George Jarvis dominated a very game Prince Owuh over 5 rounds to take home a unanimous decision win on the Victory Promotions Pay-Per-View. The key to George’s success was his right body kick which grinded his opponent down over the course of the bout. Immediately after the bout, questions turned to George’s next opponent, where he outlined his desire to face Bad Company’s Joe Craven (his original opponent for this bout who had to pull out due to a hand injury).
Prince Owuh immediately looked to put the pressure on Jarvis with an unorthodox, hands-down style. George took a steady approach to round one, attempting to figure out Owuh, and began to breakthrough towards the end of the first round where he landed a jumping body kick that slowed Owuh down. Jarvis was also able to time a check-lead hook when Owuh would explode forward. Both fighters swept each other just before the bell to end the first, and closest round, of the fight.
In the second, Jarvis established the centre of the ring and utilised a wider stance as he looked to fire his right kick more frequently and more powerfully. George swept his opponents leg, threw a straight right hand and followed up with a knee to the body in a beautiful combination as he began to take control of the fight. George began to piece together punches and finishing the combinations with the right kick as he put Owuh on the back foot. Both men exchanged elbows on the break of the clinch as Prince showed he still had plenty of resistance left to offer, as he threw a spinning back fist to close the round.
A lead right hand from Prince Owuh began the third, before Jarvis caught a teep attempt and swept Owuh. Jarvis had Owuh in the corner as he looked to unload a barrage of punches and elbows, and Owuh returned fire with a right hand. A spinning elbow from Jarvis barely missed the target as his confidence grew and the clinch exchanges became more elongated with knee and elbows being thrown. A sweep put Owuh out of the ring, before a beautiful body kick from Jarvis dropped the arms of his opponent who went on the backfoot in survival mode. Jarvis followed up with punches and elbows looking to finish, but the bell saved Owuh from a potential stoppage. The key for Jarvis was a subtle hip feint before firing the kick, allowing him to land the kick when his opponent’s guard was down.
More of the same in the fourth, with Jarvis taking the centre of the ring, firing body kicks with similar success, however Owuh began to use a cross block to check some of the kicks targeted at his left arm. Jarvis turned southpaw where he looked to land a looping overhand left, and Owuh looked deflated as he was swept twice more in quick succession. A beautiful punch combination was finished off with a heavy low kick and then another body kick as Prince Owuh’s activity reduced significantly in the later stages of the round.
Jarvis controlled much of the fifth as well as he got some serious airtime on a sweep, before landing more and more body kicks as he refused to lunge in and risk getting caught in the fifth. Credit must go to Prince Owuh who showed great heart throughout to continue throwing and trying to land a big shot throughout the fight and especially in the final round, but on late notice Jarvis proved to be too well-prepared and too well-schooled as he dominated throughout.
After the fight, George said of obvious future opponent, Joe Craven, “of course (we want the Craven fight next) no disrespect to Craven… it’s a fight we want and a fight we believe will put my name out there more than it already is”. When Craven recovers from his injury, their domestic clash is clearly the one to make, and one that fans in the UK cannot wait for. For now though, our congratulations must go to George Jarvis for a brilliant return to the ring after 18 months out of action.
