Karriss Artingstall, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games, made a seamless transition to the professional sport as she hammered out a six-round points win over Vaida Masiokaite.
At the Skydome Arena in Coventry, Artingstall took command of her bout with Masiokaite from the start, marching in close, drawing punches from her opponent to hammer in her own power shots.
She began to shake Masiokaite with right hooks that clipped the chin and upped her intensity in the fourth round, driving in combinations.
Fighting from the southpaw stance the Olympic featherweight bronze medallist lined up a heavy left cross, blasting it through the Lithuanian’s guard. Masiokaite was feeling the pressure and Artingstall hit with crisp, solid power.
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Karriss Artingstall admits she had nerves ahead of her pro-debut, but enjoyed her win over Vaida Masiokaite.
There were hints that Masiokaite could be about to unravel but she is resilient, she’s only been stopped inside the distance once and that was against Chantelle Cameron, now a unified world champion all the way up at super-lightweight.
Masiokaite hung tough but Artingstall took all six rounds to finish a 60-54 points winner.
“I enjoyed it,” Aringstall said afterwards.
“[I was] more nervous for the ring walk to be honest, but once that first bell goes it’s what I live for day in day out, so I’m used to it.”
Karriss Artingstall punishes Vaida Masiokaite with solid punch power (Photo: Lawrence Lustig/BOXXER)
Tyler Denny won a tremendous battle for the English middleweight title against local Coventry man River Wilson-Bent. Denny, a southpaw, piled forward, getting himself onto the front foot and working up close.
He shook Wilson-Bent with lead right hooks and dictated where the bout was fought, forcing his opponent to the ropes and attacking the body.
A point off for clinching put Wilson-Bent in an even worse position. But he showed tremendous heart, roaring back in the final round to tag Denny with hurtful shots in the corner.
The decision was split, with judge Steve Gray scoring 96-94 for Wilson-Bent. But Terry O’Connor and Kevin Parker both had it for Denny, 97-93 and 96-93 respectively.
After Spain’s Carlos Perez stung BOXXER Series tournament winner Cori Gibbs with right crosses in the early going, the Birmingham switch hitter took control and boxed his way to a 79-73 points win over eight rounds.
