Chris Kongo: I executed game plan perfectly in win over Florian Marku

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Chris Kongo felt that his team’s game plan worked seamlessly as he outpointed Florian Marku at Greenwich’s 02 Arena on Sunday.

The Bermondsey welterweight ended a 14-month absence from the ring as he won a unanimous verdict to inflict a first defeat on his Albanian opponent.

Kongo claimed the IBO Intercontinental belt, not one of the major belts as reflected by the fact the bout was over 10 rounds instead of the 12 for more major titles.

The South Londoner used his superior boxing skills to not become engaged in the kind of close-range scrap that Marku wanted.

Marku’s frustrations came to the fore as the contest continued and he was deducted a point in the eighth after previous warnings from referee Howard Foster.

Kongo said: “The word for this fight was discipline – and I stuck to it. The great fighters and elites stay disciplined from round one to round 10 and that’s what I did.

“It was so crazy because a lot of the stuff we were drilling in the gym we knew he was going to do.

“Everyone said he was a big puncher and to be careful. But, trust me, I’ve been hit by some big-hitters – I’ve been doing this since I was eight and I’ve been a pro seven-and-a-half years – I’ve never been down and never been buzzed.

“I knew the pace was going to slow down, especially when I was just touching him to the head and going down hard to the body. I started slow and then picked up the pace as the rounds went on.

“There is a target on my back now I have won this title. They think I’m just prey but this has made me a serious, serious predator.

“I’m going to keep working and making sure no one is taking this belt.”

Kongo’s record is 15-2.

PICTURE: LAWRENCE LUSTIG/BOXXER