DOUBLE DELIGHT
Appleyard win sets up second title shot, writes Ashley Ball from ringside
LEE APPLEYARD secured an English title shot at a second weight with a points win on Ryan Rhodes and Stefy Bull’s joint promotion at the Metrodome. Rotherham’s Appleyard was a clear enough 98-92 winner in Howard Foster’s eyes over Birmingham’s Ben Fields. Fields seemed to empty most of his tank with a huge burst in the fourth but ex-english lightweight champion Appleyard had most of the contest his own way and looked fresher in the final stages.
Andy Brook oversaw the comfortable 60-54 triumph of Bradford’s Amin
Jahanzeb against Taka Bembere from Oldham as well as wins for Nathan
Bendon, James Flint and Kyle Yousaf. It was a straightforward shutout for West Yorkshireman Jahanzeb, who took charge of centre ring from the off. Sutton Coldfield’s Bendon cut short an eight-rounder with Sheffield’s Levi
Kinsiona 52 seconds into the seventh with a left hook. Kinsiona lost his unbeaten record after being put down heavily and rising unsteadily in what had been a topsy-turvy contest.
Doncaster’s Flint snuck by Gateshead’s Kris Pilkington 58-57. Finishing stronger certainly played a part in Flint getting his hand raised. English flyweight champion Yousaf, from Sheffield, warmed up for a shot at the Lonsdale Belt with a routine 40-36 win over Chatham’s Ricky Leach.
A trio of hometown fighters got their third, second and debut wins.
JA Metcalfe made a solid start to life as a pro, winning 40-36 in a dominant display against Middleton’s Darryl Sharp. Teenager Metcalfe set a pace that former Central Area champion Sharp could not match.
Callum Simpson blitzed Chessington’s Richard Harrison in just 2-26. Big combinations wobbled the away man and Foster jumped in with him bang in trouble on the ropes. Foster saw the final home man, Dempsey Wale, a 40-36 victor against Blackburn’s Naheem Chaudhry and he also gave Sheffield’s James Rayworth a 39-37 decision over London-based Victor Edagha.
THE VERDICT Appleyard ready to challenge for English belt again.