Commonwealth Title
On Friday February 10th, Scott Dann fought Larry sharp in the Plymouth Pavilions for the Commonwealth Middleweight Title. The fight was dominated by Scott whilst Sharp fought the majority of the contest on the back foot. Scott dropped Sharp with a powerful left uppercut in the beining of the 9th round. Sharp dropped to his knees and was unable to continue, Scott is now the new Commonwealth Middleweight Champion.
To see the moment that Scott won the Commonwealth Title!!
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Scott was due to fight James Toney, the current Commonwealth Title holder, but he is having issues meeting the weight and has pulled out, relinquishing the title. Scott was the mandatory challenger so was guaranteed to fight on February 10th.
Sharp is the Canadian Middleweight Champion. He has a record of 16 fights, with 14 wins. The 31 year-old has never been knocked out in his career, with both loses going to the score card. He has never fought outside the USA or Canada.
Larry "Razor" Sharp with the Canadian Middleweight Belt.
The Commonwealth Title is open to any boxer from the The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, which is an association of independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. The title was formally called the "British Empire Title"
We caught up with Larry after the fight - he was in a relaxed mood, enjoying a pizza! His eye was badly damaged although he had 4 stitches earlier in the night but he had to be regularly treated to stop the bleeding.
Hi Larry in the 6th round you caught Scott with a flurry of punches - what were you thinking at the time?
I hit him and his hands dropped - he stepped back and I got a bit excited as I had landed some good punches, they were a bit wild, maybe if I had tightened up a bit and picked my shots a bit better it might have been more effective. But he came back strong and I just couldn't stop him.
It looked like your game plan was to wear Scott out in the early rounds and step up the tempo in the later rounds.
That was pretty much it - I was trying to stick to a game plan to frustrate Dann early on and make him throw more punches then he wanted to throw and lave him open for me to counter with an attack. In the 5th and 6th I started to find more openings and started to relax more. My endurance is one of my strengths and I was trying to use that to my advantage. I was trying to keep a high guard and absorb some of the blows in my arms. When I came out for the 9th round I told my corner that he was getting tired and my plan was to move forward and wear him down, I moved forward to start throwing shots and my guard was relaxed a tiny bit and he caught me straight up the middle with a shot that landed in my eye. If I had came in a bit tighter then he may not have caught me. He hit me hard and I thought that I could handle his power, but as soon as I went out there and let down my guard I felt the power.
What are you plans now Larry?
To go home and see my family - On Monday I have to go back to teaching. As far as the fighting is concerned I am scheduled to have a match on April 15th - so lets just see how fast I heal up. If I'm healthy enough then I be fighting then.
(09/02/06)
We caught up with Larry Sharp after he had weighed in for tomorrow nights contest. Larry had just finished eating a meal of chicken and pasta when we asked him the following questions.
I was recently contacted by someone in Plymouth who knows your Grandparents - do you have any roots in Plymouth?
Not any roots as such, one of my uncles was based in Plymouth in world war two and is buried in the military cemetery here..
I read that you started your boxing/kick boxing career after giving up drinking. As you are a now PE teacher it seems that you have turned your life around - do you think that this life changing experience benefits you in the ring?
I think it does, a lot of times when people are at a low point there is nowhere else to turn. When I began kickboxing it turned my life around and I stop drinking and started applying my energy into boxing, I am now a lot more focused. I was kickboxing for 4 years and was spotted by a boxing promoter who took me on – he could see that I could punch and just told me not to kick and put me in a boxing ring – I won my first bout in the first round by knockout, with just 2 days notice.
I see that you have previously fought at higher weights – even up to Cruiser. How do you feel fighting at Middleweight?
Since the age of 16 I have always been well over 200lbs. Most of the time being 235-240, as soon as I started professional fighting the weight has slowly come off. I have regularly fought heavier (180lbs) guys, when I have been at 172lbs. I still feel strong at Middleweight.
I guess that being the Canadian Middleweight Champ, you don't get much grief from your students? How have they reacted to you going to the UK to fight for the Commonwealth Title?
It’s been great – they are very supportive, but I guess that they are like any teenagers in the world – they usually tell me that they could beat me. The community of Pine Falls is close and they had arranged to gather all the kids in the School and give me a cheer down the phone.
You started kick boxing at the age of 24 and boxing at the age of 28 - this is very late age, do you fell that you missed out on the experience that many boxers gain from having an amateur career?
Yes and No – When you have a long amateur career, you have the opportunity to see many different styles and perfect you technique, but as I started late in the game it’s made me work harder as I know that I am behind it means that I have to work twice as hard to try to get to the level that I need to be. Also a lot of amateurs who have many many fights turn professional and are worn out. As I started kickboxing in Muay Thai, you use knees and elbows a lot, it’s a very rugged sport and many fighters don’t progress past the amateur scene. I also feel that I am constantly learning and may have platitude if I had started at an early age. I feel that I am where I need to be and will be able to progress further later into my career.
I see that the majority of bouts you have had are against orthodox boxers - how do you feel boxing another south paw?
I feel pretty good now – two fights ago in my last title defence I fought another south-paw and leading up to that fight I didn’t have much south paw sparring, it’s pretty hard to find decent south-paw sparring partners where I am from. I ended up going 10 tough rounds with another south-paw and have drafted in some other south-paws from out of town to spar against. I found that it is a lot different going in with another south-paw.
Scott was in good spirits after the weigh-in and answered the following questions.
Scott, what are your plans for tomorrow night?
To win! Obviously it would be good to get a knock out, but I’m not taking any risks and if it takes 12 rounds then so be it. I want to win the Commonwealth title and then hopefully later in the year I'll get a chance to challenge for the European championship
A shot at the European Title! Where would this be held, Germany?
I suppose I could have to fight for it in Germany. I’d like to defend it in my home town, perhaps at Home Park (Plymouth Argyle Football Club’s ground), in front of 5,000 fans – that would be fantastic.
Any words for your fans
for tomorrow?
I've fought all around the country and
even at world title fights but there's no doubt that Plymothians are the
best fight fans anywhere, the noise in the pavilions is incredible and the
atmosphere that they generate is electric. Every time I step into the ring
they spur me on and lift me. I hope to give them plenty to cheer about
tomorrow.