A card that was decimated by injuries and pull outs produced a memorbale night of boxing for those in attendance on Saturday evening. Whilst the writer does not like singling out individual fighters there were without doubt three stand out performances on a night of high octane atmosphere.
Goodwin Boxing's Ring Talk host Martin Theobald had claimed he would back Giorgio Isaila to be World champion if he stopped Fonz Alexander. Martin had better get his money out as Giorgio knocked out the teak tough Fonz Alexander at the end of the 4th round with the perfect body shot. Up to then Isaila was on top with an all action dominant display but Alexander had never even been knocked out for the count of 10 in an illustrious 176 fight career. Girogio is back out again in November having moved to 4-0 (2 stoppages).
Middleweight Ellis Steward moved up in class taking on Mike Byles over 6 rounds in a fight full of jeopardy. Byles a once very useful home fighter is only taking on by the very best prospects and was going to give Ellis the toughest night of his career. This proved to be the case with Ellis suffering a nasty clash over the eye following a clash of heads early in the fight. Guided by father Terry in the corner Ellis remained calm and put on the best performance of his career so far, passing his test with flying colours in a 58-56 points win.
A star was born in the final fight of the night. A huge ticket seller is a huge advantage being a boxer but without the talent it can only take you so far. Jamie Bradley proved on his debut he has both. Roared on by a huge contingent of supporters, Jamie put on a fantastic mature performance picking off opponent Paul Scaife with perfect combinations en route to a shut out 40-36 win. Special mention should also be give to his coach Ollie Pattison who was making his debut in the corner also. Bradley is out again at Box Mania on December 7th and is one to watch.
Former English Super-Lightweight Champion Mikey Sakyi opened proceedings with a shut out win over Christian Lopes-Flores. Sakyi is waiting on a big opportunity having vacated the English strap. In a highly exciting division the big fight should not be far away.
Heavyweight Tom Simmons who is working his way down to Cruiserweight showed fast hands and good combinations in a 40-36 win over Jake Darnell. Simmons sees his future as a Cruiserweight where his natural strength should be seen to good advantage. Simmons moves onto 7-0 and will be gradually brought along. He is a future champion!
Two boxers did not get the home victories and both returned with draws. Sup[er Middleweight Ed Chattey had to settle for a share of the spoils with Robbie Chapman. Chattey had a limited amateur career but has great talent. He will learn so much from the draw which was deemed overall a fair result. Chattey moves on to December 7th.
A loud crowd awaited the debut of "The Zulu" Meshack Quailey as he came to the ring to face Victor Edagha. In a bout that really did not take off and was a scrappy affair both fighters had to settle for an equal share of the spoils. For Quailey it was a lesson not to get carried away by the crowd and use boxing skills. He and trainer Matthew Hirst will surely go away and reflect and adopt a diferent approach next time.
The crowd had great fun and an enjoyable night had by all
