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Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Frank Warren knows a thing or two about putting on a top class fight night and boy has he put some great shows on over the years. Usually his real all action extravaganzas are reserved for the bigger venues around the country, places like the O2, Excel, M.E.N., Echo Arena etc. however last night the King of British Boxing pulled out all the stops for a small hall show at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Heading up the classy lineup was Lee Selby’s first defense of the British and Commonwealth Featherweight straps he won back in September, with a fantastic eight round stoppage of Liverpool’s Stephen Smith.

Right from the off Selby went on the offensive, effectively using his jab to keep the super tough, and former holder of both titles, Simpson at bay. Each time the Scot made any move forward the Champ just stood his ground before throwing out a series of stiff jabs to push him back. Nice nonstop action opening round that was easy to score in Selby’s favour.

Second round was even livelier, Simpson just kept going forward, but as before Selby just resorted to his jab for the early part to thwart every move Simpson made. Frustration was already starting to settle in and by the end of the second minute Simpson started to throw some wild shots, problem was he left himself open to be picked off by some nice double handed counters. Another excellent round for the Champion.

More of the same in the third, Simpson’s shots were getting even wilder and again were leaving him open for Selby to counter, which he did with more force than in the earlier rounds.

Simpson’s trainer, Billy Nelson, obviously gave him a good talking to between the rounds as he came out and took the fight to Selby in a much more controlled fashion, so much so that he was actually getting some good success, landing some big shots. Selby responded in similar fashion and this lead to some great exchanges. Much closer round, but I still felt it was Selby’s round - just.

It was more of the same in the fifth, but as before it was Selby that seemed to be getting the better of each exchange. The round was a real firecracker that had the fans on the feet from almost the opening bell right through to the second minute mark, when Selby let rip with a peach of a left hook to the body that sent the Scottish challenger to his knees.

Simpson made it to his feet to take the count, but referee Marcus McDonnell could see that he was in no fit state to continue and waved the fight off on the 2 minute 2 second mark.

In doing so handed Simpson his first stoppage loss in his illustrious career. Selby, now with five stoppages in six outings, proved without doubt he’s the best domestic Featherweight and ready for a shot at the European crown.

As with virtually every Frank Warren Promotions show supporting the main event is another title fight of similar stature, last night’s was no exception. West Drayton’s Steve O’Meara stepped in to defend the Southern Area Light Middleweight belt he won back in September, with a sensational first round knockout of then champion Ryan Toms.

O’Meara’s opponent, Thamesmead’s super slick ‘Sugar’ Nathan Weise, bought to the table a 7-1-2 record that included a recent draw over previous champ Toms.

No surprise that the Mark Tibbs trained Weise went straight on the attack forcing O’Meara onto the back foot. O’Meara remained calm as he looked for an opening, he didn’t have to wait too long though, as around the fifty second mark Weise stepped in to let off yet another jab O’Meara released a wickedly fast left jab-right hook combination that sent Weise crashing to the deck in an instance.

A hush fell across York Hall as referee Ken Curtis instantly waved the fight off and the ringside doctor and paramedics rushed in to assist the prone Weise. It was a good few minutes before Weise was raised to a stool - the crowd responded with a standing ovation - but it was clear that Weise still wasn’t one hundred percent, the paramedics kept administering oxygen for a few more minutes before leading him from the ring to the waiting ambulance.

It has to be one of the worse knockouts I have seen in a long, long time but I can assure everyone that Nathan is one hundred percent OK, he turned up at the TRAD TKO Gym, to let his manager Johnny Eames, myself and all the fighters here know that he is OK literally as I was writing this report.

One of Frank Warren Promotions brightest stars, former Olympian and Nathan Weise’s gym mate Billy Joe Saunders, was drafted in at the last minute to face Belfast’s Tommy Tolan following Gym mate Ediz Hussein’s fight being called off, due to his coming down with the flu.

