DARREN Tetley believes he made a “big statement” after a brilliant stoppage victory over Pal Olah at the Bradford Hotel on Saturday night.
Tetley, from Holme Wood, dominated the contest throughout before eventually forcing the referee’s intervention early in the fourth of the six scheduled rounds with a series of unanswered shots.
The 25-year-old now moves to 18 wins from as many professional fights as he looks to tee up a major fight this summer and return to the title mix.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to do, I wanted a big performance, a stoppage and to put on exciting fight for the fans,” Tetley told the Telegraph & Argus.
“The (William) Warburton fight wasn’t very exciting - bar the fifth round - because style-wise we didn’t quite match up to produce a good fight.
“Whereas in this fight, he (Olah) was in there and he tucking up and we could have more of a proper fight. That’s exactly what I wanted. I knew in the first round, when I caught him and then looked at his face, I knew he didn’t want much more of it.
“The more he complained about little things, the more I knew that he wanted out of there. I kept the pressure on him and then in the fourth the ref thought that he had had enough and stopped the fight.”
Tetley admitted that he lost his cool due to Olah’s constant holding during the bout, conceding that it’s something he needs to work on.
“He just holding all of the time and moaning as well,” added Tetley. “He headbutted my nose yet he moaned about it.
“He was moaning about body shots that hit his back and I thought ‘just get on with it, it’s a fight.’ He stood on my toe as well. Don’t moan about little things in a fight.
“When I’m in the ring, after I’ve said my prayer in the corner, I have a switch and once that goes, I’m in fight mode. I don’t care about anything else, I just want to fight.”
It’s a third stoppage in four fights for Tetley, who isn’t noted as a particularly powerful puncher.
“I’m never going to be a huge puncher,” he admitted, “but if I hit you, you’re going to feel it.”
“I hit Cartwright with a left hook and I split his lip. I hit Warburton with a left hook and split his eye. And I stopped Olah tonight. I’ve shown that I have got power.
“It’s just about letting it go at the right times. A lot of the time it is about believing in yourself, having confidence to step up the pace.”
There’s been speculation that world champion Josh Warrington could defend his title against Kid Galahad in Leeds on May 4. Tetley hinted he could be in for a title fight on the show.
“I’d love to be on the Warrington-Galahad bill, 100 per cent,” continued Tetley.
“Hopefully I can get another big fight on there for a big title. I’m sure it will be good fight.
“I have had conversations about that. It’s not a rematch with Mason Cartwright, it’s a tougher fight than that. I can’t say who it is at the minute, but it’s a title fight and it’s the hardest fight of my career to date. I can’t wait.”
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