By Suzanne Nield
Patrick Maxwell v Geard Ajetovic
Middleweight
Paul Buchanan was slated to face Maxwell, but came down with a rotten cold. Ajetovic stepped in at the last moment, and as it turns out this was the highlight of the evening. I know, I know – David got his knockout win. Most of the sparse crowd seemed happy to spend the evening in the bar and take their seats for that 1 minute 45 seconds of action. But for those of us who came to see quality boxing between well-matched opponents, this was the pick of the bunch.
Geard, coming in at 12-1-0 with 6 kayos, was already working with trainer Peter Cope as a sparring partner for Buchanan in the build-up to the Contender event in Newcastle recently. Cope was impressed with the former amateur star and had no hesitation in putting him in the ring on short notice. And when I say short notice, I mean it – three days’ preparation is all Geard had for a match with the touted Maxwell, who came in at 13-1-0. (That loss was an early four-rounder on points).
Maxwell has spent a lot of time in the States sparring with world-class names like Margarito, Arthur Abraham and Vitali Tsypko. He’s gunning for a Commonwealth title shot in the near future and the Maloney camp are obviously eager to talk him up.
So maybe they hadn’t realised how good Ajetovic is? The ref called a draw at the end of this contest – anything else would have been a robbery for the UK-based Serbian. I saw it as a game of two halves, with Maxwell taking the first three rounds and Ajetovic the next three. Geard’s manager Gus Robinson agreed with this technically, but believed that the quality of his boy’s work was so superior in those later rounds, that a win for Geard was indicated. On reflection I’m inclined to agree. Maxwell looked undisciplined beside the Serbian technician, who rarely made an error, but was slow to start.
‘This was meant to be eight rounds,’ pointed out Ajetovic, ‘But they brought it down to six. If we’d gone eight I would have won.
‘I thought he’d try to knock me out, because we boxed on the same show once. He gave me a good fight but I caught a lot of his punches on my gloves. He didn’t fight like I expected, he was just awkward, coming in low all the time.’
Geard describes himself as a counterpuncher. ‘I wait for my opponent to miss. But I can step it up when I need to.’
Maxwell came in at 11 st 9, Geard at 11 st 8.
Patrick opened by jabbing well and getting in some clean rights to the body. It looked good, but Geard’s defence was excellent and he found space for some quality single shots. Maxwell missed widely with a swinging hook. ‘He’s trying too hard,’ said my notes here. But the Mancunian was usually effective. The good work continued in the second as the jab was strong and seeking out the gaps again. Maxwell landed an uppercut on the bell. Unfortunately, a lack of accuracy in some of Maxwell’s power shots made him look clumsy and off-balance at times.
In the third, Patrick threw some strong hooks to the body, mostly blocked, but caught a few head shots himself. Geard was pressuring him with combinations now, countering those over-eager hooks, and landing a particularly beautiful left uppercut when things got close. (He grins wickedly when I mention that one!)
Ajetovic was looking a very educated fighter, cautious and technically proficient, while Maxwell continued to put too much effort into big punches that didn’t find the target. It was a close round, which Geard believed should have been his. ‘I stepped things up then.’
He stepped them up even further, however, for the remainder of the fight. Maxwell began to look increasingly wild as Geard made him miss hooks continually and slipped everything coming at him. The Serbian landed another uppercut and some nice combinations – Patrick took a right hand straight through his guard. Geard dropped his hands to his sides to tempt the Englishman in – it worked, and he landed a left to the sternum and upstairs, getting the jab in on the bell.
Patrick was finding it difficult to get through Geard’s defence in the fifth, missing with his lead hand as the round wore on. Geard’s jab, meanwhile, was as cute as ever and the left was landing some cracking shots too. The quality from Maxwell deteriorated further in the final round as he missed an overhand right, lost his balance badly, and was throwing his jab out of range at times.
When he was in range, Geard rode it backwards, and continued to penetrate Maxwell’s defence to get in some surgical hooks and uppercuts. The Mancunian was looking increasingly under pressure as the round drew to a close, and I would have preferred another two rounds to see how it panned out. I’m pretty sure I know – although Maxwell’s power shots were impressive when accurate, the Serbian’s technical ability was superior.
I’ll be far more interested to see Geard fight again – possibly in Paris at the end of May – than I will be to see Maxwell. The 26-year-old’s only loss was to respected Frenchman Christophe Canclaux, current EBU super-middle title holder.
As an amateur, he was a silver medallist in the World Junior Championships, won gold at the European championships and represented his country at the Sydney Olympics.
It would have been good if there had been a proper introduction for Geard as he came into the ring. As it was, the acoustics were so bad we couldn’t even hear his name properly.
Many thanks to Geard and his team for taking the time to speak with me.
