WARBURTON EARNS HIS BREAD
English champ Ryan pushed hard
IF RECENTLY crowned English superwelterweight champ Matthew
Ryan had any illusions that his first bout since he bested Sonny Upton for the title was going to be a more sedate affair he was in for a rude awakening. Over six rounds he was given plenty to think about by Atherton’s William Warburton before ultimately prevailing by the narrowest of margins, referee for the night Darren Sarginson awarding him a 58-57 victory.
The pair had clashed over six at this same Middleton Arena venue just over a year ago, on which occasion Matty had prevailed 60-55 but “Warby”, in his 146th contest, made it clear from the outset that this return was going to be closer. Matthew’s best work came when he was working off the jab, but he was never really allowed time to settle in a bout that maintained a brisk pace throughout. Ryan regularly found himself having to exchange toe-to-toe blows with the ambitious visitor from a dozen miles up the road. Lithuanian Remigijus Ziausys is quite a lump and takes some shifting, consequently he had only been halted twice in 101 previous outings that had seen him exchange blows with the likes of Alexander Frenkel, Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora. But he was unable to prevent Manchester’s impressive Manchester Lyndon Arthur scoring his fifth straight inside the distance win. The Moston native handed out something of a beating and dropped the experienced man from the Baltic before referee Sarginson waved it off right at the end of the third and penultimate session.
There were victories over four for Salford’s Chris Monaghan and Macclesfield’s Jake Haigh. Super-welter Monaghan beat Northern Ireland’s Casey Blair 40-36 while up at light-heavy Haigh won 40-35 against Lincoln’s experienced Mitch Mitchell, who was counted after dropping to one knee in the third.
THE VERDICT Just the four bouts but certainly no shortage of action at Middleton.