Ormond avenges his shock defeat

Ormond avenges his shock defeat

By Stephen Leonard

STEPHEN Ormond will be hoping to start the new year the way he has signed off on 2016 – winning.

The 33-year-old Clondalkin lightweight boxer, recorded a points victory over Zoltan Szabo in Scotland on Saturday, only two months after having suffered a shock loss to the Hungarian.

Stephen Ormond Echo 08 December 2016

Struggling to come to terms with that defeat, which he put down to complacency and a lack of concentration, Ormond has been harbouring a strong desire to make amends by way of a re-match.

The opportunity was not long in coming as the two locked horns again in the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, and it went the distance, with the Dubliner, this time prevailing.

“I wanted to get that loss off my shoulders,” Ormond told The Echo.

“I knew he was dangerous but after the first few rounds it got easier. I was surprised and I was saying after the fight that I can’t believe he beat me.

“It was a good tactical fight. I had learned so much from that loss and I was bit more cautious. He has dangerous power, but he was getting tired and I suppose I could have bowed a bit more and stepped on the gas to get him out of there.

“But I just played it safe and had him doing the work for me and getting tired.

“I’ve learned so much from getting beaten by him [Szabo]. It’s been a good last few months,” he added.

Certainly it has been a hugely eventful year for Ormond who scooped the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Lightweight title following his victory over Marcos Jimenez in Boston.

Yet the Dubliner missed out on the opportunity to fight Alejandro Luna for the right to challenge for the IBF World Lightweight title after failing to make weight.

It was a devastating blow for the Ormond, and one that was compounded when he was stopped by Szabo at the start of October.

Yet the resilient fighter has begun working his way back, beating Daniel Bazo in Belfast and now Szabo in his much-sought-after rematch.

“It has been an up-and-down year, probably more downs, but the last few months have been good and I just want big fights next year,” insisted Ormond.

“Hopefully I might get a title fight sometime around March and probably in Belfast, but nothing has been confirmed yet” he added.

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