Ahrens wins Fourth Fight

Junior middleweight Danny "Kid" Ahrens defeated Lewis Van Poetsch on October 17 by way of four-round points victory at the Park Plaza Hotel in London, England. After an eight and a half month layoff, Ahrens was more aggressive and landed the hard punches throughout most of the fight.

Van Poetsch, a British soldier and competent boxer, jabbed early in the fight. But he quickly cast aside that plan when Ahrens rushed him with power punches. Danny had the faster hands and Van Poetsch soon made sure his gloves were high in a defensive position for much of the first three rounds.

Ahrens attacked the body early with both hands. His looping overhand right rocked his opponent on several occasions in the first three minutes. Van Poetsch tagged Ahrens with a solid left hook towards the end of the opening round, but, to that point, he had been thoroughly outworked.

Van Poetsch tried to jab early in the second, but soon covered up instead. Ahrens overwhelmed Van Poetsch in the third round with left hooks to the body, Danny's relentless pressure and constant combinations forced Van Poetsch to focus on avoiding the punches rather than firing back.

Ahrens seemed to fade in the fourth. Van Poetsch, far and away the toughest opponent Danny has faced, went for broke in the final round. Ahrens continuously backed up and was often on the ropes. Van Poetsch landed a hard right in the round, his best punch of the contest.

After the fight, Danny acknowledged to Barry Toberman of The Jewish Chronicle, "The last round could have been better. I was a bit tired and my hand was a bit low, but this is something I’ll work on when I am back in the gym. I've had a long break since my last fight and it was difficult getting back into a rhythm."

Referee Robert Williams scored the bout 40-37; three rounds for Ahrens and one even. The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the bout 39-37 for Ahrens (4-0, one KO), giving the final round to Van Poetsch (3-4).

Ahrens is only 20 years old and has tremendous power and hand speed. He possesses a fighter's mentality and is willing to throw numerous combinations. However, he rarely jabbed and switched to southpaw to little avail.

Van Poetsch never threw a punch while Ahrens was in a  left-handed stance, but Danny throws slow arm punches as a lefty; he's much better from the orthodox stance. Defensively, Kid wasn't as open while throwing a punch as he's been in the past. He crouched under punches, which was effective in avoiding the blows, but didn't put Ahrens in good position to counter. Save for a couple of sharp one-two combinations during this last fight, the young man throws looping punches.

Criticism aside, Ahrens is a decorated amateur with the makings of an outstanding professional. If he can continue to improve, the expectations for Danny are very high.