Danny makes a point as he claims fifth fight win

Hendon-based Israeli boxer Danny Ahrens clocked up his fifth professional fight on Monday evening – though had to do it the hard way after sustaining a recurring hand injury which threatened to end his 100 percent winning start to this career.

Beating Duane Green 40-37 on points, the 20-year-old was happy with the win, though left frustrated with his hand, the same injury he picked up in his last fight. He said: “I tried to use my hand, but there was no power in it. It was painful and I couldn’t use it at all in the end. It’s frustrating, but hopefully it’s not too serious.

“The start of the fight was very good, but the hand started hurting again which affected my performance.

“He was alright as an opponent. I was leading at the start, but in the last round he came in and was looking for a fight.”

Now working under Don Charles, who amongst others trains Dereck Chisora, Ahrens won the first three rounds – albeit taking a blow in the second – before drawing the last, and now wants to take the next step up, by boxing a six-rounder.

He said: “I think I’m ready for a six-rounder. And with my next fight being cancelled, hopefully I will now have enough time to prepare me for it. I’m staying here in the immediate future, and will then need to see how much rest I need to give my hand, before looking at my plans for next year.”

And happy with the start he’s made to his career, he said: “I’m happy with my first five fights. I really want to step up to the next level, but it’s just my hand which is bothering me. Hopefully it won’t be too bad and I can push on from here.”

Also happy with his performance was his promoter Robert Waterman. He said: “He did well. I was happy with the first round when he looked brilliant, the second was good and then he seemed to deteriorate a bit in the third and fourth. At the time I thought it was down to his fitness, but it’s more than likely that was down to the hand. It’s the same injury which he picked up in his last fight, which he obviously hasn’t fully recovered from.

“But with his next fight being cancelled – he has plenty of time to recover. Whether we go up to six rounds will be determined by how he’s looking in training.”

And reflecting back on his opening five fights, he says: “I’m happy with his performances. I’m not convinced we have the physical conditioning quite right yet. It’s a fine balance between over and under-training. But I’m very happy with how he’s going so far.

“I think we need to step it up a little bit – in terms of opposition – but it was the right fight for because of the one-hand situation – Danny basically did a job on him with one hand.”