KO King Crocker aiming for natural progression
Adam Grabiec was meant to provide rounds – but nobody told Lewis Crocker.
The tough Pole had only been stopped four times in his 26 previous fights – sixth round stoppages to middleweights Mark Thompson and Ben Davies, another sixth round stoppage versus top domestic welter Tamuka Mucha, and last month stopped standing in the fourth by noted middleweight puncher Mark Heffron.
Belfast welter Crocker needed less than half a round.
A pull-down and hook upstairs followed by a tremendous body shot and that was all she wrote at the SSE Odyssey Arena on the Mick Conlan Homecoming undercard.
Grabiec rose at ‘eight’ but went straight back down as the fight was waved off, the sign of a truly hurt fighter.
A CRACKER FROM CROCKER 💥
Belfast welterweight banger Lewis ‘The Croc’ Crocker improved to 6-0 (6KOs) over the weekend with this peach of a body shot 👊@lewiscrocker1 #TheCroc 🐊 pic.twitter.com/ObMPG7YsD1
— Frank Warren (@frankwarren_tv) July 3, 2018
“He was keeping his hands very high so I touched high and went low and it sunk well, so it did,” said the mild-mannered Crocker afterwards.
“I saw him trying to get up and he went back down, so it was a good shot.”
His sixth stoppage win in six fights, Crocker has only left the opening round twice – a second round finish of Radoslav Mitev crowned the BoxNation ‘Punch of the Month’ for last June and a three round bludgeoning of Scott James in a dreaded post-headliner swing bout.
There are calls to progress Crocker quickly but the 21-year-old is still in the learning stage. Indeed he may need more time than most here due to the inability of even the toughest journeymen to bring him rounds.
‘The Croc’ is happy enough to take it slow and enjoy the booming Belfast scene – with an appearance on the Carl Frampton Windsor Park undercard next month looking possible.
“I’m just looking to progress and take things naturally and as they come,” said the Sandy Row youngster.
“It was brilliant, it was great, so it was. I love fighting in Belfast, especially, in the SSE Arena. It was great not being a float so I could go out there and get the business done.”
“I’ll be a world champion one day, whether that’s in five, ten, or fifteen years, that’s my goal.”
Crocker envisions a fight in future where his power won’t be the main factor. Indeed, coach Ray Ginley has often said that you couldn’t hit the European Schoolboys bronze medallist with a handful of rice.
The big-hitter reasons that “I’m aware I have power but you can’t just blast people away with power all the time, you have to be smart with it as I go up against the better fighters where I can’t rely on my power all the time.”
“But it’s a get out of jail free card and I’ll have it from the first to the twelfth round.
