BEST FOOT FORWARD
Glenn outworks Bowes for title
GLENN FOOT’S move down to superlightweight is proving wise. Atop the Mickey Helliet/mark Prior show at York Hall the Sunderland man picked up the vacant English 140lbs title with a close, unanimous 10-round decision over Leytonstone southpaw Philip Bowes.
Bowes, nicknamed “Quicksilver”, used his fast hands to build a lead over the first five sessions but Foot dragged him into a close-quarters slugging match and dominated the bout’s second half to get home 95-93 for judges Lee Every, Kieran Mccann and Kevin Parker. It was often messy and referee Bob Williams docked both a point for holding in round three.
On a massive 19-fight promotion there were five six-rounders, with two ending in the opener. Bermondsey welter Chris Kongo overwhelmed the Czech Republic’s Michal Vosyka, dropping him with a right for referee Mccann to complete the count after 49 seconds. And a right hand-inspired knockdown from Knightsbridge cruiser Richard Riakporhe prompted referee Mark Bates to halt Slovakia’s Milan Cechvala
after just 2-15.
In contrast, unbeaten Highgate superwelter Tony Milch was pushed all the way by aggressive Lithuanian Arvydas Trizno before edging home on a close but just-about-deserved 58-57 verdict from referee Lee Every.
Also remaining undefeated was St Helier, Jersey welter Daniel Kennedy,
whose 60-55 points victory from Mr Every over Lithuania’s tall, slim Edvinas Puplauskas came courtesy of probing left jabs and solid right crosses.
Closing the show was a war handled by referee Mccann that saw Enfield middleweight Ricky Coker dropped by a big right in round two before roaring back to outslug Westbury’s Anthony Fox, who suffered a bloody nose and a swollen left eye.
The baker’s dozen of four-rounders included shock losses for a pair of Joneses. Bournemouth super-lightweight Sam Jones was in the fight for two rounds against always-game Chris Adaway (Plymouth) before being cut on the left eye from a head clash late in the third and then getting staggered so badly in the last that referee Every rescued him with 1-06 gone.
Meanwhile, Enfield super-middle Barney Joe Jones walked into a left hook from Lithuania’s Edgars Sniedze
that sent him crashing for a knockout at 1-51 of round two. Referee was Mr Mccann. Another surprise was the defeat of Watford welter Danny Murphy, who struggled to cope with the height and reach advantages of Nathan Hardy
(Sheffield), eventually being tagged and hurt for a stoppage by referee Chas Coakley at 1-26 of round three.
Namibian-born Reading featherweight Gelasius Taaru confirmed he is one to watch by stopping Norbert Kalucza.
The Hungarian has mixed in good company but was dropped three times by lefts to the body before Bob Williams had seen enough at 2-54 of round three.
Another Magyar, Gyula Tallosi,
fared better as he worked hard early on against Helmand Alekozai before fading over the fight’s second half to drop a 39-37 verdict to the Toronto super-lightweight. Mr Every refereed.
Reading super-welter Konrad Stempkowski found himself on the deck in round two courtesy of a Kevin Mccauley right hook, but battled back for a deserved 38-37 verdict from Mr Mccann, scoring ringside while Mark Bates refereed.
Another bout Mccann marked from ringside (Coakley refereed) saw stocky Enfield-turk super-middle Onder Ozgul
cut on the right eye and held to a 38-38 draw by Nottingham’s tall Tyan Booth,
who got away with plenty of holding.
The show’s two debutants got their careers under way in conclusive fashion. Tottenham lightweight Jeffrey “Jeffy” Ofori steadily bashed up Joe Beeden,
bloodying his nose and eventually making him crumble for referee Mccann to rescue the Swindon battler just nine seconds from the final bell.
Having to go the distance was Ilford cruiser Harjeet Singh, whose onepunch-at-a-time approach bloodied the nose of Latvia’s Florian Strupits and secured 40-36 from Mr Williams, scoring ringside for ref Mark Bates.
Lewisham light-heavyweight Andre Sterling went in with Chessington tough nut Richard Harrison and made him grab with a left hook in round three, then in the last rocked him with the same punch just before the final bell, before settling for a 40-35 score from referee Williams.
Popular Bow welter Tony Buttigieg
showboated plenty but landed enough punches from either stance to cut Birmingham’s Yaddollah Ghasemi on each eye en route to a 40-36 card from Mr Mccann (ringside, while Coakley refereed).
Also triumphing on the shutout score were Hayes lightweight Elvis Makoda, against Hull’s Luke Fash in the showopener (Coakley refereed while Every scored); and big Erith heavyweight Scott Saward, against Hungarian Ferenc Zsalek (Bates refereed, while Williams scored).
THE VERDICT
Foot stays relevant and will be a tough domestic test for anybody at 10st.