Gully eyeing more glory after powering way to superb Saudi Arabia win
Wolverhampton boxing ace Gully Powar has sights set on the big time after going down a storm in Saudi Arabia.
The 22-year-old featherweight powered his way through to the last-16 of the WBC Grand Prix with an emphatic points victory over the pre-tournament favourite, America’s Japhethlee Llamido.
It was the first time Powar, now unbeaten in 12 professional bouts, had fought outside the Midlands. All but two of his previous contests had taken place at The Hangar in Wolverhampton.
But the long distance and glamorous surrounds of Riyadh’s Global Theatre only served to bring out his best.
Llamido is a long-term sparring partner of undisputed bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue and the highest ranked of five Americans in the competition. Yet it was Powar who dominated the fight with his quick combinations, taking five of the six rounds on all three scorecards.
Richard Carter, who has trained Powar since his days as an amateur at Wolverhampton ABC, said: “The kid he fought was the favourite to win the whole tournament.
“But Gully ripped up the script completely. He pulverised him, completely shocked them.
“This tournament gives him the chance to show a lot of people how good he is.”
Powar was selected for the Grand Prix, a World Cup-style tournament open to fighters under the age of 26 with fewer than 15 professional bouts, after Carter submitted an application late last year.
While the trainer admits they have “rolled the dice” by entering, the potential benefits in a sport where it can be tough for small hall prospects to make their name are considerable. Winning the tournament delivers £150,000 in prize money and a mandatory shot at the WBC silver title, while Carter revealed how Powar’s performance, broadcast live on DAZN, had already prompted calls from promoters back in the UK.
His next fight, back in Riyadh in June, sees him take on Colombia’s No.1 Jhon Bolano Mendoza, who has knocked out eight of his previous nine opponents.
“Gully is up against the world’s best prospects,” said Carter. “These are fights promoters would never take for their unbeaten fighters.
“We have rolled the dice because I know how good he is. I truly believe that kid will take some beating. It is going to take someone very good to beat him and that is how much faith I have in him. He just keeps getting better and better.
“There is a long way to go yet. There are some very good fighters still in there.
“But if he manages to pull it off, then the sky really is the limit. He would be absolutely made. We are quite confident going forward.”
