JACK FLASH
Bateson shines brightly on his professional debut
IT’S some time since I bore witness to a debut performance as polished as that turned in by Leeds’ Jack Bateson. In the two-and-a-half minutes that his contest against Bulgaria’s Zsolt Sarkozi lasted, Bateson barely rested for a second. His gloves were a blur as he tagged the visitor from Budapest with just about every shot in the book, leaving him battered, beaten and with damage around both eyes. Referee Howard Foster made the inevitable intervention with 31 seconds of the first (set for four) remaining.
Clad in a long white dressing gown and accompanied to the ring by fellow Leeds pro Josh Warrington, Bateson opened behind a snappy jab, before immediately switching his attention to the body. After a pair of left hooks and a followup right, the look of anguish had barely disappeared from Sarkozi’s face before former top amateur Jack slammed home a swift combination to the head and a quartet of consecutive lefts downstairs.
By this stage, Mr Foster was already having a close look. With the pressure relentless and the import’s gumshield having been dislodged, the early finish came following one more head-body assault. A left to the ribs was the final punishment that the visibly shaken 18-year-old Sarkozi had to endure.
On the undercard at Elland Road’s Banqueting Suite, the six-rounder between Bradford’s Hamed Ghaz and Newark’s busy Fonz Alexander finished 60-54 in favour of Ghaz, whose best work came in the later rounds.
Referee Michael Alexander didn’t take long to tally up the figures at the finish, but Fonz, who picked up a swelling to the left eyebrow along the way, did land sufficient replies to keep things interesting.
Leeds favourite and former English super-flyweight title challenger Terry Broadbent returned to familiar surrounds after an absence of three years with a 40-35 points success against city rival Russ Midgley. Russ hung in well after being wobbled and then sent to his knees in a neutral corner by a pair of consecutive rights in the dying seconds of the opener.
Broadbent, however, didn’t come through unscathed. He picked up a cut above the right eye, likely from a head clash, which had to survive a doctor’s inspection. Mr Alexander was the third man.
Tattooed southpaw first-timer Mick Learmonth made the switch from rugby league and tasted hometown glory by shutting out experienced Lithuanian Dmitrij Kalinovskij over four.
With the tempo having quickened after a one-sided yet fairly quiet opener, the visitor, who finished with a fair degree of swelling and reddening below the right eye, as well as a bloody nose, found himself increasingly forced onto the back foot. The bout was overseen by Mr Foster.
Leeds pair Sean Hare and Mike Ash had both been slated to box respective fours, but ended up going in with each other. Honours were even, with referee Alexander turning in a card reading 38-38.
The popular and excellently nicknamed “Volcanic” Ash had the better of it early on, despite his nose being bloodied in the second, but saw those initial gains reined in during a feisty second half. Hare, picking up the pace, found the target more frequently than had first been the case, with a precise right uppercut midway through the last being his best shot of the night.
Two further four-rounders completed proceedings – the first refereed by Mr Alexander and the second by Mr Foster. Home boxers Billy Pickles and Tom Young maintained their 100 per cent records. Pickles bested Plymouth’s Chris Adaway 40-36 at the conclusion of an enjoyable encounter, and Young triumphed 39-37 against Brierley Hill debutant MJ Hall, who won the last round, having taken time to settle.
THE VERDICT After a classy performance on his pro bow, Bateson is one to watch.