‘RIIDDY’ TO RUMBLE
Brown upsets Foot to take the English 140lb title
AKEEM ENNIS BROWN. Note down the name because you might be hearing a lot more of him. The slippery Gloucester southpaw upset the odds at the Stadium of Light by outpointing Sunderland hero
Glenn Foot to win the English superlightweight title.
In just his ninth paid outing, Brown had confidently taken up the challenge of tackling the former Prizefighter winner on the champion’s home turf. It looked a tall order, but his belief was not misplaced, as he bamboozled Foot.
The 21-year-old challenger, known among his legion of fans as “Riiddy”, clinched a majority 10-round decision, Dave Parris scoring it 98-92 and Howard Foster 96-94, with Victor Loughlin marking it 95-95. Loughlin clearly liked Foot’s aggressive, come-forward approach but, in truth, this was a handsome triumph.
Your BN reporter had a three-point gap, and there were no complaints from Foot, his coach David Binns and manager Phil Jeffries after the MC, Wearside legend Billy Hardy, delivered the verdict.
It was a devastating setback for the 29-year-old Foot, who was making the maiden defence of the belt he won just 50 days earlier. He had overcome another tricky portsider, Philip Bowes, to take the vacant title thanks to an unrelenting assault on the Leytonstone boxer. After winning on the road, he had demanded a defence at the home of Sunderland FC.
Brown, for all his confidence, looked there for the taking, but he tore up the script with an incredible performance. Slightly taller than Foot, wiry Akeem used his long arms and legs to good effect from the opening bell.
Brown controlled the first two sessions using his dazzling movement and slick jab, nodding to his fans in recognition of his lightning start. He was even slicker in the third, repeatedly making Foot miss, and it was the same again in the fifth, when he scored with both razor-sharp hands.
Foot looked miles adrift at the midway stage, and went in search of the grandstand finish which he pulled off in Bethnal Green to beat Bowes. He attempted to put Brown out of his comfort zone in the sixth, only for his polished opponent to score with speed and accuracy.
Glenn never stopped coming forward and, following an improved seventh, he took the eighth after getting through with a number of hooks to Akeem’s head. Foot continued his assault in the ninth – a rapid volley to the head sending Brown’s gumshield flying at the end of the stanza.
A stoppage was required in the last if Foot was to retain his crown, and despite getting one right hand through, Brown successfully smothered the Wearsider. Akeem’s noisy supporters were jubilant at the end, justifiably so, and that fan base is certain to grow. Kenny Pringle was the man in charge of the action.
Talking of good support, ex-gb amateur Troy Williamson had 130 followers in the main stand for his fourth pro appointment. And they were not disappointed as the Darlington middleweight stopped Alistair Warren at 2-04 of the third of six rounds.
Wiliamson’s piston-like left scored straight down the middle in a one-sided first three minutes. His opponent, from Huddersfield, ploughed forward gamely in the second, but Williamson caught him flush with a right in the third and put him down with a follow-up right.
Warren beat referee Ron Kearney’s count, but it appeared only a matter of time and, sure enough, when Troy drove six unanswered shots to Alistair’s head, the ref wisely intervened.
Peter Cope returned to winning ways after a close defeat to Paul Hyland Jnr in March. The Hartlepool lightweight saw off old foe Lee Connelly after six gripping rounds, the southpaw winning the first four with his jab.
His Derbyshire opponent came back to take the fifth, and the pair traded blows in an exciting finale, with Mr Kearney’s 59-57 looking spot on.
The same official scored the showopener 40-37 to Northumberland welter
Tommy Walsh, who forced the pace throughout against Fonz Alexander, although the Newark man earned a share of the last round.
THE VERDICT On a promotion ravaged by countless pull-outs, Brown and Foot save the show with a blockbuster title finale.