SNOOZE-FEST
Simon Euan-smith watches Gorman do what’s required
CENTRAL AREA heavyweight champion Nathan Gorman outworked Southern Area counterpart Dominic Akinlade for 10 repetitive rounds, and duly took a lopsided 100-92 verdict at the National Leisure Centre.
The pattern was set in the opener, with Akinlade (New Cross) stalking his man but throwing little, while Gorman (Nantwich) moved and picked his man off as he came in. Akinlade had the occasional success with rights to the head, with Gorman grabbing for safety in both the fifth and seventh sessions – but generally he simply didn’t do enough.
Gorman was warned for a low left in the eighth and things got messy in the last two, with a lot of tangling – but Gorman was always the one doing the work. Jeff Hinds refereed.
Popular ex-two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton was in Gorman’s corner, and received a big hand. Promoters were Dovebox Promotions, in association with Hatton Boxing.
There was a worrying end to the scheduled heavyweight six between Brixton’s AJ Carter and Plymouth-based Kamil Sokolowski, won by the latter after 1-29 of the second. A combination to the head flattened Carter by the ropes, and trialist referee Mark Bates immediately waved it off. Carter needed attention in the ring, and had to sit on his opponent’s stool for a few minutes before leaving unaided – though he was subsequently taken to hospital.
Eager to finish it, Carter neglected defence – and got caught. A Carter win looked likely in the first, when Sokolowski was staggered by a left and held on. Carter opened up, but Sokolowski hit back gamely. Carter landed a good right in the second but Sokolowski fired back – and a right to the head floored Carter. He jumped up quickly, then dropped down to take the eight-count – but Sokolowski was on him as soon as the order to box on was given, and that was that.
Bentley’s Craig “Dynamite” Derbyshire ruined the debut of St. Ives’ popular Jack “The Ripper” Smith, referee Lee Every calling it off after 37 seconds of the second of a scheduled four as Smith rose from his second knockdown. Smith’s considerable cheering-section showed a lack of sportsmanship in booing the result.
Derbyshire rocked his southpaw opponent in the first with a right to the head, and a burst put Smith down by the ropes for ‘six’. Derbyshire rushed in to finish it, but Smith managed to stay out of trouble until the bell – but there was no escape in the second. Another burst put Smith down again, this time for ‘eight’ – but Mr Every had seen enough.
Louis Greene (Strood) halted Irlam’s
Lee Gillespie in the third of a scheduled four, referee Every calling it off after 2-32. Gillespie was dropped by a right to the head at the end of the first, for ‘five’, and by the end of the second was bleeding from a swelling under the left eye. There was a delay at the start of the third when Gillespie came out without his gumshield – but Greene was quickly back on top, and Gillespie was taking stick in a neutral corner when Mr Every intervened.
Stockwell-based Samuel Antwi dominated Southwark’s Victor Edagha in a four refereed by Mark Bates and scored by Jeff Hinds. The 40-35 scoreline included a point deduction for Edagha in the third, for holding – though Edagha hit back when he could, knocking out Antwi’s mouthpiece in the last and raising a bump under his left eye.
Londoner Zuhayr Al Qahtani won his debut, beating Dewsbury’s experienced
Youssef Al Hamidi over four. Referee Hinds gave Al Hamidi a count in the fourth, though the latter claimed angrily he’d slipped. Score was 40-36.
Fellow debutant Andre Sterling (New Cross) also won comfortably, taking a 40-36 verdict over Aberystwyth’s Jamie Ambler. Bates refereed, Hinds scored.
Tony Bange (Wraysbury) outscored Warminster’s Paul Cummings over six, referee Every scoring 59-56. Cummings was dropped in the fourth by a right cross, though he jumped up at once.
Hackbridge’s Cassius Connor beat
Duane Green (Norwich) over six, referee Hinds scoring 60-55. A right opened a cut in the corner of Green’s left eyebrow in the third, and a clash of heads left him with a nasty-looking hairline cut in the fifth. A lengthy doctor’s inspection was needed before he could continue, but he lasted to the end.
A lively curtain-raiser saw Reading’s O’shane Clarke beat Sheffield’s Nathan Hardy over four, referee Every scoring 39-37.
In two other four-rounders there were 40-36 verdicts for Sittingbourne’s Jack Raines over Croatian Antonio Horvatic (Hinds), and Mitcham’s
Cheznie Hawkins over Nuneaton’s
Kristian Laight (Every).
THE VERDICT An uninspiring main event, but a couple of shocks underneath.