Slick southpaw Saunders went straight on the offensive and landed a massive left that shook Tolan to the core. In an instant Saunders stepped up the attack and literally chased Tolan from one corner to the next and beyond before landing another powerful left. Tolan legs had gone but he managed to stay on his feet, but referee Jeff Hinds had seen enough and just as Saunders was about to let rip with another shot stepped in and stopped the fight on the one minute and seven second mark.

Unbeaten in twelve, with five stoppages out of his last six outings and the Southern Area title already firmly in his grip, it’s clear that Saunders is ready to step up for a shot at either Nick Blackwell (English title) or Martin Murray (British title) for their crowns in the New Year, either of which would be a mouthwatering prospect.

Prior to Saunders-Tolan see unbeaten Welterweight George Michael Carman in action against the ubiquitous ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin.

Now I hate writing negatives on any fighter, I know how much hard work precedes a fight and it takes serious guts to step into the ring, but having seen Carman in action twice now, the first when he managed to receive a highly dubious ‘draw’ result against Tom Bowen at Wembley in November - back then I, and it seems most of those present, felt Carman lost every single round by a country mile - I really can’t see why he is being so protected.

I mean Deakin is a Super Featherweight, Lightweight at best, with a negative 1-41 record, yet Carman couldn’t even handle him - in my between round notes I said that I wasn’t sure if this was boxing or handbags at fifty paces and that it is hard to think that there is only one journeyman in the ring, sorry but yes it was that bad.

The first three rounds were scrappy to put it mildly, with Deakin keeping the Slough man on the back foot for most of the time. It was only in the fourth that Carman actually started to get the better of the much lighter Deakin.

I have to admit that when he did get ‘fighty’ he was quite slick, but in all honesty it was still totally ineffective work. Deakin was deducted a point in the final round, not sure what for as I didn’t see any wrong doing from where I was. Anyway that aside at the end of the fourth referee Jeff Hinds scorecard read 40-35 in favour of Carman.

Canning Town’s Freddie Turner must have been a little surprised that it was the original opponent Kevin McCauley, and not stated replacement Michael Frontin, that he faced on the night. No matter either way to the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained fighter, he was just happy to get a decent opponent for him to showcase his sublime talents.

Round one was a bit of a cagey affair, as both fighters took their time to suss the others tactics. Whilst neither were in the zone yet Turner worked the hardest and landed the most meaningful shots to take the round in my book.

The second however was a much livelier affair, Turner was on the offensive in the early part and landed a couple of big scoring shots. As the round progressed McCauley started to push forward and managed to back Turner onto the ropes before letting rip with double handed flurries. Turner, taking a leaf from fellow TRAD TKO gym mate Kevin Mitchell’s book, just dipped and swayed to avoid every single shot. Another easy round to call, it was Turner’s all the way.

More of the same in the third, including Turner, back to the ropes, luring McCauley in and after a little dipping and swaying effectively countering with stiff jabs and big lefts. The lack of effect really started to get to McCauley, who started to resort to some dirty tactics, including late on in the round backing Turner up before blatantly head butting, which opened up a nasty gash over Turner’s right eye.

Needless to say this fired Turner up when he came out in the fourth, the Canning Town youngster went hard on the offensive, in response McCauley decided to stand and trade - which suited Turner fine, but not Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, who could be heard shouting at their charge to keep calm and just box McCauley.

With four rounds firmly in Turner’s favour McCauley decided he needed to step things up and started targeting the cut, albeit to no avail as Turner’s defensive skills are second to none. McCauley frustrations were clear for all to see as he started throwing wild shots in the hope that something will actually land. Turner responded with some cracking counters that clearly were hurting McCauley, both physically and mentally.

McCauley comes out hard and fast for the final round and tries to plain bully Turner, big mistake as this just allowed Turner to showcase his excellent ringcraft to even more effect as he see his way to a shutout 60-54 points victory.

Turner-McCauley was a seriously cracking fight, as was the fight that preceded it - when Cranham’s Lee Markham took on fellow Essex boy Danny Brown.

