Umbiko by Gianluca Di Caro

The Aberdeen Glitterati turned out in force in support of local hero, three division World Champion Lee ‘The Aberdeen Assassin” McAllister’s latest promotion at the stunning Beach Ballroom ngolwesihlanu ebusuku.

McAllister is proving to be one of the most creative of promoters on the circuit today. Little touches like turning the stunning Beach Ballroom venue into a pseudo high end Casino added another level of cache to the excellent four-bout dinner show.

The show itself was originally due to feature four International Championship contests, unfortunately one of the title fights was cancelled after Ghana’s Ekow Wilson failed to obtain his visa in time, but the fans were not to be disappointed in any way at all as the three remaining Championship contests plus a late replacement International four rounder provided more than enough action and drama to sate any pugilistic appetite.

First fight of the night sees Bardley, Lincolnshire’s Nathan Decastro in action against Estonian Eduard Belas.

This bout had been added to the card a week or so prior, following Decastro’s challenge against Spain’s Ronny Landaeta for the IBF European title, which was due to take place the same weekend in Malaga, Spain, being called off due to rather unsavory actions by the Spanish Federation.

It was clear from the off that Decastro was still smarting from the cancellation of his IBF European Title Challenge, as right from the opening bell went in hard and fast letting rip with vicious uppercuts and body shots at every conceivable opportunity, no surprise then that within the first twenty seconds or so Belas was sent to the canvas.

Belas managed to make the count but was soon under increasing pressure from Decastro, who peppered the Estonian with a series of combinations before letting rip with a big shot to the body to send Belas to the canvas once more.

Surprisingly Belas made it to his feet for a second time, however immediately the fight was restarted Decastro went straight in hard and fast to send the Estonian to the canvas a third time, this time Belas couldn’t make the count, leaving referee Lee Murtagh no option but wave the fight of on the 52 second mark of the first round.

Decastro’s record now reads 10 kwi, 8 by way of Knockout, no losses or draws.

Next up was Sandy Robb versus Latvia’s Aleksandrs Roldiguns for the vacant Professional Boxing Council (PBC) Silver Cruiserweight Championship.

To describe the first round as ‘technical’ would be an understatement; both protagonists took their time, testing their opponent’s mettle with impressive strong jabs to body and head. As the round progressed Robb kicked up the pace a little and started to slip in the occasional combination, in an attempt to break down the Latvian’s defense.

In the yesibili, both decided to step up the pace, which worked well for the Scotsman, as this opened up more opportunities for Robb to breakdown Roldiguns excellent defense with crisp flowing combinations as well as a couple of big right hands to the body.

Ngini of the efanayo in the third, about half way through the round Robb backed Roldiguns onto the ropes and landed a cracking shot to the side of the Latvian’s head before switching to the body, the Latvian appeared disoriented and shortly after began grabbing hold of Robb at every conceivable opportunity, in a vein attempt to prevent the Scots lad landing further big shots. Roldiguns received numerous warnings, not just for holding but also to keep his head up when in close.

The fourth round was very messy, as Roldugins continued to keep grabbing and holding Robb each time the Scotsman came close. Quite early on in the round Referee Lee Murtagh decided to put an end to the Latvian’s shenanigans by deducting a point.

Even after the deduction Robb’s attempts to get back down to boxing were thwarted, as Roldugins persisted in holding each time Robb closed the Latvian down. After numerous further warnings for holding Referee Lee Murtagh’s patience came to an end and Roldugins once more had a point deducted.

Shortly after the restart, during another close quarters foray, there was a sickening thud as the boxers heads clashed, leaving a cut over Robb’s eye. Referee Lee Murtagh deemed it to be an accidental clash of heads.

Almost immediately after this Roldugins once more grabbed hold of Robb, who had backed the Latvian onto the ropes, and began rubbing his head against the cut over Robb’s eye. This infringement was the final straw as far as Referee Lee Murtagh was concerned, immediately disqualifying Roldiguns on the 2 minute 50 second mark of the fourth round.

Following the official results announcement PBC President Mr. Russell Jacques presented Sandy Robb with the PBC Silver International Cruiserweight Championship Belt.

