Frustrating afternoon for Nyall as Tatenda keeps his distance

Berry (right) and Mangombe after their testing Cannock six rounder

NYALL Berry, a marauding puncher usually guaranteed to produce fireworks, will not reflect on his clash with Tatenda Mangombe with fond memories.

He probably doesn’t want to reflect on the tall Zimbabwean at all following a six rounder that tested his patience, the referee’s patience and the patience of spectators at Cannock’s Premier Suite yesterday (Sunday).

The bout, won on a 60-54 whitewash by Berry, was not an easy watch – and Chelmsley Wood’s English super-bantam champ cannot be blamed for that.

The 25-year-old wanted to fight. Mangombe, frankly, did not.

After witnessing the bill topper on promoter Scott Murray’s show, charitable critics may describe his style as “elusive”. Harsher writers would dub the African negative. Some may even say he simply didn’t want to engage.

I’m in the latter camp.

Putting it bluntly, I’ve seen coconut shies put on more aggressive performances.

I’m used to watching journeymen spoil and smother their way to the final bell. I’ve seldom seen a boxer skirt the perimeter of a ring for the entirety of a contest the way Mangombe (9st 5lbs) did. If he connected with anything significant, I missed it.

Berry, who will box at bantamweight in the future, must be nursing sore feet this morning, even blisters. He covered an awful lot of ground attempting to trap Mangombe.

Even referee Chris Dean appeared exasperated and, at one point, lectured Mangombe. “I’ve never seen a referee warn someone for running before,” Berry’s manager Jon Pegg said.

“I suppose it was quite a good learning fight because it showed Nyall some people do not want to engage,” he explained.

“I said to Nyall, you can’t be defensive against people like that, you have to take a slight risk – when they try to run, punch with them. Take risks and go a bit gungho.

“But he (Mangombe) was four weight divisions above Nyall, he’s had some good wins, he’s not a mug. In that sense, you can’t be unhappy.”

That’s the rub. Mangombe can be aggressive and let his hands go, as he did in gaining an upset win over then unbeaten Lewis Morris in 2023. Yet he appeared in flight mode throughout the Berry fight.

Pegg added: “He said he was really hurt by a body shot in the second and didn’t want to stick around for the stuff Nyall was coming with.”

Berry simply shrugged: “It’s good experience and I got six rounds in.”

Round-by-round analysis would serve little purpose. My notes for the second state: “Mangombe constantly circling. The line is repeated for the third and in the fifth I scribbled: “Same as previous.”

Berry (9st 4lbs) prowled behind a stiff jab and my one criticism is that he looked for single punches to halt his opponent’s retreat. I felt punches in bunches were the order of the day.

When he really let both hands go in the last, Mangombe struggled under the pressure.

But Nyall won widely, was never troubled and can now look forward to much more significant fights against men prepared to meet him head on.