The first round was a close fought affair, with both determined to win the battle of the Essex boys, however Markham’s was just a little more effective and took the round in my book.

Markham stepped it up more in the second and landed a wicked shot to the body that caused Brown to take one knee. Brown made the count and continued, however deciding not to take too many chances overly protected his body which allowed Markham to land some big shots to the head.

Still protecting the body Brown came out on the offensive in the third and took the fight to Markham. For three minutes the pair exchanged punches in equal measure. However, as Brown was still wary of being on the receiving end of another big left to the body kept leaving his head unprotected, which made easy pickings for the Cranham boy big right hand.

More of the same in the fourth and final round, both letting rip with big shots as they again went to war for the full three minutes, much to the crowd’s delight. At the end of four excellent rounds no one was surprised that referee Ken Curtis scored the bout 39-36 in favour of Markham.

The opening bout of the night was an all action cracker too, between nineteen year old Alfie Smith and Jason Nesbitt.

Smith showed his intentions right from the start, attacking the body of Nesbitt with big left and right hands. The highly experienced Nesbitt tried to cover up to negate the onslaughts, which only encourage the teenager to play upstairs before returning to the body in style.

More of the same tactics, in the second, from Smith which was really beginning to take a toll on Nesbitt, who was huffing and puffing before the midway point. I had a good long hard look at Nesbitt between rounds and he really looked down hearted and honestly didn’t expect him to stay the course, but I was wrong.

For the final couple of rounds Smith continued his all out assault on Nesbitt’s body. The Brummy battler tried his hardest to take a part of the fight but each time he did the Rottweiler like Smith let rip with big left and rights to push him back. I would think Nesbitt was very happy to hear the final bell, although not as happy as young Smith who has the second win under his belt, and by a tidy shutout 40-36 points margin.

I have to say that as the final major fight show of the year Frank Warren did us all proud, it was a great show which had it all, drama, excitement and three stoppage victories. I know that after such I for one can head into the Christmas break happy in the knowledge that my appetite for boxing is well and truly sated and will see me through to the first big show of the New Year, Leon ‘Solid’ Williams’ first defense of his British Cruiserweight title at York Hall on Friday 13th January.

• Photos Description

1. Lee Selby lets rip with a big left against John Simpson
2. Steve O’Meara lets rip with a left jab-right hook against Nathan Weise
3. Billy Joe Saunders victorious
4. George Michael Carman and Robin Deakin in action
5. Freddie Turner throws yet another big left at Kevin McCauley
6. Lee Markham and Danny Brown in action
7. Alfie Smith lands yet another shot to Jason Nesbitt’s body
8. Lee Selby celebrates retaining the British and Commonwealth straps
9. Lee Selby stands over John Simpson
10. Nathan Weise face down on the canvas as Steve O’Meara goes to neutral corner

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Fight Report: Conquest Cruises To Victory, The Mac Returns and Buglioni Plain Sensational

Photos and Report by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

With the proposed Lee Selby vs John Simpson British and Commonwealth title clash falling through Francis and George Warren pulled out all the stops to ensure that Friday’s BoxNation televised event at the York Hall in London was up to the standard of their previous couple of events.

The brothers first elevated chief support - the Tony Conquest versus Toks Owoh Southern Area Cruiserweight Title clash - to main event and drafted in former two time Cruiserweight World Champion Enzo Maccarinelli to face Hungary’s unbeaten Georgy Marosi, in a Light Heavyweight contest, as chief support.

In hindsight the Warren boys could have saved a little money, they didn’t need to pay out more money for a pair of big names, as the undercard was nothing short of top class, and any of the bouts could easily have been designated chief support and the paying public would have been just as happy.

On the same subject I could quite easily start with the opening fight of the night, which was a cracking Heavyweight bout between Tom Little and Hastings Rasani, but I wont, I’ll start with the main event of the evening - Tony ‘The Conqueror’ Conquest versus Toks Owoh.

There was no doubt that both protagonists took this regional title tilt seriously, both looked the part and more importantly both were well prepared for a ten round war, as that’s what we got.

