COMMONWEALTH CRACKER
Lane outpoints Ramabeletsa in a quality affair to claim the crown
BRISTOL’S Ashley Lane captured the vacant Commonwealth superbantamweight strap at the Playfootball Arena, sealing a unanimous decision over Preston-based South African Michael Ramabeletsa. Judges Dave Parris, John Keane and Jeff Hinds all tallied in Lane’s favour, with cards of 117-112, 116-112 and 116-113 respectively.
It was a very hard fight to score indeed, and you could have easily made a claim for either man taking eight of the 12 rounds. Lane made the more assertive start as he pressured Ramabeletsa and held centre ring over the first two stanzas. But while Ashley came forward and hunted the body, Michael’s calm counters were starting to erode Lane’s facial features.
Both fighters showed the will and skill worthy of a Commonwealth title affair. Ashley was effective with the jab as he stayed on the front foot, but Ramabeletsa, who holds a 2012 six-round win over Lane, met fire with fire as the contest bubbled-up over the middle rounds. At the midway point, I had Michael three points down, but he seemed to be the fresher of the pair, despite bleeding from the nose.
Ramabeletsa turned the hunter more frequently in the seventh and eighth, as he was looking to draw the lead and counter. When Lane took his turn in coming forward, he was less effective than earlier in the fight, and he was unable to capitalise on cornering Ramabeletsa on several occasions.
The contest ebbed and flowed down the stretch. Lane was more mobile and maintained his work off the jab, whereas Michael, slightly hesitant at times, scored with big hooks. I had Ramabeletsa finishing the stronger and clawing it back to win by two points, but with so many impossibly tight sessions to score, both fighters could have acceptably taken a decision in a fantastic fight. Robert Williams refereed.
The card featured three supporting contests officiated by Jeff Hinds over sixthrees that were all scored as shutouts. Gloucester’s reigning English super- lightweight king Akeem Ennis Brown took a while to find his rhythm, but ultimately overcame a spirited challenge by Birmingham’s Chris Truman. The tall Ennis Brown was seemingly looking for an early night in the first as he neglected his defence and let his hands go. Initially, it appeared like the task might have been beyond Truman, but he deserved credit for not folding over the initial three minutes.
Chris rebounded well in the second and got inside his foe’s long arms to crowd Akeem and make him uncomfortable. Whenever Truman found success however, he was paid back with interest by the Jon Pitman-trained prospect.
Ennis Brown increasingly fought his style of fight as the bout drew into its second half. He placed Truman on the end of long punches and managed to measure his man with rangy, straight combinations, while staying out of his opponent’s range.
Bristol’s Tim Cutler was calm and controlled as he boxed smartly to take all the plaudits against Worcester “Mad Man” Michael Mooney. Cutler was mobile and organised as he refused to be drawn into the type of slugfest which his fiery opponent relishes. Tim wisely tried to take the sting out of Mooney’s venom in the third when he found a home for some lovely right uppercuts to the body. Michael’s frustration was visible as he time-and-again tried to close the gap, but Cutler was again a step ahead.
Bristolian Aaron Sutton bested Brierly Hill’s MJ Hall. Sutton was busy in the first and dealt with Hall’s southpaw pressure effectively. By the third, Aaron really had settled down well. He took small steps backward and maintained the distance to allow himself room to launch impressive combinations.
THE VERDICT At 26 and with a meaningful title, Lane can look forward to big domestic fights in the 122lb division.