HEAVY GOING
Andy Whittle watches overweight Baluta drop and outpoint Williams
WOLVERHAMPTON OCTOBER 18 ★★★ WHOLE SHOW ★★★★ ATMOSPHERE
HAVING weighed in well over the bantamweight limit, Madrid-based Romanian Ionut Baluta couldn’t win the vacant WBO European bauble against local favourite Kyle Williams at The Hangar but he did come out on top, flooring Kyle in the first and leaving him with a nasty cut to the right eyebrow in the sixth.
Even the deduction of two points late on for continually losing his gumshield failed to prevent Baluta securing a split decision victory. At the finish Terry O’connor had it 96-92 for Williams, while Bence Kovacs and Shaun Messer had Baluta winning 95-92 and 95-93 respectively. Referee was Mike Alexander.
Unbeaten Brummie Shaka Thompson had far too much for Yeovil’s Bryn Wain, who was down in the second and lost out
60-53, while Wolverhampton’s Conah
Walker, cut to the eyelid along the way, joined him in celebrating a six-round win. Chris Dean, who refereed both bouts, had Walker a 59-55 winner over Lithuanian
Edvinas Puplauskas.
Poland’s Monika Antonik, counted on by Shaun Messer in the opener and increasingly under the cosh, hadn’t won a single round since outpointing a 0-8 opponent in her debut 18 bouts ago. Looking at her, it’s hard to see her ever winning another and she was on the recieving end once more in the 200 seconds it took Pensnett’s Kirstie
Bavington to see her off. Nuneaton first-timer Ashlee Eales,a southpaw, controlled proceedings against Stourbridge veteran Kevin Mccauley, who was cut by the left eye en route to a 40-36 reverse. There was also a shutout win over four for Bloxwich’s James Beech Jnr over heavier Worcester battler
Michael Mooney. Mr Dean reffed both. Another debutant, Melksham’s Stu Greener, edged out Wolverhampton’s
Clayton Bricknell 39-38 for Mr Messer, who had Wednesbury’s Simon Bowater a 59-56 winner over Ukrainian Artur
Davydenko. Derby’s Elvis Dube went down 39-38 to local Antony Woolery in a close one refereed by Mr Dean that could have gone either way.
THE VERDICT Plenty of steel on show at the former steel warehouse.