The Bin Man Cometh!!
The fairytale continues for Leicester’s true working class hero Rendall Munroe, after he dispatched Mexican Victor Terrazas on Friday night in Coventry. The bout was a final eliminator for the WBC super bantamweight title, held currently by the Japanese, Toshiaki Nishioka and was a chance for both to stake their claim at world level.
Promoter Frank Maloney moved mountains to ensure the fight went ahead, after the volcanic ash crisis scuppered flights to the UK for camp Terrazas. Maloney flew the Mexican to Madrid earlier in the week, transporting him by limo to Paris and then on to Coventry via the channel tunnel. After four rounds however, Frank must have been wondering whether he should have left Terrazas back in Guadalajara.
The mysterious “Vikingo” swept the fight’s opening third, boxing intelligently and hooking strongly against a seemingly subdued Munroe. The in-fight betting odds see sawed in Victor’s favour yet, in the fifth, a very different Rendall emerged. In a strange reversal of perceived roles, Munroe bore his way inside, pinning the Mexican against the strands before steadily working him over with beautiful short shots up close.
As odd as it may sound to some, Munroe reminds me of the great Roy Jones in terms of his punching form. He throws punches in bunches, quick, snappy hooks- sometimes multiple times with the same hand and he’s relentless. If Munroe’s rally in the fifth dampened Victor’s fire, the sixth would almost snuff it out completely.
For almost the entire round’s duration, “2 Tone” pinned his man in a neutral corner, firing away in almost perpetual motion. The resurgence continued in the seventh and it was a sickened looking Terrazas who walked back to his corner, having to stand rather than sit at first, no doubt due to the body shots he’d been forced to accept.
It was all one way traffic after that, Munroe sticking to his man like fly paper, shooting in short, crisp and accurate punches, chipping away at Terrazas, who was unable to respond. At one point during the round, he shrewdly held Munroe’s left hand in close, only to catch a volley of right hooks which streamed home to head and body.
It was all over in the ninth. Terrazas, again pinned to the ropes caught a combo, the last punch of which dug into his body (somewhat around the back close to his kidneys) which sunk him to his haunches. He arose before the count tolled ten, however, referee John Keane had seen enough and called a halt to proceedings at the 0:57 mark.
An emotional Munroe likened himself to a steam train post fight, one who “needs a bit of coal chucking on to get going”. He extended his record to 21-1 (9) whilst Terrazas falls to 25-2-1 (13).
He now chugs on for the most unlikeliest of world title shots, a truly popular fighter who has retained his job as a bin man between bouts. With his size, skill, drive and fitness, Ring Magazine’s sixth ranked contender has nothing at all to fear.
The bin man cometh, can he now lay waste to Nishioka?
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