THE 300 CLUB

And Kristian Laight plans plenty more, writes Andy Whittle

“ONE more season,” said Kristian Laight when I asked him, ahead of his 300th bout, how much longer he planned to be British boxing’s “Mr Reliable”. If this season is anything to go by, another year will take him up to around 330 - a figure that is unlikely to be surpassed.

But there was no fairytale at Coventry’s Alan Higgs Leisure Centre in his latest milestone. There were gifts to mark the occasion from Midlands Area promoter Lee Eaton, fellow triple centurion Peter Buckley and manager Jon Pegg, but it was Pegg’s charge who ruined it all. The wellsupported local novice, Luke Beasley, began at quite a pace, claiming a 39-37 win on the card of Shaun Messer.

Despite the defeat, all at Boxing News would like to congratulate Laight on reaching 300 bouts and, of course, wish him all the best for the future.

Aggressive from the outset, and on the front foot for the most part, it was good to see Evesham’s Brett Fidoe rewarded for his tenacity with a 39-38 win at the conclusion of his four against previously unbeaten Coventry puncher David

Seymour. I had Fidoe winning slightly wider, but no matter, the right man had his arm raised at the end by Newark referee, Kevin Parker.

Five other four-rounders went the distance. Birmingham first-timer Ben

Fields began well and bested Brierley Hill’s MJ Hall 40-37 for Mr Parker while the same official handed in the same card at the conclusion of an often scrappy win for Bicester’s Scott

James over Stourbridge veteran Kevin Mccauley. Dudley’s Mr Messer scored jabbing Nuneaton returnee Sullivan Mason a shutout winner over Driffield’s Danny Little, and similarly had Coventry welter Michael Green a 40-36 victor over Birmingham-based Iranian Yaddollah Ghasemi, who made a decent fist of it early on. Leicestershire’s unbeaten Kyle

Haywood stayed busy and despite conceding a fair bit of weight to Lydney’s busy Lewis van Poetsch, he too was the recipient of a 40-36 from Mr Parker.

THE VERDICT Mr Reliable shows another young prospect the way.