Right from the off both went for it hammer and tongs, no sizing the other up or pacing themselves. Owoh set out his stall by utilising his excellent jab but Conquest was more than ready for that and used superb movement to avoid before countering with stiff jabs or body shots of his own. It was a fairly close round but I scored it in favour of Conquest as he was a little more active and landed the more meaningful shots.

The highly experienced Owoh was a little more savvy in the second stanza and started to mix it up a bit more, letting rip with big shots to the head and body. However the younger Conquest was just too fast for the veteran and often landed his volleys first. By mid round Conquest had really settled in, at a fast pace, and started to control things with relative ease.

Conquest was in a groove and in the third started to showcase his full arsenal of punches, tight uppercuts and scything hooks on the inside and big left-rights from every conceivable angle when at range.

Round four was a barnstorming slugfest, both warriors just stood toe-to-toe and let rip. Even though working on the inside should have suited Owoh better it was Conquest’s speed that was still the telling factor. Before Owoh could let off any telling shots Conquest would fire off a salvo of wickedly fast sharp rights to the body, forcing Owoh to take a step back before countering. Each time Owoh threw a shot Conquest had already countered with two or three heavier shots back.

More of the same in the middle rounds with Conquest piling on the pressure and beating Owoh to the punch virtually every time.

By the start of the eighth Owoh was clearly down on points and needing a knockout. However the pace that Conquest had set was causing the former World Super Middleweight star big problem, Owoh started to look dejected and covered up more and more, to no avail as Conquest kept up the relentless assault and was getting way too much success.

Things got worse for Owoh in the ninth, Conquest stepped it up another gear and plain broke down Owoh’s guard with a relentless double handed assault. Conquest was on fire and looked to get his first championship belt by way of a stoppage finish. Throughout the round the Romford man just backed up Owoh and let rip with every conceivable punch, to which Owoh barely replied. Referee Ken Curtis started to take a close look at Owoh to ensure that he could still defend himself, Owoh was clearly aware of Curtis’ presence as each time he got close Owoh would let rip with a half hearted flurry. Early in the final minute Conquest landed a massive uppercut, that sent Owoh’s gum shield skittering across the canvas. Owoh looked relieved as Curtis stopped the action to retrieve the errant piece of plastic and took advantage of the short break to get his breath back.

With strict instruction from his corner Conquest slowed the pace in the final round and worked on the outside. However Owoh was still unable to gain any advantage as Conquest still easily outworked , out-punched and plain-outclassed the former star for the whole three minutes to be rightly crowned the BBBofC Southern Area Cruiserweight Champion and earn a title showdown with British Champion Leon ‘Solid’ Williams on January 13th.

For the record, referee Ken Curtis who scored it 100-91 in favour of Conquest.

Preceding the main event see Southampton’s undefeated Light Welter Matty Tew against Crawley’s ‘Rockin’ Robin Deakin.

Now if Tew and his army of supporters thought that this was going to be a walk in the park they were going to be mightily disappointed. Deakin always comes to fight and boy oh boy did he turn it on last night for the TV cameras.

The first round was a pretty close, after the initial ‘sussing out’ period Deakin obviously felt confident enough to take it to the Southampton man. There was some excellent exchanges throughout with Deakin doing most of the play making and forcing Tew play off the jab or counter. The round could have gone either way to be honest but I gave it to Tew, as even though he threw a lot less punches than Deakin, they were by far the more telling.

As I said the first round was close, but the second was even closer still. Again it was Deakin setting the pace and outworking Tew, on the other hand Tew landed the better shots, just not enough in my book to secure the round and as such I marked it down as a draw.

More of the same in the third, with Deakin controlling centre ring to force Tew on to the back foot. As in the previous rounds Deakin was by far the busiest and throwing a lot more shots that Tew, but it was Tew that landed the meaningful shots. Personally I scored this round in favour of Deakin as again Tew didn’t do enough to secure the round, or in this case even earn a draw.

