GHAZ COOKER

Hamed moves to 13-0 with a points victory over tough Connelly, writes Andy Whittle from ringside

THE six-rounder between Bradford’s Hamed Ghaz and Derbyshire battler Lee Connelly in the Banqueting Suite at Elland Road stadium – ultimately scored 60-56 to Ghaz by the night’s referee, Darren Sarginson – proved a watchable scrap.

Connelly picked up a cut by the left eye in the third and had his nose bloodied heavily in the next, as well as finding himself under heavy pressure at times, most notably in the fifth. Nevertheless, he was still there throwing at the finish.

Popular local Jack Bateson mixed things up nicely and picked his shots well against Barcelona’s Nicaragua-born Rafael Castillo. An unanswered four-punch salvo towards the end of the third was Jack’s best work of the night. It was no surprise when Mr Sarginson scored this one 40-36.

Two debutants experienced differing fortunes. Halifax’s Kyle Scully impressed mightily en route to a 40-35 success over Newark’s road warrior Fonz Alexander,

while Leeds’ Ben Tatterson

found himself on the wrong end of a narrow loss at the hands of Lithuania’s Dmitrij Kalinovskij.

Scully had dominated from the off against Alexander and made sure in the last when a combination saw the visitor sitting on the ropes momentarily and counted. Tatterson, meanwhile, fully played his part in a decent fight, but got caught by a few too many right uppercuts, ultimately losing out 39-38.

Leeds’ Mick Learmonth made short work of Westbury novice Kevin Williams in a slated four. Three seconds of the opener remained when Mr Sarginson intervened with Williams having just risen from his haunches, having gone down from a burst.

Brighouse’s Jimmy First

halted another Barcelona-based Nicaraguan, Eligio Palacios, 57 seconds from the end of a four. Mr Sarginson, having already docked the oft-holding visitor a point in the previous round, waved it off when he might just as easily have disqualified Palacios.

THE VERDICT Promoter Mark Bateson keeps his boxers ticking over.