週六I made the trip west from my London home to the beautiful city of Cardiff for the Owen Watkins promoted event at the Ice Arena Wales.
The event was due to be headlined by the much anticipated all Welsh Heavyweight title clash between Hari Miles and Dorian Darch, for the World Boxing Foundation (WBF) European Heavyweight Championship. However the fight had to be postponed as Darch was unable to take part due to a suspension he received following a fight on a different event a few weeks prior.
Despite this setback Owen Watkins had decided that the show must go on and I for one am pleased he made that choice, as the planned undercard featured a number of top class amateurs I have been looking forward to watching making their professional debuts.
First up was debuting Carl Thomas versus Kyle McNicholas in a four round Light Heavyweight Contest.
Both lads started really well exhibiting their respective boxing skills.
As the round progressed Thomas stepped up the pressure, backing McNicholas onto the ropes and began letting rip with shots to the body and head of the Liverpudlian.
As the round progressed into the final minute Thomas landed a cracking right to the head that shook McNicholas to the core, Thomas followed up with a left to the body followed almost immediately with a big left to the body that sent McNicholas to the canvas.
Surprisingly McNicholas made the count, they sure breed them tough on Merseyside, as that was a vicious body shot just below the lower rib, you just don’t see people get up after those that often.
On the restart Thomas went straight back on the attack, firstly firing off a stiff jab followed by another stinging left to the body and a double right to the head.
Thomas kept up the pressure, peppering McNicholas with a wicked body-head combination followed by another good stiff jab to back McNicholas into a neutral corner before letting rip with a sensational left hook to the body, that sentMcNicholas down for a second time.
Referee Roger Riley began the count and as it just reached the eight count point McNicholas began to try and rise without success, leaving the referee no option but to wave the fight off just as the bell tolled to signal the end of the first round.
I’m pleased to say that McNicholas was perfectly OK and did get to his feet shortly after.
My final thoughts on this particular fight are; it may have only lasted one round but what a cracking round it was.
Next up see Kacper Dudzinski making his pro debut against Belfast’s Michael Kelly in a four round Super Welterweight contest.
Right from the off Dudzinski got behind his seriously strong jab and began controlling the proceedings with fast hands and stiff double jabs.
Kelly is no mug, 不是由一個長鏡頭, he’s as savvy as they come, but even he had to concede to taking a defensive stance and patiently wait for any opportunity, no matter how slender, to counter, which to be honest were few and far between.
Dudzinski seriously impressed against Kelly and has a fantastic future in the sport.
It may have been his debut, but based on his performance週六夜晚, against a former genuine title challenger, I reckon he’ll go all the way to the top and deserves it too, anyone who can keep Kelly on the back foot the way Dudzinski did for virtually the full four rounds is without doubt something special.
Don’t get me wrong Kelly landed some cracking shots but Dudzinski’s sensationally fast hand speed and superb defence kept those opportunities to the bare minimum.
Nice little touch from Kelly late in the final round, following a ‘matrix style’ reaction move, that almost prevented him touching a glove down, 然而, much to his annoyance he received a count from referee Chris Kelly, although Kelly was convinced he’d actually had avoided his glove touching the canvas, but instead of standing there and protesting he dropped down and proceeded to do push ups throughout the count to show his disapproval, 多的人群的喜悅.
After four brilliant rounds it came as no surprise that it was Dudzinski whose hand was held aloft – the official result showed Dudzinski scoring his maiden pro victory by a 40-35 分之差.
Next up was Ben McGivern versus Ben Hough in a four round Cruiserweight contest.
什麼打架, McGivern mainly bossing the proceedings, forcing Hough on to the back foot as well as the ropes for a good chunk of the first stanza. Hough may have been on the defensive for a good part of the first but when the opportunities arose he took them in style.
It was virtually a complete turnaround in Round Two, with Hough wrestling control and putting McGivern on the back foot, and ropes, similar to the way the Scot had bossed the first round.
The third stanza was a much closer fought affair, so much so I found it hard to split them, points wise.
The fourth started out more or less as the third ended, with both protagonists going for it hammer and tongs, but as the Round progressed McGivern stepped up the pace enough to not only secure the round, but also the victory.
After four sensational all action rounds, as I gave away above, it was McGivern that came away victorious, referee Roger Riley scoring the excellent contest 39-37 in favour of the Scotsman.
Following the fight both boxers agreed to a rematch, which I have been reliably informed is likely to take place in Liverpool on9月8日– put the date in your diary this is a fight no one should miss!
The penultimate fight of the night see Blackwood, South Wales’ Liam Preece versus very, very late replacement Pentrefoelas, North Wales’ Steffan Hughes in an all Welsh contest.
What a corker this fight was, it was an all action thriller from start right through to the final bell.
Considering Preece had a considerable weight disadvantage to deal with, he really went for it, taking the fight to his more experienced, and heavier, 對手.
Preece boxed confidently not only when on the attack but also when defending against the pinpoint accurate exocets launched by Hughes.
Preece was impressive throughout, and I’m sure it didn’t surprise anyone in the Ice Arena Wales when referee Chris Kelly’s scorecard was read out as a 40-36 points victory for the South Wales Lad.
The final pro fight of the night pitted highly rated former amateur star Port Talbot’s Levi Griffiths versus Liverpool’s Scott McIntyre.
