LATE LATE SHOW
O’donnell beats Ochieng with final flourish in gruelling affair
John picked him off over the final six minutes to secure a hard-fought victory. Ian John-lewis refereed.
Also split, and equally entertaining, was the English super-bantamweight title bout that saw Folkestone hope Josh Kennedy survive a heavy seventh-round knockdown to take a merited points win over Preston’s experienced Michael Ramabeletsa.
Kennedy’s forcing, with plenty of right hands landed, opened a wide lead before two big right-handers shockingly floored him late in round seven. But even though Ramabeletsa also won the eighth, Josh finished strongly to take the final two sessions and win for judges Ian Johnlewis (96-94) and Williams (95-94), while Cook went 96-93 for Ramabeletsa, who was too cautious in the early going.
The 10-rounder that was never likely to last the course duly failed to, as Canning Town southpaw Wadi Camacho steadily chipped away at the resistance of Karl Wheeler until the Peterborough man fell apart in the fifth.
Jabs, left crosses and stiff right hooks all played a part and by the end of round four the sold-out Wheeler looked ready to go. In the next some hurtful rights to the body made Karl take a knee in his own corner and, although he was up at the count of eight, referee Williams wisely waved it off with 2-27 on the clock.
Three six-rounders all went the distance with Adam Dingsdale, Jez Smith and Ollie Pattison winning.
Super-lightweight Dingsdale, from Hoo in Kent, was a 60-55 victor over Croatia’s Luka Leskovic with Mr Cook scoring ringside and Chas Coakley handling matters in the ring. Dingsdale jabbed plenty and landed a big right cross in the fifth.
Harrow Weald welter Smith walked into a left hook and dropped the opener to Stanislav Nenkov, but then got down to work and outpunched the Bulgarian in the remaining sessions for a 59-55 score from referee Cook.
Also overcoming Bulgarian opposition was tall London Colney light-heavy Pattison, who banged in some good right uppercuts but could not budge
Merdjidin Yuseinov, having to settle for a 60-54 verdict from referee Williams.
Seven four-rounders completed a highly entertaining bill, with the most impressive performance coming from Linus Udofia. The Luton middleweight was sharp and hurtful against Ladislav Nemeth, hurting the Slovakian with a right in the second and then having him covering up in the next for a stoppage after 24 seconds from referee Williams.
Hammersmith southpaw super-welter
Dan Dan Keenan, originally from Cork, belatedly celebrated St Patrick’s Day by outpointing Croatia’s Silvije Kebet, although it was a close call at 39-38 for referee Lee Every. Keenan was too casual at times and got tagged unnecessarily.
Opening the show were two lighterweight contests that produced 39-37 points victories. Brentford super-fly Jack Hughes had lost his only previous paid outing but lasted the pace better than
Georgi Georgiev, as Mr Cook scored ringside for Mr Coakley between the ropes.
Then at featherweight Ilford’s Ramez Mahmood was rewarded by referee Every for his more forceful punching against Jules Phillips (Islington), with the Essex man enjoying a particularly successful third round as he landed two solid left hooks.
Fulham light-heavyweight Dwayne Jones-grant found Hull’s tall Andy Neylon difficult to pin down at times but plugged away and landed enough left hooks, upstairs and down, for a 40-36 verdict from referee Cook.
Shut-out verdicts were also earned by Richmond light-heavy Chris Davies, who thumped away consistently to the ample midriff of Middleton’s Curtis Gargano; and Northamptonshire welter Curtis Felix, who controlled matters against
Teodor Nikolov but stung the Bulgarian only once, with a right cross in round three.
Mr Cook scored the Davies bout (with Mr Coakley in the ring), while Every was the referee for the Felix contest.
THE VERDICT Three all-domestic title crackers provide competitive and exciting action on a quality show.