The third fight of the night see local lad Nathan Beattie in action against Ghana’s Tackie Annan for the PBC Silver International Lightweight title.

Right from the opening bell both lads went to work methodically, Beattie utilizing his strong jab to keep Annan at bay, whilst the Ghanaian sought out angles in an attempt to land some strong right hands to the Scotsman’s body, mostly in vein though as Beattie’s defense was as strong as they come.

Second round started out with Beattie very much in control, the Scotsman thwarting the efforts of the highly mobile Ghanaian with panache. As the round reached the midway point Annan found an opening and let rip with a big looping right hand to send Beattie crashing to the canvas.

Beattie just about made the count but was clearly disoriented and unsteady on his feet, leaving Referee Lee Murtagh no option but to wave the fight off after just 1 minute and 34 seconds of the second round.

After the official result was read out MC Douglas McAdam announced that as Tackie Annan had failed to make the Championship weight, at the weigh-in the day before, that the PBC International Lightweight Title remains vacant, as under Championship rules a boxer that fails to make the weight can still compete but is not be eligible to win the Championship, only the boxer that made the weight could actually win the crown.

The fourth and final fight of the night featured Aberdeen’s very own Lee McAllister against the very tough Ghanaian Ishmael Tetteh, for both the PBC International and Commonwealth Super Welterweight Championships.

With over a hundred pro contests between them, including numerous Championship bouts, it didn’t surprise anyone in attendance that McAllister and Tetteh would put on an all action, slick display of boxing at it’s very best, and boy oh boy did they do just that.

From the off both vied for centre ring position as if their lives depended on, no pussyfooting around with these two, it was all out war. Surprisingly it was the Ghanaian that eventually wrestled control of the middle ground, or maybe not as that seemed to suit McAllister, who throughout the first round utilized the outer ring with great effect, often he would step in and let rip with blisteringly fast combinations before moving back or stepping to the side just out of range of the countering exocets thrown by Tetteh.

Round two was just phenomenal, you just couldn’t take your eyes of the action for a second, it was mesmerizing to watch as the pair set to work on their game-plans, one moment they were going at it hammer and tongs in a toe to toe war, and the next some seriously slick boxing which had the ensemble crowd on their feet.

As the round was moving towards it’s conclusion McAllister stepped up the pace and went in hard and fast, letting rip with shots from every conceivable angle, much to the delight of the fans, who seemed convinced that their man was going in for the kill. Wow what a round.

It was more of the same in the third, but the fourth was something special. McAllister seemed determined to end the fight as quickly as possible, letting rip with power shots to head and body. Initially Tetteh would cover up and try and withstand the onslaught, but about midway through the round changed tactics and met the Scotsman head on in centre ring and started throwing bombs of his own.

Round five started off with a beautiful close quarters exchange, which must have lasted close to ten seconds and only came to an end when Tetteh appeared to slip and fall to the canvas.

As Tetteh rose to his feet, and yes Referee Lee Murtagh deemed it a slip, McAllister began rousing the crowd before going straight for the Ghanaians jugular with power shot after power shot. Tetteh stood his ground countering with great effect but on about the minute mark McAllister threw a pinpoint perfect power shot to the Ghanaian’s lower rib, to send him down to the canvas and gasping for breath.

The fans thought it was all over and began celebrating, however that soon came to an abrupt end as terminator Tetteh rose to his feet to just beat the count.

McAllister once again encouraged the crowd to get behind him, which they did with gusto, and then proceeded to go in hard and fast with sensationally quick hands to body and head, initially Tetteh stood his ground countering, but in doing so left a smidgeon of an opening that the canny Scot just couldn’t resist, letting rip with huge uppercut to the floating rib, no surprise Tetteh returned to the canvas but this time there was no chance of him making the count no matter how hard he tried.

Referee Lee Murtagh waved the bout of on the 1 minute 48 second mark of the fifth round and shortly after PBC head honcho Russell Jacques proudly presented McAllister with the stunning PBC International and Commonwealth belts.

It must have been over an hour before McAllister finally vacated the ring though as he then proceeded to invite various dignitaries, as well as numerous well wishers, into the ring to have photos taken with him and the PBC belts, which I thought was a really nice touch.