TITLE TARGET
Commonwealth title now in Cullen’s sights
BOLTON’S Jack Cullen seemed like he was in for a long, hard night during the first round of his 10-round Commonwealth middleweight title eliminator after shipping a few too many right hands from the Czech Republic’s
Tomas Bezdova.
The visitor looked a rough, tough proposition. He bloodied Cullen’s nose in the second, too, only to lose steam dramatically late in the round before falling apart completely in the third after shipping a left hook to the head. Wobbled and unable to keep his hands up, Bezdova was a sitting duck and left referee Howard Foster no option but to jump in at 2-57 of the round.
On the undercard of this VIP promotion at Bolton Whites Hotel, local
Jack Flatley battled through a badly cut mouth to beat Bulgaria’s Angel Emilov by 60-55 for referee Darren Sarginson. The blood started to flow freely in round two then continued to do so throughout the rest of what became a harder fight than the scorecard suggested.
Wigan’s James Moorcroft took on the always-game William Warburton of Atherton. After a circumspect opener, Moorcroft boxed well for the rest of the fight to earn a 59-56 tally from Mr Sarginson, who judged the fight for referee Andy Brook.
Shaw-based Jack Rafferty floored Bulgaria’s Radoslav Mitev twice in the third of a six-rounder. Mitev had looked hopeless from the get-go, so it was no surprise when a neat left uppercut deposited him on the canvas. He beat Mr Sarginson’s count only to be dropped by a left hook. The fight was called off at 1-07.
Muhammad Ali was lucky not to head back to Rochdale with the first blemish on his record after struggling to get a firm foothold against Birmingham’s
Ben Fields. Mr Brook officiated the fight, maintaining control of the action during a messy opener. After the final bell, judge Mr Foster turned in a 39-37 card in Ali’s favour. BN had it by the same margin for Field.
Wiganer Andrew Fleming was not shaken or stirred by Newark’s Fonz Alexander en route to a 40-36 win on Mr Sarginson’s card. Mr Brook was the third man.
Islington’s Jordan Grannum has not been stopped in 42 defeats and it is easy to see why; he is very hard to hit with consecutive shots and that once again proved the case against Oldham’s Jack Kilgannon, who won by a margin of 60-54 from Mr Sarginson. Meanwhile, Blackburn’s Mickey Ellison beat York’s Harry Matthews 60-55 for Mr Sarginson in a contest refereed by Mr Brook.
Ryan Kelly brought around 150 fans with him from Birmingham for what they thought was going to be a British welterweight title eliminator against Mason Cartwright, only for it to be called off as Cartwright was not cleared to fight due to injury. Instead, Kelly met Sheffield’s Nathan Hardy in a scheduled eight-rounder.
Hardy had a go early before being comprehensively outboxed and outpunched by his fired-up opponent. The Yorkshireman was cut under his right eye by a right hand during a torrid fifth round, then stopped by Mr Sarginson at 2-07 of the seventh when under pressure.
Blackpool’s Jamie Mitchell and Derby’s Elvis Dube were both bleeding by the end of round two, Dube from the nose and Mitchell from a small vertical cut on his forehead. The blood did not prove to be a distraction for Mitchell, as he boxed his way to a 40-36 win from referee Foster.
Mark Jeffers of Chorley employed his height and reach advantages to frustrate Port Talbot’s Geraint Goodridge, who led with his head once too often in round five and had a point deducted by Mr Foster. It was a clumsy ploy rather than a malicious tactic, one prompted by frustration as he had taken a shellacking to the body in the early rounds, with the left hook a persistent thorn in his side. He lost by a margin of 59-54.
Lydney journeyman Lewis van Poetsch is going on a well-deserved holiday next week. He closed his 2018 account by taking Wigan’s Casey Connelly the distance and picking up a point on Mr Foster’s scorecard to lose 39-37, an improvement on his 40-36 defeat to the same opponent back in May.
THE VERDICT Cullen comes through a sticky opener to score his third stoppage win on the bounce.