REHMAN PIPS APPLEYARD

Andy Whittle sees a War of the Roses go the way of Lancashire

BRAMLEY super-lightweight Lee Appleyard climbed the corner post and saluted his fans at the culmination of his tilt at the vacant Central Area belt at the Doncaster Dome. However, his celebrations were cut short when Rochdale’s tall Bilal Rehman was announced a 96-94 winner of a cracking bout which also doubled as a Commonwealth title eliminator. This was despite Rehman being docked a point by referee Steve Gray for holding in the ninth.

Rehman made the most of his natural advantages in the early stages, keeping it long and jabbing regularly from distance. Yet by the midway point, former English lightweight champ Appleyard, increasingly the aggressor and working his way inside, was scoring with sufficient rights to reduce the deficit somewhat. Later rounds, fought at quite a pace, proved even closer, with Appleyard, now marked below both eyes, trying to pin down an often elusive opponent, who was still finding the target with regular hooks and uppercuts.

All four undercard bouts were overseen by Mr Gray, and all ended 40-36. First up was Grimsby’s Levi Giles, and his sharp punches saw him home against Mottram-inlongdendale’s plucky Michael Horabin.

Sheffield’s Levi Kinsiona impressed once more against Stockport’s late sub Jamie

Quinn. On the receiving end throughout, Quinn was more than happy to hear the final bell and was full of praise for his tenacious opponent afterwards.

Local James Flint delighted his many supporters by overcoming game Canning Town portsider Lee Hallett in an enjoyable scrap, which was a little closer than the scoreline might suggest. Meanwhile, Wakefield first-timer Dom Hunt, with Junior Witter in his corner, proved too much for Brierley Hill’s

MJ Hall in an all-southpaw clash.