Mikey makes life hard for O’hare
LIAM O’hare connected with mighty right hand after mighty right hand, yet somehow Mikey Byles took the shots – and came back for more.
At Cannock’s Excelsior Sporting Club, the pair gave it their all for six pulsating – if one sided – rounds.
O’hare, who was scheduled to fight for the vacant Midlands middleweight title on the show, won and won handily, referee Peter Mccormack scoring 60-55.
But Byles’ incredible toughness made it an entertaining spectacle. On the comeback trail after nearly seven years away from the game, the 36-year-old was rocked and rattled, but always looked to hurl punches.
Billed out of Warwick, he may have been hewn from the castle rampart’s rocks. He showed an ability to wade through punishment that brought back memories of Bristol’s rugged 1980s contender Chris Sanigar, who was in his corner.
Byles is a very hard man. Just when he appeared on the brink of being swamped, he’d throw something back.
O’hare, from Hereford, is becoming a better pro with each bout. And Thursday’s tussle proved the perfect tune-up for his 10-rounder with Tom Brennan next month for the vacant middleweight belt.
The pair were to have met at Scott Murray’s Excelsior Club, but injury forced Brennan to pull out. The contest now takes place in Swindon on April 13.
I like 27-year-old O’hare, who has already claimed the Midlands supermiddleweight crown in an eightfight career. He has an entertaining style, is a larger-than-life character and has a colourful cover story.
Not many boxers have a ballet background and Liam performed a pirouette for fans after overcoming Byles. It must have been disheartening to throw everything at his opponent – by the fourth I expected O’hare to request a kitchen sink to fling at Byles – and see the man come back for more.
Liam couldn’t miss with right hands, whether long, short or hooked. And Byles took them with such regular ity, I near anticipated an apology from the man if one missed. Byles, through sheer heart, managed to turn the fight into a slugging match down the stretch.
“He’s a weapon!” O’hare acknowl edged afterwards. “I wasn’t really happy. I did what I was told to do from the first to the fourth. After that I didn’t stick to the game plan and, at this stage, it’s all about sticking to the game plan. I should’ve thrown more uppercuts.
“But it was the perfect tune-up for next month and I didn’t get cut. I’m still learning and tonight was a lesson.”
Byles, a welt under his left eye, said: “There was one shot (that caught me), but I never thought, ‘I’m going to get stopped here.’
“I was away for seven years, come back and went the distance with a Welsh champ and Midlands champ. That tells you something.
“Everyone knows I’m tough, now it’s time to work on the technical side, learn to be more of a boxer, and get some consistency in camps.”
It was glorious mayhem from the start. O’hare (11st 10lbs, like his opponent) found his range with jabs in the first, then delivered right hands. One heavy hook seemed to momentarily stun Byles.
Mikey attempted to turn the tide in the second, but was steadied by jabs. The third produced O’hare’s best shot of the night – a right-uppercut that made Byles sag for a second. Liam followed-up with three big rights in succession to have his opponent under pressure and seemingly unsteady.
I believed the end was nigh, yet Byles began the fourth on the front foot, landing a clumping left. Marked under both eyes, he was dragging his tormentor into the trenches. O’hare opened up with both hands in the fifth only to see Byles sling his own rights in the final session. When Liam responded, the Warwickshire warrior simply bared his black gumshield in a grin.
He deserved to hear the final bell. Both can take positives from an all action bout. O’hare, who emerged from the contest unmarked, was given the perfect test before facing Brennan.
And that’s courtesy of Byles’ ruggedness. He has now won eight and lost eight.
Jess “Banshee” Barry overcame a debilitating virus to notch-up the best win of her career in Cannock on Thursday.
The Coventry prospect bullied and harried tall southpaw Lenka Volejnickova at the Excelsior Sporting Club, Cannock, taking a 60-55 decision after six rounds.
It will go down as the best win of the Coventry featherweight’s fivefight career, claimed in the most troubling circumstances. Her voice was still hoarse from the fag end of flu when we spoke after the bout.
Volejnickova – a late replacement – came with a winning record (4-1) and is a lightweight, but she simply hadn’t the power to keep Jess at bay.
On a night staged to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Barry dug deep and kept things close. A Midlands title fight now awaits the 29-year-old.
“I was ill for most of the training,” Barry admitted, “and sparring didn’t go well. People were telling me this fight was a risk, that it was a mistake. But that’s what I want, 50-50 fights. That’s what makes you a better boxer.
“It (illness) meant I had to do things differently. I threw less shots with more accuracy. The usual engine was missing.”
The bout was entertaining and all action, if a little raw at times.
Barry incessantly targeted the Czech boxer’s body and kept a fast pace. Volejnickova simply couldn’t match her for industry.
Much taller, the visitor (9st 4lbs 8oz) copped a left hook to the head in the opener and was then drilled by rights to the body.
Barry (9st 5lbs 2oz) landed with a volley of lefts and rights to the ribs in the third, but was caught by an eyecatching left cross.
Volejnickova probably shared the fourth on referee Peter Mccormack’s card, although she looked tired and her work was becoming ragged. Barry was not to be denied. She slipped under Volejnickova’s long levers in the fifth and kept pounding away. A particular hard right to the midriff echoed around the venue in the last.
At times Jess’s work wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. She’s endured a string of cancellations and seen one championship contest go south. Now Barry is zeroing in on her first title. And although she scaled well above the featherweight limit on Thursday, Barry’s best fighting weight may well be super-bantam.
I was away for seven years, come back and went the distance with a Welsh champ and Midlands champ. Mikey Byles