Popular East London super featherweight prospect Frank “The Tank” Arnold lost his undefeated record when he was knocked out by Nicaraguan Brayan Mairena in the fourth round of the Bentley-Morrison undercard at London’s York Hall.
Arnold, despite his bravery, simply couldn’t resist Mairena’s power. But the brutal ending, in which Mairena fell on his face after being knocked out, could have been avoided if the fight had been stopped in the third round, when Arnold was knocked down hard and then forced to take a series of big shots. when he. he seemed wobbly-legged.
Both referee Chas Coakley and Arnold’s corner decided to let the action continue. Giving him “a chance” when he’s clearly hurt could be much more damaging to Arnold’s long-term prospects than if the fight had ended then and there.
Mairena, who resides in Spain, went for it from the opening bell and nailed Arnold with a series of hard right hands in the first 90 seconds, before a massive right hand with 30 seconds left sent Arnold back on the ropes. That further inspired Mairena as she threw a slew of punches as Arnold tried to cover up and finish the round.
Arnold boxed much better in the second but Mairena was still throwing rights and had some success.
But Arnold hadn’t made it through the woods, and as he was backing up against the ropes in the third round, he was knocked down by a big right hand, Mairena landing another big right hand as he went down. Arnold was given a longer break while his mouthguard was replaced, but he looked unsteady when Coakley motioned for him to return. he tried to survive.
Mairena landed another good right hand early in the fourth when Arnold couldn’t stop it. Arnold looked to gain some momentum, but then Mairena landed another big right hand that finished and knocked out Arnold. The wrestler bounced off the ropes and landed on his face. Coakley immediately fended it off, as a towel was thrown from Arnold’s corner, almost falling on the unconscious boxer. It was a chilling ending.
A stretcher was brought into the ring, but after receiving oxygen, Arnold was able to recover and walk out of the ring. The official time was 2:13 of the fourth round.
Featherweight Masood Abdulah secured his fifth stoppage in six pro fights (all wins) when he stopped Stefan Nicolae in the fourth round.
Nicolae, originally from Romania, is skilled as a survivor, but Abdulah didn’t give him much room to breathe as he dominated from the opening bell. Early in the fourth, when Abdulah rocked him with a left hook, referee Chas Coakley stopped him at 1:11.
Bantamweight hopeful Adan Mohamed moved to 7-0 and secured his second stoppage when Reiss Taylor was eliminated in the fifth round of a scheduled six.
At 4-foot-11, Taylor is used to being the smaller fighter and at 5-foot-8, Mohamed towered over him. In the first two rounds, Mohamed bullied him, and referee Sean McAvoy deducted a point from Taylor in the second round for holding.
The action was messy but one-sided as Mohamed charged with right hands. So it was a hit when the corner came in from Taylor’s corner at 2:34 of the fifth round.
Arnold Obodai, who won his debut inside a round in March, was taken the distance by Poland’s Pawel Strykowski in a four-round cruiserweight bout that never got over the pace of a sparring session.
Strykowski was negative, backing down and Obodai at times let him get away with noncommittal by not putting him under pressure. He landed a big right hand early in the third round, but tended to wait too long before committing. Referee McAvoy scored it 40-36.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was a boxing correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001 to 2019, covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights around the world. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications around the world since the 1980s.