As before the final round was a storming all action affair with Deakin taking the fight to Tew, who must have been aware it was going to be close on points as he stepped up the work rate. Deakin is as savvy as they come and used every trick in the book to keep Tew tied up, Tew on the other hand wasn’t prepared to allow Deakin to get too much success this round and started to utilise his jab and combinations more to easily secure the final round.

There was no surprise when referee Ken Curtis raised Tew’s hand aloft, but when MC Mike Goodall announced the score as 40-36, in favour of Tew, I was more than a little surprised, as well as disappointed for Deakin who had made this fight what it was - a cracker.

The highly anticipated return of former WBU/WBO Cruiserweight World Champion Enzo Maccarinelli, making his first appearance in the Light Heavy division, preceded Tew-Deakin.

Maccarinelli’s opponent, Budapest’s Gyorgy Marosi, came to the UK with an unbeaten record, if he thought he had any chance of returning to Hungary with it intact that was soon dispelled at the weigh in. Maccarinelli stands 6’4” and Marosi, who is listed on BoxRec as 5’11 1/2”, considerably shorter at around 5’9” at best.

No surprise than that Maccarinelli dominated the early going with solid jabbing, about the best the much shorter Marosi could do was launch himself and let rip with big overhand rights, trouble is Maccarinelli barely had to move to get out the way and pick off the off balance Hungarian.

About midway through the round Big Mac landed a wicked left hook that sent Marosi stumbling back onto the ropes, Maccarinelli instantly crashed a big overhand right to the Hungarian’s forehead. Before Big Mac could fire off another shot referee stepped in and stopped the fight on the one minute and thirty one second mark.

Maccarinelli got the first win under his belt at Light Heavy and in doing so showed the viewing public that he still has the big punches in his arsenal.

Whilst Big Mac stopping Marosi wouldn’t come as much surprise to most, the smart money would never have been on young Frank Buglioni, on only his second pro outing, doing the same to former Southern Area Champ, and awkward southpaw, Paul Morby.

Right from the off the Mark Tibbs trained, at the TRAD TKO Gym in Canning Town, youngster took control with clinical solid jabs, often followed up with double handed flurries of shots. Barely had the fight got underway before one such assault sent Morby back to the ropes, and moments later to the canvas for the first time.

Morby got to his feet as referee Ken Curtis completed the count. Buglioni took full advantage of the clearly still dazed and confused state of the Portsmouth man and started another full on double handed assault, that sends Morby back to the canvas.

As Morby rises his legs have clearly gone, Curtis is quick to notice this and instantly waves off the fight at the two minute ad thirty seven second mark.

Buglioni is definitely one to watch, it was one thing stopping the highly erratic Sabie Monteith, but to stop Morby in just one round is something else altogether. The problem Francis and George Warren are going to now have is who do you match him up with, it’s hard to revert to journeymen after such a meaningful win, which means that Buglioni is going to have to be fast tracked against better and better opposition.

I spoke with young Frankie at the end of the evening and put this to him, his response was “I don’t want to take a step back after tonight, I want even tougher competition.”

Prior to Buglioni’s sensational victory over Morby his TRAD TKO gym mate Billy Morgan was in action, against Marc Callaghan.

Morgan performance was equally sensational as gym mate’s Buglioni’s, albeit in a a very different way.

Right from the off Morgan was clearly a class and half above Callaghan. The youngster was in total control from start to finish and showcased his fully stocked arsenal with aplomb.

The effectiveness of his work soon see copious amounts of blood leaking from a deep cut on Callaghan’s forehead, which was caused by a succession of big overhand rights.

Referee Jeff Hinds took a long hard look at the cut at the end of the first and decided it wasn’t too serious and the bout was allowed to continue.

As in the first Morgan dominated the proceedings and put on one helluva boxing display to easily secure each and every round, as was reflected by Hinds’ 40-36 score.

