Coped with

Adam comes through unscathed ahead of title shot, writes Roy Kelly

SEATON MAY 28 CAREW ★★★★★ WHOLE SHOW ADAM COPE

tuned up for his crack at the vacant English lightweight belt by stopping Simas Volosinas in devastating fashion.

The Hartlepool talent wowed his hometown fans by breaking the seasoned operator with a fearsome body barrage at 1-49 of the second of a scheduled six rounds at the Mayfair Centre.

It sets up the 26-year-old for his showdown with unbeaten Hull star Lewis Sylvester in Sheffield on July 1.

Trained by former pro Andrew Close, Cope could easily have sidestepped this Jobes Boxing promotion, given the proximity of his championship challenge.

His decision to box looked inspired. Having used his jab and double jab effectively, he soon introduced his body work and Volosinas looked uncomfortable.

A body shot in the last seconds of the first looked on the border and, once the bell sounded for the second, Adam was back at it. A left to the body saw the rarely-stopped Simas crease up in pain, and a follow-up right put him down. Volosinas struggled up but was in no shape to continue and referee Ron Kearney waved it off.

Kearney was the judge for the other two bouts on a show which, because of late pullouts, was about quality over quantity. Both, refereed by Dean Wilson, were entertaining affairs in which each away boxer made a full contribution.

Kearney’s scorecard was not required when impressive Bishop Auckland super-lightweight Nathan Forrest put down a lively Dean Wilkinson twice in the fifth round of a scheduled six.

After the Middleton boxer went down for a second time, Wilson did not even begin a count and called it off at 0-46.

Ferryhill’s Callum Walton, a first-round winner on his debut, went the distance in his second outing, setting a good pace against Poland’s Patryk Polaski, who was very game from start to finish despite the 40-36 tally.