SINCLAIR IN SIX
Three knockdowns wreck Felix in the headline bout
DUANE SINCLAIR (Thornton Heath) proved too strong, and hit too hard, for Northampton’s Dominic Felix, flooring his rival three times and halting him in the sixth of a scheduled 10-rounder at York Hall.
A side-on southpaw, Felix presented an awkward target, and had some success when he stood off and landed as Sinclair came in. But Felix’s punches didn’t bother Sinclair; a burst in the second had the South Londoner simply smiling.
A right to the head staggered Felix at the end of the first, and a similar shot in the third had him grabbing hold. A cut appeared on the corner of Felix’s right eyebrow, staining his white trunks, and the wound reopened in the fifth.
The end, in the sixth, came suddenly. A right knocked Felix through the ropes. He scrambled up at ‘nine’ and tried to fight back as Sinclair followed up. But he was put down again, and then a combination to the head floored him a third time. He beat the count, but referee Robert Williams waved it off after 2-20.
Liam Dillon (Chingford) also scored three knockdowns, beating Croatian
Antonio Horvatic in the third of a scheduled six. The visitor proved game, but was sent staggering into the ropes by a right at the end of the second. In the third Horvatic was dropped three times by rights to the head, and the final time ref Lee Every signalled the end after 1-52.
There were a few upsets on this Goodwin Boxing show, with two unbeaten records going in six-rounders. Norwich’s aggressive Duane Green, winner of five from 47 going in, dropped the opener but then raised his game to outwork Ricky Heavens (Hayes), unbeaten in six, who bled from the nose in the fifth. Referee Lee Cook scored it 59-57. And David Birmingham (Portsmouth), loser of two of his last three, snapped Lewisham’s Anesu Twala’s winning run at four, rightly taking referee Cook’s 59-55 verdict. Again, the winner rallied after a losing first round, and Twala couldn’t stay with him.
Ishmael Oladipo’s debut didn’t go as planned, as he was held to a four-round draw by Slovakia’s Michal Lukacik, referee Every scoring 38 apiece. Oladipo outweighed his man by 53 pounds, and looked as though he could lose most of it. There was a lot of missing by both, but generally I felt Lukacik showed more initiative, looking for openings and occasionally switching to southpaw.
There was nearly a shock for Wraysbury’s Tony Bange, who suffered two cut eyes and a second-round knockdown before taking an unpopular four-round verdict over Stourbridge double-centurion Kevin Mccauley. Referee Chas Coakley scored it 38-37.
Bange was cut by his left eye in the second. The wound seemed to spur him on, but he left himself open to a counter and was dropped for ‘two’. By the end of the session Bange was also cut on the right eyebrow. Mccauley continued to join battle, though he was warned for a low blow in the third. I thought he deserved at least a draw.
Yaser Al Ghena beat fellow Londoner Lee Hallett over four, referee Cook scoring 39-37. Southpaw Hallett came into it more in the second half. Meanwhile, Neil Parry of Canterbury – who, like Bange, was having his first bout since April last year – well outpointed Bulgarian Teodor Boyadjiev, Mr Every scoring 40-36.
In sixes, Mr Williams scored for Ilford’s
Ramez Mahmood over Lewishambased Swede Edward Bjorklund by 60-54 and Newham’s Ryan Walker over Michael Horabin (Mottram in Longdendale) by 59-56. Mr Coakley had southpaw Daniel Mendes (Silverton) beating Poland’s Pawel Strykowski by 59-56.
In fours, Mr Every carded 40-37 wins for Wembley’s Youssef Khoumari over Michael Mooney (Worcester) and Paul Greenidge (Abbots Langley) over Callum Ide (Bognor Regis).
Adrian Redman (Harlesden) defeated Middleton’s Darryl Sharp by 39-37 (Coakley), while there were 40-36 wins for Bromley’s Ellis Zorro over Lithuanian
Remigijus Ziausys (Cook), Sydenham’s Jonathan Palata against Bristol’s Phil Williams (Coakley) and Lithuanian debutant Denis Denikajev over Sheffield’s Qasim Hussain (Williams).
THE VERDICT Dramatic finish in the main event, and some shocks in the supports.