ALL CHANGE
Seasoned campaigner Mccauley saves the day by stepping in at very late notice against Kelly
LOCAL favourite Jimmy Kelly had initially been slated to do battle with Estonian Pavel Semjonov at Wythenshawe Forum, before a late change saw Germany’s Florian Wildenhof come in. Ultimately neither contest went ahead, with Wildenhof apparently being denied permission to enter the country. It was Stourbridge centurion Kevin Mccauley who stepped in to contest a very shortnotice six-rounder which, as expected, finished 60-54 to Kelly on referee Darren Sarginson’s card at the conclusion of halfa-dozen one-sided sessions.
Heavyweight Tom Aspinall needed just 84 seconds of a debut set for four-threes to see off the challenge of Hungarian Tamas Bajzath, flooring the visitor on no less than three occasions before referee Mr Sarginson completed his count over the now standing Budapest native.
Belfast lightweight Ciaran Mcvarnock was fast out of the blocks too, needing five seconds less than Aspinall to account for luckless Northern Ireland man Ben Mulligan who, already having received a standing count from referee Sarginson, was halted under heavy fire.
Another Irishman, Clonmel heavy Con Sheehan, hampered by a cut to the left eyebrow after an early head clash, took all six rounds against Tomas Mrazek of Czech Republic in a bout overseen by Phil Edwards which never really caught fire.
Liverpool debutant Meshech Speare looked nice and relaxed throughout his four against Hull’s Luke Fash and having mixed things up nicely behind a snappy jab he scored a late knockdown – a left hook sending Fash to one knee. Phil Edwards scored 40-35.
Two further first-timers exchanged punches in the evening’s curtain-raiser with Stockport’s Jake Kelly taking the 40-36 decision of Mr Edwards at the conclusion of a four against Hyde’s Mike
Castell. Busier for the most part, Kelly suffered a slight nosebleed late on.
THE VERDICT Kelly has to settle for a marking-time bout.