It really was a superb victory for the Jimmy and Mark Tibbs trained fighter. Last night the Canning Town youngster showed Francis and George Warren that it’s time for him to step up from four rounders, don’t be surprised to see him in a six rounder on his next outing.

The opening fight of the night see former World Champ Graham Earl’s heavyweight discovery Tom Little make his second pro outing, against the highly experienced Hastings Rasani.

24 year Little showed little respect for his seasoned opponent and just plain went all out for a knockout from the start. Each time Rasani came in range Little let rip with a big right.

Rasani’s been in with the best so used his experience to keep Little at bay as much as possible, but Little was bursting with youthful exuberance and would constantly push forward, which caused Rasani to rethink his game plan.

Rasani started to stand his ground and trade but the big lad from Hatfield proved to be just too big and strong and as such easily dominated each and every round on his way to a shutout 40-36 points victory.

As I said at the beginning Francis and George Warren had put together a really strong card that even after losing the Selby-Simpson title fight proved to be yet another top class night of boxing by their fledgling Queensberry Promotions organisation.

Roll on their next show and more importantly after watching Tony Conquest’s performance last night I for one can’t wait for the 13th January when he gets to face Leon Williams. Mind you can’t see him dominating that one as much as he did against Toks Owoh, especially as Williams is a big punching fighter who likes to walk his opponents down - oh and Williams knocked Conquest out in just 45 seconds when they last met.
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Fight Report: Choi Wins Prizefighter On Second Attempt And A New Star is Born.

Report and Photos Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Saturday night (29 Oct) at the York Hall in Bethnal Green 40 year old ‘Mongolian Warrior’ Choi Tseveenpurev won the excellent Matchroom Sport promoted Prizefighter tournament on his second attempt, having failed last year in the Super Featherweights.

Choi may have been the ‘big name’ in this the 22nd edition of Prizefighter but the real star of the show was someone half his age, 20 year old ‘Saint’ George Jupp who was unlucky not to be facing Rhys Roberts in the final. I say unlucky but that really is not a the right word as in my opinion, and the majority of the York Hall crowd, Jupp was robbed of a certain final round appearance by some dubious judging. More on that later.

The evening of sumptuous pugilistic fare started with the Prizefighter Prospects featuring Light Heavyweights Andreas Evangelou and Matt Inman.

Whilst not the most thrilling of bouts, Evangelou and Inman both worked their socks in equal measure. There were no highlights as such and I feel that a draw would have been a fair result, but the man that counts, referee Terry O’Connor, see it as 39-37 for Evangelou.

Now onto the tournament itself, which was a real cracker.

The first quarterfinal see Choi up against previously unbeaten Lee Glover. First round was a close fought affair, Glover used his jab to good effect, to slow the hard charging Mongolian, for the early part of the round, however late on Choi caught an off balance Glover with a solid right to send the youngster to the canvas. Glover protested it was a slip, but to no avail and a standing count ensued. As soon as referee Victor Loughlin waved them back in battle Choi went on all out attack until the bell.

The second round started where the first left off, Choi smelled blood and was going in for the kill. Around the one minute round Choi let rip with a big right to send Glover to the canvas for a second time. Glover appeared dazed as he rose to his feet and just wandered off, on unsteady legs, towards his corner which lead to referee Victor Loughlin waving the fight off.

The second quarterfinal see Belvedere’s George Jupp against Liverpudlian Lee Jennings.

Jennings started strong but the South Londoner kept his cool and used his jab to seriously good effect to turn the round his way. With his confidence growing Jupp started digging into his well stocked arsenal and put together a cracking left hook, right uppercut combination that rocked Jennings to the core.

Jupp motored on at the start of the second and was really getting down to business, throwing a variety of heavy right hands, one of which opened a cut in the corner of Jennings’ left eye. Jennings turned up the wick in an attempt to keep Jupp at bay but the cut had worsened and on the one minute fifty five second mark causing the referee stopped the fight.

Next up was Jupp’s TRAD TKO team mate Ian Bailey against future finalist Rhys Roberts.

