LOVELL’S LATE RALLY
Busy Mervyn Turner stages his second show of the weekend, writes Philip Sharkey
BEDFORD
JULY 16
★★★☆☆ WHOLE SHOW
MAX LOVELL extended his unbeaten run in the last of eight fights promoted by Mervyn Turner over two nights and two venues. The show closer at the Corn Exchange saw Padiham’s Seamus Devlin push Lovell all the way, with the local lad’s last-round effort just getting him over the line with a 58-57 decision. The self-styled “Celtic Cobra” used his jab effectively to keep Lovell at bay and with a little more belief may have snatched a share of the spoils.
Classy Albanian Dennis Nurja also remained unbeaten over an impressive four rounds as he moved through the gears to leave Nicaragua-born Spain resident Alexander Zeledon dumped on the canvas from a body shot early in the last and bleeding from the nose for a comprehensive 40-35 on referee Lee Every’s scorepad.
Josh Gooding, matched with unorthodox Essex southpaw Justin Menzie, moved to five wins without defeat. Menzie, who came up short in a bid for the Southern Area welterweight title last year, was happy to exchange hard shots with the unbeaten, bearded Luton fighter. Josh shouted out to his supporters “I’m looking good” as he came back to his corner at the end of the first. Mr Every (who was in charge of all four bouts) obviously agreed as he scored it 40-36. Although never easy for Gooding, it was nonetheless a solid win over an experienced adversary.
Peterborough 23-year-old Mohammed Sameer was another home winner who retained his ‘0’. He ran out a more comprehensive 40-36 winner over regular visitor Fernando Valencia. The tall southpaw used his height and reach intelligently and was quick to punish any mistake the Spaniard made with crunching left hands.