WILLIAMS KOS KIRK
A new Midlands Area lightweight king is crowned
TAMWORTH’S Charlie Williams captured the vacant Midlands Area lightweight championship by knocking out Nathan Kirk in the eighth round in the Holte Suite at Villa Park.
The sixth and seventh rounds apart, when Kirk rallied bravely, Williams dominated. The 23-yearold jabbed, moved and walked Stapleford’s Kirk onto punches, particularly the right uppercut that brought about three knockdowns. Kirk was on the floor in the fourth and fifth rounds, and then came up with a big push in the next two.
At the bell to end the seventh, Williams looked tired. But he found the finishing punch in the eighth, connecting with another right uppercut that put Kirk on one knee. Kirk, who fought with a perforated eardrum from the third, shook his head as referee Shaun Messer counted him out. Time was 57 seconds.
Ray Moylette, the former amateur World Youth champion and European Senior champion from Ireland, got six-threes under his belt, clearly winning 60-55 for referee Kevin Parker against Croatia’s Luka Leskovic. Trainer Paschal Collins called for Moylette to keep his hands higher as he pressed, but he appeared to have gauged the threat, or lack thereof, in front of him and knew what he could get away with.
The only time a stoppage seemed a possibility was in the second, when a Moylette right hand made Leskovic’s knees dip and bloodied his nose.
Mr Messer scored Telford’s
Tony Jones a 40-38 winner over Worcester’s Michael Mooney after a competitive four-threes, while Coventry debutant David Seymour won by the same margin over London-based Swede Edward Bjorklund for Mr Parker.
Mr Parker also had Willenhall’s
Shaun Cooper beating Leeds’ plucky David Zubrzycki 40-37 over four-threes, and over the same distance, Redditch’s Carl Dickens beat Aberystwyth’s Sean Gorman 40-36 for Mr Messer. Gorman didn’t show much ambition after tasting a right hand in the opening round.
THE VERDICT A first pro title for the unbeaten Williams, who can look ahead to bigger things.