Rutter sparkles in a fast paced first fight
Rutter nails Jackson with a long right. Picture: Manjit Narotra/BCB
ETHAN Rutter looks a very good addition to the professional game.
And judging by Friday’s debut, the 20-year-old has truly remarkable fitness levels. Rutter set a lightning pace against Manchester’s tough Stephen Jackson, yet wasn’t even breathing heavily at the final bell.
Birmingham’s former fine amateur, now guided by Shiney Singh, hit Jackson with everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink. On a BCB show at the Hangar, Wolverhampton, dedicated to spotlighting new talent, Rutter shone the brightest.
The man known as “Mighty Atom” may not have exploded on the paid scene with knockout victory, but he put on a masterclass, referee Peter McCormack scoring the four rounder 40-36.
Rutter, who works for a funeral director during the day, didn’t come through totally unscathed, suffering a cut over his left eye in the third. He remained calm when the blood began to flow, picking his punches with a marksman’s accuracy.
“I was cut in the amateurs,” Rutter told me afterwards, “and I’m glad that happened because it helped me deal with this one.
“I wasn’t that nervous. I thought I boxed well, it was good experience and I didn’t switch off.”
Of Jackson, a gnarled veteran of close to 70 contests, Rutter said: “He has the hardest head of anyone I’ve fought.”
The performance got a thumbs up from Shiney. “He boxed really well, nice and collected. It always tough when you’ve had the amateur contests Ethan has had because you find yourself going down a level (in the calibre of opposition).”
Kingstanding’s Rutter, who spent the majority of his amateur career with Second City ABC, was all business from the beginning, jabbing smartly and detonating left hooks against Jackson’s flanks.
By the second, the journeyman appeared to realise this would be a grim exercise in survival and retreated in the face of a storm of leather. Rutter (8st 10lbs) was totally dominant, firing pin-sharp one-twos, then ripping in body shots.
He was more measured after the cut opened – presumably caused by a head clash because I didn’t see Jackson (8st 12lbs) connect with anything significant – but still raked his opponent with long punches.
Showing blinding hand speed, Rutter harpooned Jackson’s ribs with left hooks in the last.
One fight does not make any boxer a prospect. I expect that word to proceed Rutter’s name in the very near future, however.