HEADLINE-GRABBERS
O’neil and O’neill steal the show after main event falls through
NO main event, but no lack of action. That was the story from the Dolphin Centre, where Basi Razaq pulled out of his scheduled eight-round top-of-thebill bout with Darlington’s Ellis Corrie minutes before the derby after being informed there would be no belt on the line. An unsatisfactory end, yes, but otherwise, promoter Steve Wraith served up a six-fight treat. The late collapse of Corrie-razaq meant the O’neil-o’neill six-round local affair captured the headlines, and deservedly so.
Hartlepool and Horden’s Greg O’neil floored his old teammate Richard
O’neill late in the first en route to a 59-55 victory from Ron Kearney, who refereed throughout. The bell probably saved Richard at the end of round one and he showed tremendous resilience and fitness to survive heavy barrages in the second and fifth. The Ferryhill battler had his moments, with the margin possibly a tad wide.
In the other six-rounder, West Rainton’s Martin Ward returned for the first time since a stoppage defeat to Barcelona’s Abigail Medina in a European super-bantamweight title challenge in September. Another Barcelona-based fighter had a go here, but Ward came on strong to beat Nicaragua’s Jose Aguilar 60-55.
Darlington’s Troy Williamson tuned up superbly for his June 9 showdown with Jack Flatley by stopping Barcelona’s Michael Mora at 1-10 of round two of a scheduled four. The Nicaraguan was decked twice.
Darlington’s Chris Burton suffered a distressing comeback after more than six years out. Caught cold by tubby Romanian Gheorghe Danut’s frenzied assault, he was felled and stopped on the 34-second mark (set for four).
There were two fine pro debuts from Hartlepool’s Luke Cope and Thornaby’s Mark Downing. Cope’s electric hand speed saw him outclass Blackburn’s Naheem Chaudry by 40-36, while Downing had game Londoner Victor Edagha rocking early on in a 39-37 success.
THE VERDICT It would be great to see O’neil-o’neill II go ahead at the Stadium of Light on July 1.