Bailey, who’s really a Super Bantam, struggled to control the slick Mancunian throughout the bout. Bailey showed heart and determination, as he tried to get himself back into the fight, but to no avail as Roberts confidence had grown to such a level that the Slough man was struggling to land a punch at times and being picked off with ease.

No surprise then that all three judges score cards read a shutout 30-27 in favour of Roberts.

The final quarterfinal pitched Troy James against Barrington Brown.

Nottingham’s Brown was out of the corner like a rocket and looked set to provide the third stoppage of the night, but he didn’t as James is made of sterner stuff. Brown kept up the major assault for a good part of the first round but from then on it was all James, who worked his heart out to overcome his much taller opponent and earn a semifinal place by 30-28 and 29-28 (twice) points margin.

Choi and George Jupp squared up in the first semifinal, and what a cracker it was. Throughout the first round Choi was frustrated by the youngsters mature ringcraft, Jupp kept the charging bull that is Choi at bay with superb crisp jabs. Whenever Choi did manage to bully his way through and land a blow, Jupp responded in kind, landing an equally heavy glove on the Mongolian, before reverting to his jab.

More of the same in the second, even after Choi had wrestled the youngster to the canvas - and following through with a punch to the back of the head when Jupp was down, which should have been punished by a point deduction according to the tournament rules - Jupp remained calm and let his boxing skills do the talking.

Choi, clearly aware that he was two rounds down and needing a stoppage to progress to the final, started the third stanza like a man possessed. The Mongolian threw bomb after bomb but the resilient youngster wasn’t overawed one iota and just returned exocets of his own.

When the final bell rang Jupp’s team celebrated certain in the knowledge their man was through to the final. These celebrations were bought to an abrupt halt though when the judges scorecards were read out - 27-30 and 28-29 (twice) in favour of Choi.

As Choi’s large contingent of fans celebrated the majority of the York Hall crowd showed their disapproval.

George Jupp may have been denied his rightful place in the final, but he sure won a lot of new fans on Saturday so hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of this talented youngster in the future.

The second semifinal see Rhys Roberts grow in stature, against Troy James, from the off the Mancunian took control, Rocking James with a huge left hook early on. James responded in true pit bull style, coming forward and letting rip with flurries of shots. Unfortunately whilst throwing plenty of punches James barely slowed the slick Roberts who seemed to be able to pick him off at will.

Throughout the three action packed rounds Roberts was in full control and cruised into the final by 30-28 and 29-28 (twice) points margin.

Not surprisingly the final started out as quite a cagey affair, with Choi landing the only meaningful punch, a huge left hook that shook Roberts to the core, following a lot of scrappy exchanges.

Roberts confidence took another massive blow in the second, when Choi landed a peach of an overhand right. From then on the Mancunian was on survival mode and relied a little too much on his sharp counter punching to keep the marauding Mongolian at bay. Choi’s savvy at the best of times so it was no surprise that Choi was able to undo Roberts’ game plan, landing further big shots in-between roughing the Mancunian up on the inside.

The final round was a bit of an anti climax, instead of the barnstorming finale the early rounds promised instead there as almost three minutes of nonstop mauling and arm locking interspersed with the occasional flurry of hard action.

Even before the scorecards were read Choi’s corner and fans were celebrating, quite rightly so as Choi had easily won every round by a shutout 30-27 margin.

Once again Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport team have produced another superb night of tournament boxing - Roll on the 23rd Prizefighter edition, if it’s half as good as the 22nd it’ll be brilliant.

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In front of a sizable and ecstatic crowd, local boxing heavyweight hero - Billy “The Hitman” Corito, notched up his seventh straight win. The undefeated Corito had his hardest test to date when he faced Super heavyweight EBF # 7 Scott “Bam Bam” Welton over six rounds at the Orpheum Theater in Gzira, Malta

The entire boxing program consisted of four fights and a number of exhibition bouts.

