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Ghana's Richard Lartey suffers fourth-round knockout by Daniel Duboi

Ghana's Richard Harrison Lartey missed the chance to revive his career after he was knocked out by British Daniel Duboi at the SSE Arena in Wembley on Saturday.

Daniel Dubois beats Ricard Lartey

Saturday's bout saw the British advance his records to (11-0, 10 KOs) by knocking out Harrison in the fourth round, winning the WBO Global heavyweight belt in an undefeated streak.

Lartey (14-2, 11 KOs) had stood his ground at times and landed some powerful shots that pushed Dubois back.

But in the fourth, Dubois landed a huge right hand that dropped Lartey, who struggled to get to his feet and the 10-round fight was waved off in a disappointing moment for the latter.

21-year-old Dubois came straight out the corner with intent, throwing his heavy right hand early preceded by a stiff jab. Within no time at all the pair traded off when Lartey was backed to the ropes for the first time but a couple of commanding shots back from the travelling opponent earned Dubois' respect, who backed off and gave up a bit of ground between them.

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Greenwich powerhouse Dubois started unloading heavily to the body in round two but soon a low shot forced Lartey to take a breather and with a concerned look on the face of the West African it looked as though Brit fight fans would get a premature ending similarly to that of Amir Khan and Terence Crawford a week earlier.

Fortunately, Lartey continued to fight, clearly not content to just make up the numbers, and resumed proceedings with a thudding overhand right which appeared to affect the legs of the South Londoner momentarily, but the young Brit, who went on the backfoot for the first ever time, took the shot extremely well.

In the final minute of the second stanza, a right hand through broke through the guard to seriously hurt Lartey, which promoted 'DDD' to pounce on his foe immediately but this time he exercised caution and patience, waiting for the right opportunity to through the right punch. Both rounds in the bag so far for Dubois. He was greeted by his coach Martin Bowers in the corner with the words "Great work".

In round three, the pair started on the outside with Dubois landing his ramrod jab and Lartey trying to counter when he threw combinations. Just inside the two-minute mark, a thudding uppercut got through Lartey's guard which drew gasps from the crowd. It was an intelligent choice of attack from Dubois who noticed Lartey dip his head slightly and took full advantage of the opportunity. He absorbed it well and not long later the fans were treated to a crazy exchange as the pair went hammer and tongs at each other. Dubois landed first with a left hook to the chin that spun Lartey's head around but he fired back frantically and landed a huge right hook of his own, which, for the first time in his 10 fight career, looked to have Daniel in danger as he half staggered a few steps away, but on second viewing looked to be more the momentum of his misfires that took him halfway across the ring.

The KO king from South London was calm and composed at the beginning of the fourth segment, as Lartey looked a little worn by this point, opting to reserve energy and hide behind a high guard, which was pierced persistently by the youngster's powerful jab. Then the 6ft 5" man from Accra, who currently holds the World Boxing Organisation African heavyweight title, made the error of walking on to Dubois and was met with a heavy right to the temple followed by a left that put him on the seat of his pants for the first time in the exciting encounter.

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Lingering on the canvas, breathing heavily, and only rising at the very last moment was enough for referee Bob Williams to call off the fight to save the brave African from any more damaging blows.

Lartey was tough and game and earned his paycheck after all the complications with his VISA pre-fight. He was adamant he wanted to turn up and fight and certainly didn't come here just to lay down and get paid. He earned the respect of the paying public and should be invited back for more exciting heavyweight match-ups, namely with Nathan Gorman.

Young Dubois did show chinks in his armour, as any boxer stepping up a level inevitably will, but he demonstrated his ability to learn and proved he can take a punch as well as dish one out. His decision to bide his time on occasion and not go wading in too soon displayed a maturity beyond his years.

culled from http:britishboxingnews.co.uk

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