North-East man scored with well-timed counters as the visitor resorted to lunging in with shots. There seemed little urgency to Odoi Laryea’s work and in the following sessions it became clear he was having real difficulty in pinning Ward down to land anything clean.
In the fourth Ward trapped his man in a corner for a short spell, and in the fifth a quick right hand counter had spray flying off his opponent’s head. Odoi Laryea came out with more fire in his belly for the sixth but had no answer to Ward’s swift counter combinations.
