THIRD TIME LUCKY
Simon Euansmith watches Roberts become Area champion at last
BETHNAL GREEN
MARCH 3
★★★★★ WHOLE SHOW ★★★★★ ATMOSPHERE
PAUL ROBERTS won the vacant Southern Area flyweight title, outscoring Bromley’s Harry Mullins in an entertaining battle at York Hall.
Referee Mark Bates scored it an emphatic 98-91, presumably 8-2 in rounds with a knockdown giving Roberts the seventh by 10-8. I was initially surprised by the margin – it was a good, competitive bout, and Mullins, despite finishing with a large swelling below the left eye, certainly wasn’t outclassed. Several sessions looked close.
Going in, Mullins had won six straight, while Roberts’ tally was a modest 3-4-2 – but this included two unsuccessful cracks at the vacant Area super-flyweight belt last year – a draw and a points loss against Jack Hughes in this ring. Mullins was the “house” fighter, but Roberts (Chard) had brought a coachload of supporters from Somerset, who certainly added to the atmosphere.
Roberts started fast, looking to get close and land to the body. Southpaw Mullins stayed cool, looking to counter, and showed good head movement to make Roberts miss.
Things went back and forth in the fifth, with Roberts putting shots together, Mullins countering and finding the target, Roberts hitting back. Roberts dug in solid body shots, but Mullins came back, and there were good exchanges in the sixth.
The seventh was lively, with Roberts again pressing, Mullins countering, until a right clip to the head had the latter down. He was up quickly, but Mr Bates rightly administered the eight count.
Mullins made a big effort in the last, backing Roberts up against the ropes. At the bell, Roberts raised an arm while Mullins walked to his corner.
In the official top-liner, Liverpool’s Jack Mcgann took his unbeaten run to nine (one draw) by forcing Hungarian Laszlo Toth to retire after five rounds. It had been scheduled for 10.
Toth was certainly in the fight for three and a half rounds, and there were some decent exchanges. In the third I noted “T outworking M?” and by the fourth Mcgann was looking puffy around the left eye. Mcgann was trapped in a neutral corner, and took some stick, but he smashed in a big right to the body that had Toth backing off, and Mcgann opened up to have Toth holding.
Mcgann piled on the pressure in the fifth, aiming to score in close. Toth hit back, but was bleeding from the nose and had a huge mouse under the left eye. He went on the run. With Toth’s tank having apparently run dry, his corner retired him in the interval.
Robert Williams refereed and the judges were Terry O’connor, Grzegorz Molenda and Olena Pobyvailo.
What looked an evenly matched bout proved nothing of the sort, with Chigwell’s Harvey Horn stopping Catford’s Josh Nelson in just two minutes of a scheduled six-rounder.
Horn scored first with a right to the head, but Nelson hit back – and it looked as if we were in for a hard-fought battle. There was a good exchange, but then Horn banged in a combination to the head that had Nelson helpless on the ropes, facing outwards. Referee Bates quickly waved it off.
Going in, Horn was 4-0 (all on points), Nelson 3-1 (1), with two wins since his sole defeat. He was in the “away” corner, though both are York Hall regulars, neither having boxed anywhere else as pros.
Amar Kayani (Slough) made it seven straight wins, clearly outscoring Estonian Dmitri Protkunas over six. Referee Kieran Mccann scored it 60-54. The scoring was fair, but Protkunas did make an effort. He was always willing to come forward but got caught as he came in, Kayani picking his shots effectively. Protkunas bled from the nose and his face was marked up by the finish.
Courtney Bennett (Deptford) beat Estonian Matt Metsis over four, referee Mccann scoring 40-36.
Though considerably heavier, Bennett looked altogether trimmer and used his height and reach advantages well. When a right staggered Metsis in the first, it looked as if it might not last long, but he hung in there, held when Bennett got close and duly went the distance.
Southpaw Georgie Ellis (Harlow) beat Birmingham’s Reiss Taylor over four, Mr Bates scoring 40-36, and, in other fours there were wins for three debutants. Mr Mccann gave 40-36 wins to Hoddesdon’s Alfie Gaskin over York’s Harry Matthews and Ashford’s Louie Muldowney over previous Kayani victim
Iliyan Markov (Bulgaria); and Mr Bates scored Fayek Uddin (Stepney Green) a 39-37 winner over Sheffield’s Karl Sampson.
Neilson Boxing promoted in association with WMB.
THE VERDICT Good-value Southern Area title bout, in the London small-hall tradition.