Denny proves them wrong again - now for the very big time

Denny punishes Cash. Pic courtesy matchroom.boxing/Mark Robinson

WHEN Tyler Denny bellowed “I’m the man” following his against-the-odds win over Felix Cash, British boxing fans had to believe him.

It didn’t matter that the European middleweight champ’s victory on Matchroom’s major Resorts World card was technical and, therefore, inconclusive.

Last night’s contest was stopped in the fifth round on the advice of the ring doctor after Cash sustained a long cut across his right eyelid courtesy of a head clash.

The scheduled 12 rounder went to the judges’ cards and all had Rowley Regis’ Denny ahead. I felt by the time of the stoppage, the 32-year-old had grabbed the scrap by the scruff of the neck.

Cash’s body language was that of a beaten man.

All that matters is that Denny, after a career initially dogged by bad luck, is in the big league. He is in the mix to face major names for major money.

And the southpaw has done it by defying the odds against him time and time again.

Make no mistake, this match was made to give 31-year-old Cash a significant belt following the former British champ’s 18 months away from the ring. And such was Cash’s confidence in beating Denny, he took the fight with no warm-up.

He and his team felt the result was a formality. They seriously underestimated Tyler and, like so many, paid the price.

Cash looked like a man weighed down with ring rust: his timing was off, his work laboured and ragged. At times it was messy and that was down to the challenger’s dulled reflexes.

He was a fighter who desperately needed a warm-up.

No wonder Tyler bared his Black Country gumshield – the famous “chains” motif embossed on it – in a broad grin at the end.

As Felix paced the ring before first bell, Denny fixed him with a long, steely stare. He had the presence of a man determined to again prove the bookies wrong.

Cash, much the bigger of the pair, started brightly enough, throwing straight rights down the pipe and left hooks to body and head.

But by the second Denny (11st 5lbs 5oz) was solving the puzzle before him, working the jab and planting counters. This was not the one-sided beat down Cash envisaged and the blood that began streaming down his face only added to the favourite’s woes.

Denny connected with a sweet left counter in the third that drove his opponent back – a session marred by holding – and steadied his man with a right in the fourth.

Tellingly, Cash (11st 5lbs 9oz) who had stood between every round, sat on his stool at the end of the round, which must’ve been a distinct morale boost for Tyler.

Cash looked a dejected, beaten fighter when ref Mark Lyson called over the doctor. He appeared resigned to losing for the first time in 17 contests and the decision sparked an old-fashioned Black Country party.

“I’m buzzing,” Denny said in his post-fight interview. “I was battering him. He wasn’t lasting. He was tired after two rounds. The way that was going, he was gone.”

For the record, at the conclusion judges Lee Every and Victor Loughlin had it 49-47 for Denny, Kevin Parker scored 49-46.