LION TAMER
Arnfield prevails while Taylor continues to impress, writes George Gigney
HEATED weigh-in, which devolved into a small fracas, suggested the all-blackpool middleweight clash between Jack Arnfield and Brian “The Lion” Rose could be a tasty one, but it proved anything but.
Rose, a former super-welterweight world title challenger, had the better start as he pierced through Arnfield’s guard with one-twos and caught him with counter right hands. In the early stages, Jack didn’t seem to want to engage and his rather timid approach made the fight a difficult watch.
However he eventually realised he needed to take more risks and began to close the distance in the middle rounds, finding a home for his jab and landing some decent left hooks. However the pace was steady, rather than frenetic, and it seemed more of a sparring session than an actual fight at times.
It was nip-and-tuck and closely fought, but Arnfield seemed to have just about done enough in the second half to nick it, and he did on the cards, earning scores of 116-112 (which seemed a tad wide) and 115-113 twice. Steve Gray was the referee.
Martin J Ward retained his British super-featherweight title against old rival Maxi Hughes over 12 rounds. The pair have met twice before, drawing before Hughes had to retire from their second meeting with a nasty nose injury.
Ward, a classy boxer, seemed to struggle with southpaw Hughes’ style but managed to produce the cleaner work down the stretch to take the unanimous decision.
There were times when Hughes sharp counter-punching troubled Ward, who had the edge in speed but left his chin exposed at times as he rattled off
combinations. However his own counter left hooks were impressive and Hughes could not find an answer to them. Ward was given scores of 118-111, 116-112 and 116-113. Mr Gray refereed.
There was a real buzz in Manchester about Joe Gallagher-trained middleweight Marcus Morrison and he was expected to shine as he took a step up in class against Jason Welborn. Things turned sour for the local lad though as he badly ran out of steam early in the fight and was bloodied and beaten by underdog Welborn over 10 rounds.
After a strong first round for Morrison, things went topsy-turvy in the second as he suddenly looked spent and Welborn waded in. However a right hand sent Jason over, but he rose and fought back, creating an electrifying three minutes.
A fire was lit in Welborn and he sensed the upset. He gradually wore down Morrison – who barely moved his head – and landed some crunching blows, particularly when he had Marcus trapped on the ropes. Blood poured out of Morrison’s nose and he was badly hurt in the sixth and seventh – perhaps enough to be pulled out – though he tried to regain control with his jab in the later rounds. It wasn’t enough and Welborn was given scores of 97-92 and 96-93 twice – a massive result for someone who lost to journeyman William Warburton last year. Victor Loughlin refereed.
Irish star Katie Taylor continued her rapid rise through the pro ranks with an eight-round decision win over former world title challenger Milena Koleva. Having last fought just three weeks ago, Taylor looked a little laboured at times but she comprehensively dominated Koleva, dropping her in the seventh with a right hand. Referee Howard Foster scored it 80-72 in favour of Taylor. She will appear on the Anthony Joshuawladimir Klitschko undercard on April 29 and there are rumours she could be boxing for a world title. She’s just four fights into her pro career but with one of the best amateur records in Irish history under her belt she might already be one of the top female fighters on the planet.
Former British light-heavyweight champion Hosea Burton bounced back from his stoppage loss to Frank Buglioni with an eight-round win over Tamas Kozma.
Burton landed some spiteful uppercuts and dropped his man with a body shot in the third, but had to settle for a points win as referee Loughlin scored the fight 80-71 in his favour.
Local light-heavyweight Tomi Tatham was stunned inside a round of his eightrounder with Karel Horejsek, who bludgeoned and stopped Tatham as referee Loughlin called a halt to the fight with nine seconds left in the round.
Unbeaten middleweight Ben Sheedy won every session of his six-rounder against Rob Brown, but suffered a nasty cut over his right eye in the final stanza which, if it had happened earlier, would have resulted in the fight being stopped. Referee Gray scored it 60-54.
Rio 2016 Olympian Lawrence Okolie made an explosive start to his pro career, rendering Geoffrey Cave unconscious with a right hand and clipping him with another as he went down. Cave was down for a while and required medical attention, but thankfully was okay. The official time of the stoppage was just 20 seconds into the first round. Mr Loughlin refereed. Nathan Wheatley outpointed Chris Jenkinson 40-37 on referee Gray’s card while debutant Sean Mcgoldrick earned a 40-36 score on Mr Foster’s card against Brett Fidoe. bn
THE VERDICT A couple of upsets create intrigue on a fairly tame undercard.