ON THE WARPATH
Wigglesworth crowned Area champ in only his eighth bout
AREA titles seldom fail to deliver and this one for the vacant Central Area middleweight title between Sale’s Ben Sheedy and Brough’s Matthew
“Warpath” Wigglesworth certainly didn’t disappoint. The belt was claimed by Wigglesworth in a meeting of unbeaten men, with referee Mark Lyson scoring a fine nip and tuck affair 96-94 in his favour.
A knockdown late in the eighth proved crucial for the Niall Almond-trained Yorkshireman. Sheedy had been enjoying a period of superiority and, despite being cut by the left eye during the closing exchanges, recovered from the fall to rally and ensure it remained interesting until the very end.
A diagonal cut to the right eyebrow, sustained when heads clashed in the second round of a scheduled eight, did seem to knock Miami-based Cuban
Neslan Machado out of his stride a little but he ultimately prevailed over gritty Tanzanian southpaw Nasibu Ramadhan by a margin of 76-74 for John Latham.
The all-important difference in the end was down to the African being floored twice in quick succession midway through the fifth. But one did form the impression that there were several more hidden levels in Machado’s repertoire.
Jazza Dickens, who had endured more than his fair share of chopping and changing in the weeks prior to this latest outing, looked like a man on a mission as he destroyed Barcelona-based Nicaraguan Pablo Narvaez in the first.
From the opening seconds, when southpaw Scouser Jazza slammed home a looping left, the opinion among ringside regulars was that it was simply a matter of time and so it proved. A couple more weighty rights from the marauding Dickens sent Pablo’s gumshield flying, but it was a body shot that saw proceedings curtailed. Narvaez, having dropped to one knee, was counted out by referee Mr Lyson with 32 seconds of the first still to run.
Droylsden light-heavy Craig Bunn,
back for the first time since suffering a heavy stoppage loss 14 months previously, wasn’t particularly impressed at being handed only a 38-38 share at the end of his four against Gateshead’s Craig Nicholson. Bunn sent the man from the North East to his knees late in the second, but referee Latham’s scoring didn’t look too amiss because Nicholson had been having the better of the round prior to the knockdown and had done enough to take the last two frames on my card.
Well-supported Chorley super-middle Mark Jeffers secured his eighth straight victory and sent his noisy fans home happy by outscoring Latvia’s tough Edgars Sniedze 59-54 in a six overseen by John Latham. It would have been a touch closer had Sniedze not been deducted a point late in the third for use of the head.
The previous contest, over eight and refereed by Mr Lyson, had seen another wide home win over the distance when Glossop’s Adam Hague had proved too much for Derbyshire’s Lee Connelly,
who, as is always the case, came to fight and made a decent fist of things – especially in the last couple of rounds before ultimately going down 79-74.
Dukinfield cruiser Damian Chambers
was in no mood for hanging around against a regular visitor, Latvia-based Ukrainian Florians Strupits. The unbeaten Matthew Hatton-trained puncher needed less than a round of a contest scheduled for four to complete the job, referee John Latham intervening with 51 seconds of the frame remaining. Strupits, twice previously wobbled, had been sent to the canvas in his own corner by a clubbing right.
Sheffield’s Qasim Hussain suffered only the second stoppage defeat of his 86-bout career when popular and much taller local novice Sahir Iqbal finished what had been a one-sided affair with a body shot 39 seconds shy of the half-way stage of a scheduled four. Mark Lyson was the third man.
The evening’s only shutout victory came in a four between tattooed Barrow novice Mike Mcgoldrick and Bognor’s (now winless in 19) Callum Ide who, despite replying with the odd right uppercut, never really looked capable of causing an upset. Mr Lyson refereed.
THE VERDICT A decent show despite the enforced late withdrawal of Liverpool heavy David Price.