Many who turned up to see Cello Renda's return would've expected him to greet the sound of the opening bell by tearing across the ring with both fists blazing.
Instead, what they got was 12 minutes of controlled boxing behind a piston-like jab that illustrated what Jon Pegg has known all along: that there's more to Renda [pictured against gym-mate Max Maxwell in Prizefighter four years ago] than one-punch knockout power.
The Birmingham-trained Peterborough puncher returned from 26 months of frustrating inactivity to shut-out sawn-off Latvian slugger Ruslans Pojonisevs over four rounds on a Robert Waterman-promoted bill at The Arena last night [March 9] and thrown his name back into the domestic middleweight hat.
Renda's outside-the-ring troubles - a bitter fall out with ex-trainer and manager Ian Pauly - have been well-documented, leading to over two years of his career going to waste as he waited for the contract to run its course. But now happy and settled training at the Midlands Boxing Academy in the Second City, the 26-year-old can look forward to a bright future.
Slowly but surely the former Prizefighter finalist and British Masters champion has been moulded from an all-action puncher who would fire back desperately instead of holding when hurt, to a measured boxer who has the power to take men out but lets things come naturally off the fast, accurate lead left.
And though his showing against a durable 32-bout Eastern European who extended Patrick Mendy over the same distance on his previous visit to British shores may have come as a shock to those in attendance or watching live on YouTube, it wasn't for me.
Former pro bantamweight Pegg, now a well-respected matchmaker, manager, trainer and promoter, has been telling me for the past year that when Renda made his comeback he'd be using his rarely-seen boxing ability to get results. That's how the four rounds of interesting action played out.
The pattern for the contest was set within the opening 30 seconds: Renda [11st 11lbs] took centre ring and pumped out the jab, doubling and sometimes tripling it, and digging occasional right hands to the body. Pojonisevs [11st 7lbs] came barreling forward with gloves high and though he tossed over a few solid-looking rights, Cello's footwork meant he easily skipped out of harms way.
Ken Curtis marked it 40-36 to the returning local hero, who also brought in new-found head movement to finish unmarked and satisfied with his night's work. "I can't take three or four to land one punch like i have done in the past," conceded the Italian-rooted Englishman, whose ledger improves to 19-9-1 (11) and returns to the ring on June 8.
"All credit to Jon, who told me to box and show that i do have the skills to get the job done without having to go looking for a war. It's been my downfall in the past," he continued, "and i'm determined not to make the same mistakes again."
Pegg hinted that they want a couple more wins before making a charge towards champions Nick Blackwell [English] or former foe Martin Murray [the British and Commonwealth monarch who controversially outpointed Cello by split decision in their Prizefighter final] - and Renda added: "It's been a nightmare two years but i'm back and ready to make a statement."
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