KRAMER GETS SAVAGED
Eggington impressively tears through his brave opponent in just four rounds
RATHER than kick his heels awaiting something bigger in the new season, Stourbridge’s Sam “The Savage”
Eggington opted instead to keep busy not far from home, which is how he found himself topping the bill on this Tommy Owens promotion in the Holte Suite at Villa Park Stadium.
Facing him across the ring in a scheduled 10 was unbeaten Hungarian
Peter Kramer, who just over a month earlier had claimed a share of the spoils against Ireland’s Peter Mcdonagh in Bolton. There never looked liked being a repeat of that here, though, with Eggington, watched from ringside by mentor Barry Hearn, running through his repertoire. He handed the brave but outgunned Kramer a serious beating, regularly backing him up and leaving him cut above the left eye late in the second.
Fifty-seven seconds of the fourth remained when, with the increasingly confident Eggington having stepped it up yet another notch, referee Terry O’connor decided quite rightly that enough was enough.
Birmingham southpaw Indi Sangha faced a step up in quality when he went in with Preston-based South African and ex-commonwealth super-bantam title challenger Michael Ramabeletsa in a scheduled eight, and he duly came unstuck. Ramabeletsa scored an early KO win, with just 44 seconds of the third having elapsed when referee Kevin Parker – who oversaw all eight undercard bouts – completed his count. Sangha, having been sent sprawling forward by a precise short hook, was still sat on the canvas at the finish. Things hadn’t begun well for Sangha, who was down as early as the first – sent over sideways by a looping Ramabeletsa hook.
Brummie Kane Baker returned to winning ways just three weeks after being widely outpointed by the Liverpoolbased Sam Maxwell. Baker proved too much for Kingsteignton’s Jamie Speight, who has now lost 15 in a row, yet still holds the Southern Area featherweight crown.
It ended 80-72, but there had been an opportunity for Baker to finish it early, with only seconds of the third round remaining. However, after visibly hurting Speight with a left hook, he looked towards the third man to intervene (which he didn’t), instead of completing the job.
Local Ishmael Ellis secured his eighth straight distance victory by seeing off Killamarsh’s always-game Lee Connelly by just a single point, Mr Parker scoring 58-57 in his favour. I had the heavily tattooed Birmingham man taking it by a wider margin, but Connelly was never too far behind and remained sufficiently strong as to take the last round.
Another narrow winner was Telford novice Nathan Mcfarlane, who eked out a 39-38 success over Reading veteran Ibrar Riyaz at the end of an enjoyable scrap. Riyaz, having enjoyed several profitable spells of his own, thought that he’d done enough to get the nod. My card tallied with that of the official, though, with Mcfarlane taking the first and the third, along with a share of the second.
Cannock’s Lee Gunter hadn’t previously dropped a round but he lost out this time against Warwick’s previously winless Myles Vale. Gunter possibly paid the penalty for putting in a little too much effort in a sustained but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get Vale out of there late in the opener. Myles, having survived that early shellacking, proceeded to grow in confidence with every passing round. At the end, he was named a 39-38 victor. Another away winner was Norwich’s Duane Green, who had his arm raised for the first time in three years after a 39-37 triumph over Redditch’s Carl Dickens. Bested and having been cut high above the left eye, Dickens duly announced his retirement later in the evening. Two remaining fours saw shutout 40-36 wins for Birmingham pair Anthony Manning and Idris Virgo over Lithuanian Andrej Cepur and Eastbourne’s Scott Hillman respectively.
THE VERDICT Eggington ticks over ahead of an appearance on the Amir Khan undercard on September 8.