BAKER EDGES ELLIS

Kane claims Midlands Area crown in Birmingham derby, writes James Harte

KANE BAKER and Ishmael Ellis [inset], both from Birmingham, staged a mini-classic for the vacant Midlands Area lightweight title in headlining Tommy Owens’ latest and last show of the year at the Holte Suite, Villa Park.

In a war of attrition, both had their moments, although the crisper punching of Baker seemed to be the difference between the pair. Ellis’ clusters of punches to head and body were scoring shots, but always lacked significant snap. There was little between the boxers throughout the contest, which was reflected in referee Shaun Messer’s scorecard of 96-95 to Baker.

Mr Messer was in charge of all of the bouts on the card, which included local Tion Gibbs impressing in having his hand raised for the fifth time as a professional as he scalped Driffield’s Danny Little 40-36. Exhall’s River Wilson-bent had his second pro outing on the show, having caught the eye here last time out. He looked good once again in dishing out a beating to Islington’s tough Jordan Grannum. Wilson-bent has an impressive range of offensive tools and they were on display as he pummelled Grannum both upstairs and down. He was well worth his 40-36 victory. Birmingham’s Anthony Manning won every round (40-36) against winless Brierley Hill southpaw MJ Hall, while a well-matched encounter saw Burntwood’s Sean Daly engage in an interesting dust-up with Cannock’s Lee Gunter. It was a closely contested fight, shown in the 40-38 tally awarded to Daly.

THE VERDICT Baker can now look forward to a first defence in the new year.