MANY HAPPY RETURNS

LEICESTER

MAY 12 ★★★★★

WHOLE SHOW

THE MAHER Centre in Leicester, easy to get to, spacious inside and with a huge free car-park, hosted its first pro boxing show with this six-bout Mervyn Turner event. One hopes that with so much in the venue’s favour it will become something of a regular fixture.

Locals CJ Challenger and Leon Woodstock will rightly be pleased with there comebacks after lengthy spells on the sidelines. Welterweight Challenger won 80-72 for referee Chris Dean, against particularly tough, and heavier, opposition in the guise of Colombian Ruben Angulo. Bearded Woodstock, now down at feather and looking particularly impressive, dropped Shepshed’s experienced Louis Norman twice in the opener and once more early in the third before finishing the job not long afterwards. A right cross dropped an out of his depth Norman to his knees for the duration of Peter Mccormack’s count with 82 seconds of the session gone.

New Maldon light-heavyweight Lerrone Richards

was in no mood for hanging around either and needed just over four and a half rounds of a scheduled six to KO usually durable York operator Harry Matthews.

With three one-sided rounds already banked and a little rust

Several returning punchers shine, writes ringsider Andy Whittle shaken off (this was his first outing since December 2021) Richards cranked up a gear and floored Harry with a left in a neutral corner. The Yorkshireman beat the count of trialist referee Mccormack, just, and was promptly sent sprawling again, this time by a right, in the very same corner, remaining on one knee to be counted out 92 seconds into the round.

There were contrasting fortunes for debuting Leicester pair Leighton Simmonds and Brandon Potter. Lightweight Simmonds had to settle for a 38-38 share against Sheffield’s Kyle Sampson, who picked up a cut left eyebrow when heads clashed in the last while super-bantamweight

Potter took all four rounds against Chorlton journeyman Stephen Jackson.

Comebacking Paige Murney, of Leicester, dominated her six against tall Brazilian Halanna dos Santos and fully deserved the shut-out on Mr Dean’s card at the finish.