Griffiths is so slick, the classy youngster began well and landed some stinging shots, which forced McIntyre to switch to ‘plan B’ early on in an attempt to keep on the inside to prevent the Welshman from getting his big shots off.
McIntyre’s plan B may not have been pretty, but boy oh boy it was highly effective.
After the initial ‘open’ 期, which allowed the slick Welshman to achieve a good level of success, the majority of the fight could have taken place in a phone box.
McIntyre clearly had no intention of giving Griffiths any opportunity to let rip with any big shots, he just kept him tied up throughout, sometimes by foul means, so much so that after numerous warnings for holding or not breaking when told, referee Roger Riley deducted a point, however even that point deduction wasn’t going to prevent the Liverpool man from securing the victory, the official score being 39-36.
不得不說, whilst personally disappointed that the Miles-Darch WBF European title fight didn’t take place, promoter Owen Watkins had put together such a top class support card that I, as well as am sure everyone else in attendance had their Pugilistic Appetite well and truly sated by the fare on offer and look forward to his next promotion, which will take place at the Cwrt Herbert Leisure Centre in Neath on the22nd September.
週六 晚, at the On-X Centre in Paisley, the latest offering from Gerard Boyle-Welsh and his On The Ropes team took place. For those that have yet to attend an On The Ropes promoted event, this may be small hall boxing, but believe me the production quality of their events easily equals, if not betters, many of the larger Arena shows from far better known promoters.
It’s not often you see full blown light show, DJs, big screens, stunning promotional girls, full in house broadcast team not just filming the fights but also post fight interviews at small hall shows.
行, enough about the production let’s get to the point of the report – The fights themselves.
First fight of the night see Coatbridge’s Ben McGivern against debuting Malcolm Richardson from Blackpool.
Right from the off this bout had the hallmark of a classic small hall fight written all over it. Both lads got straight down to business, attacking from all angles in some style. However around the first minute or so of the round local lad McGivern landed a massive shot to the body. Have to admit, the shot was so venomous I was mightily surprised, no that should be impressed, that Richardson made the count.
On the restart McGivern didn’t need the partisan fans in attendance or his esteemed corner man on the night, three time World Champion Lee McAllister, encouraging him to get back in hard and fast, he just did, landing further big shots to back his not yet fully recovered opponent on to the ropes, before letting rip with yet another massive right to the body with much the same effect as the first, Richardson valiantly tried to rise as the count reached its conclusion, but just failed to do so – Referee Liam Bonner waved the bout off and declared McGivern the victor on the one minute and twenty eight second of round one.
Next up was Perth’s Gary Wilson against debuting James Calveley from Liverpool.
To an outside observer this may have looked a bit of a mismatch, as Wilson towered over Calveley by a good six inches or so, but fight wise it was anything but.
First round see the protagonists locked in a gladiatorial battle that wouldn’t have been out of place at the Colosseum in Rome all those years ago – seriously was a cracking round that swung one way and then the other as they battled it out in centre ring.
Initially it was more of the same in the second that was until Wilson landed a peach of a shot to send the plucky Scouser down.
Calveley made the count easily but Wilson had no intention of letting his opponent off that easily and kept the pressure up with some nice combinations culminating in another huge right to send Calveley down again.
Calveley just about made it to his feet as the count reached eight, but on rising was very, very unsteady on his feet, so much so that referee Liam Bonner had no option but to stop the contest on the one minute fifty one second mark of the second round.
The third contest of the evening see Bellshill’s Barrie McRorie take on tough and very awkward Latvian Vladislavs Davidaitis.
The round started quite sedately with both men sussing the other out for the first minute or so, then it was all action to the final bell, as the two warriors let rip from every conceivable angle.
Round two was more of the same although to be fair both protagonists had settled into a slightly more realistic pace and were landing far better shots than in the first.
Round three see Davidaitis getting more and more success, don’t get me wrong McRorie was landing some real tasty shots of his own, but have to say that was the Latvians round.
The fourth and final round was a cracker, as in the previous rounds the two lads went at it hammer and tongs throughout, however the pace had taken its toll on Davidaitis and the final minute he was fighting his heart out just to survive the continual onslaught from the fired up Scotsman.
After four scintillating rounds Referee Liam Bonners scorecard showed McRorie victorious by a 39-37 points score line.
So onto the final bout of the night, which featured Bellshill’s Paddy Reilly against Vadims Konstantinovs.
Konstantinovs’ fight style is similar to fellow Latvian Vladislavs Davidaitis, as such Reilly had his hands full, albeit right from the opening bell, as unlike in the previous fight both protagonists had only one thought in the mind – attack, attack, attack.
It was a full on war, both lads were intent on throwing as many big punches as possible, at the expense of their defences I should add, which ultimately led to Konstantinovs being caught by a cracking shot, that sent him to the canvas around the end of the first minute.
The Latvian made a right mess of judging when to rise, whilst on one knee he kept looking between the referee and his corner as he awaited the signal, which he got back a fraction too late, rising only as referee Liam Bonner actually counted and signalled the eighth time, not just before.
Not only was Konstantinovs distraught when the referee signalled fight over but so was Reilly who was fired up and wanted the fight to carry on, well he’s a fighter and he wanted to fight so can understand that. Actual time of stoppage was one minute and forty-nine seconds of the first round.
What a great night, OK three of the four fights were over well inside the distance, but that can’t take away from the performances of the fighters or as I mentioned at the start, the quality of the promotion itself, I for one can’t wait for the next.
