Kieron Conway vs Gregory Trenel, Takeaways For Austin Williams Fight: Blow By Blow

At the weekend we saw Kieron Conway defeat Gregory Trenel via TKO5 in Sheffield to earn a huge opportunity to face off with American contender Austin Williams in Las Vegas in September for the vacant WBA International Middleweight title. Here are some key takeaways from the fight that Austin Williams may have taken notice of in preparation for his fight against Conway.

Following up jab with straight to the body 

The Conway jab found a home frequently and was often followed up with a stern straight right to the body. The combination succeeded in softening up Trenel by keeping him defensively occupied both upstairs and downstairs.

The old cliche is that a good jab takes you around the world and Kieron Conway will be hoping that will be the case against Williams in the USA

Ducking down to avoid the lead left hook 

Trenel often looked to counter with a lead left hook from his orthodox stance. Conway had a simple solution of lowering his head and moving it across to the right simultaneously.

Austin Williams fights southpaw, so Kieron Conway will still have to conjure up a different game plan for how to duck it. He also had to be wary that Williams’ hand speed and interchanging of hooks from different hands and angles will be a more complex puzzle to solve. 

Keeping it at the range 

Conway’s most accurate work came from his significant reach advantage. He consistently had Trenel on the end of his punches and his accuracy was on point. The one obstacle he faced was Trenel spoiling and holding, where the uppercut didn’t always connect on the button from Conway.

Williams is the same height as Conway but he is a nightmare to deal with at close range, so Conway will likely have to control the distance once again.

Head movement and aiming for the centre target

He evaded punches by taking steps back on the line, revealing a defensive awkwardness that could inhibit Ammo Williams, should he look to get the jab off and throw straight shots in isolation.

Conway has more experience of the 10-round distance than Williams, so his concentration on defensive movements is unlikely to lapse easily. 

All of these takeaways do bear weight to the caveat that of course, Williams is on a higher level than Trenel. But it was a successful preparatory outing for Conway.

By Harry Duffy

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