DAVIES MAKES IT 10
But Sharp makes him ght for it
RICHMOND’S Chris Davies made it 10 straight, taking the verdict over Middleton’s Darryl Sharp after a lively eight-rounder at York Hall.
Though there was a lot of missing, with both falling short, it was always entertaining. Southpaw Sharp countered well as Davies pressed forward, and hit back when caught on the ropes (he was trapped in a neutral corner in both the sixth and seventh). Generally Davies was on target that bit more, and was well worth his 78-76 victory from referee Marcus Mcdonnell.
Astonishingly, it was Sharp’s 25th straight loss (all but one on points) since beating Ben Davies for the vacant Central Area middleweight title in May last year. He’s a lot better than the figures suggest.
Adrian Redman (Ingatestone) also met with decent resistance before posting a six-round verdict over Slovakian Andrej Moravek, referee Robert Williams scoring 58-56.
Moravek showed immediately that he’d come to fight, and a two-fisted attack had Martin holding in the first. But Martin came back strongly in the second, landing right hands, and in the fourth solid jabs knocked Moravek’s head back. But Moravek always fought back, though he was staggered by a right in the last (possibly caught off-balance).
Sensation of the night on this Goodwin Promotion bill came in the four-round curtain-closer, with Bulgarian Georgi Georgiev halting Ilford-based Zimbabwean Prince Brady in two minutes 37 seconds. Here too the visitor clearly hadn’t just come to take the money. Georgiev moved well and countered accurately – Brady came after him, switching stance, but was caught by a left-right to the chin that had him sprawling in his back. He was up at five, but lurched unsteadily – and referee Mark Bates finished the eight-count and waved it off.
Londoner Martin Foru had a dream debut, knocking out Hungarian Attila Tibor Nagy in two minutes 40 seconds of a scheduled four. A right to the body sent Nagy down in a delayed reaction – he got up quickly but Foru was on him as soon as the count finished. Foru landed freely with both hands, to head and body – and finally Nagy went down on one knee, not attempting to rise until referee Bates’ count reached nine.
Luton-based Nigerian Linus Udofia halted Bulgaria’s Konstantin Alexandrov in the second of a scheduled six. Southpaw Udofia was on top from the start, switching stance and picking his shots effectively. In the second Udofia was digging in lefts to the body, and finally Alexandrov went down on one knee – he was up at four but referee Bates completed the eight-count and signalled the end 2-38.
In the curtain-raiser (scheduled for four) Sam Cantwell (Bexleyheath) stopped Bulgarian Georgi Andonov
after two minutes 53 seconds of the third.
Cantwell dominated with big rights to the body, and Andonov was put down in the second. In the third a similar shot had Andonov turning away in agony, and referee Bates stopped it at once.
In another four, Brixton’s John Harding Jnr was a third-round winner over Bulgarian Daniel Rashdan.
Rashdan rallied after being caught in the first, but in the second he complained about a kidney punch (referee Mcdonnell warned Harding) and bled from the nose. In the third Rashdan appeared to have been shoved, rather than punched, into a neutral corner – but he turned his back and Mr Mcdonnell waved it off at 2-48.
Eric Mokonzo (Bethnal Green) ended his losing run, taking referee Williams’ 40-36 verdict in a four-rounder against Bulgaria’s Tsvetozar Iliev.
Iliev lost his gumshield in both the third and fourth, bled from the nose and finished with a bump under the left eye.
First-timer Kofi Donker (West Norwood) outscored Slovakia’s Ivan Godor over four, referee Williams scoring 39-37.
Godor made a big effort in the last, but Donker well won the first three. A combination had Godor holding in the second, and Donker was finding the target with left hooks in the third.
In sixes, there were 60-55 wins for Romford’s Mark Little over Lithuanian Remigijus Ziausys (Williams) and Idris Hill (Westcliff-on-sea) over Croatia’s
Luka Leskovic (Mcdonnell), and 60-54 wins for Jack Hughes over Manchester southpaw Steve Maguire (Williams) and Sam Gilley (Walthamstow) over Atherton’s William Warburton (Bates).
Over four, Adi Burden (Aylesbury) beat Callum Ide (Bognor Regis) by 39-38 (Mcdonnell), and there were 40-36 wins for William Webber
(Dunmow) over Lydney’s Lewis van Poetsch (Mcdonnell) and Italy’s Angelo Bevilacqua over Blackburn’s Naheem Chaudhry (Bates).
THE VERDICT House fighters win – but there’s a shock at the finish.