Gavin Rees v Andreas Kotelnik
Andreas Kotelnik v Gavin Rees
The Welshman, who stunned the boxing world last year when he took the belt from Souleymane M’Baye, was adamant another shock was on the cards, but he was stopped midway through a desperate charge for glory in the final round.
Initially, the champion had looked strong, dominating the encounter with body punches, but the challenger’s accuracy soon paid off.
He gave Rees a nosebleed in the third and thereafter picked the Welshman off at will, finally finishing his exhausted opponent with a big right hand 30 seconds before what would have been a one-sided verdict.
It was Rees’ first defeat in 28 professional bouts and compounded a bad month for trainer Enzo Calzaghe, whose WBO world cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli also lost his title.
Rees admitted his opponent’s sheer power had surprised him. “He hits so hard,” the 27-year-old said on Setanta Sports 1.
“I didn’t think he was going to hit that hard.
“He caught me on my right ear in the third round.
“I didn’t know what was happening then to be honest.
He added: “I’ll be back. It’s my first career loss – I’m only 27.”
Trainer Enzo Calzaghe was proud of his fighter’s effort, saying: “He lost but he’s champion.
“Sometimes you can lose and still be champion.
“That’s tremendous, tremendous heart.
Kotelnik admitted he was expecting the fight to go the distance.
“I expected Rees to be that strong because he’s the world champion and I expected to go the distance with him,” the Ukrainian said.
“I’ve come for the third time to England to fight here.
“Now I’ve obtained the title and that was “I’ve achieved my goal and that means anything to me.”
Kotelnik is now targeting a bout with Ricky Hatton, and would rather not face a re-match with Junior Witter.
He said: “I’ve just fought with Witter so I want to take Hatton.”