By Alex Zammit - 2nd July

Billy “The Hitman” Corito defeats Scott “Bam Bam” Welton on points

Round 1 – An uneventful round with both boxers circling around trying to find their range. The difference in size is obvious Corito looks to be the smaller man by far.

Round 2 – Corito comes out of his corner fast and aggressive; Welton blocks most of the attacks, then Corito in a flurry of punches to the head and body has Welton against the ropes twice, each time Welton fights his way out and counters with some heavy punching of his own; Welton cuts Corito under the left eye; in the final minute of the round Corito connected with a couple of jabs followed by a good right hook to Welton’s torso. Welton tried to rally back but looked shaky as he walked to his corner.

Round 3 – Corito starts the action straight away with a volley of lefts and rights, Welton reels under the onslaught of punches but weathers it out and comes back into the game; Corito’s left eye is visibly swollen and Welton is obviously targeting the damaged eye; Corito looks shaken and in trouble for the first time in his career.

Round 4 – Corito comes out looking weary, although he has landed more punches and shown to be the better fighter, the countering rallies by the bigger and stronger Welton are taking their toll; Corito wisely switches tactics he connects with two good lefts and immediately steps out of range.

Round 5 – More of the same as Corito attacks to head and body and then steps out of Welton’s range; these hit and run tactics have a telling effect on the larger Welton as he now has to do some chasing of his own.

Round 6 – Both boxers look worn out, the fight has been carried out at a very fast pace perhaps more suited to lighter weights; Corito is now fighting in spurts, he is ahead on points and any ideas of giving his fans a KO win have evaporated. Big Welton seems to have run out of steam and his only hope of a win is by KO. The crowd is in frenzy as the finals seconds of the round tick by and Corito has his hands lifted in victory.

A truly hard won and deserved victory by Corito the Maltese “Hitman”.

Photo Credit: Keith Borg www.luxmoments.com - [email protected] - Further photos and full size prints may be obtained from the photographer directly

Dione Galea (Malta) defeated Wayne “Burger Boy” Roberts by points over four rounds The wily Maltese veteran showed his experience over the younger man; using pressure and continuously moving forward never allowing the younger Roberts to settle in. Round one was uneventful with Roberts paddling backwards but paring off Galea’s attacks. By round 2 Galea’s experience started showing and by round four Roberts was on the ropes under a rain of jabs and punches to both head and body.

Daniel Attard defeats Tylor Olivia by TKO in 47 seconds Although Maltese boxing records are sketchy to say the least, this was probably a new record for Maltese boxing. Attard delivered a beautifully executed right hook to the head and Olivia hit the Canvas hard, to his merit and fighting spirit Olivia got up but it was obvious that he was in a daze and unable to continue. Although the official result was TKO this in reality should have been a KO result and the referee should not even have considered allowing the fight to continue.

Clayton “The Punisher” Vella defeats Kyle Azzopardi by TKO in Round 3 The Punisher certainly lived up to his alias when in a one side affair he punished the game but completely outclassed Azzopardi. The referee decided that Azzopardi had suffered enough and stepped in to stop the fight at 1.36 of the third round.

Daniel “The Spider” Micallef defeated Ritche Abu on points The only description for this fight that I can think of is ‘farcical’ though no fault of Micallef; Abu should have been disqualified from the first round for punching below the belt, rabbit punching, holding and hitting and a host of other fouls. To his merit Micallef did not respond negatively and did the best he could under the circumstances. This is not the first experience with Abu who although sports a beautiful physique and a powerful punch is certainly no fighter.

Other Items

One of the exhibition bouts deserves a mentioned as “Malena” Chircop, better know on local television as Steffi Chircop, entered the ring with “Super” Scott Dixon to give a three round demonstration and promote women’s boxing. Well done Malena who showed that good looks can be coupled with a good jab and a hard p

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In the fight of the night, the tough-as-nails challengers Daniel “The Jet” Zahra, from the Ying Yang and “Super” Steve Martin, from the Wu Shu Ky did not disappoint the crowd and indeed went to war for the vacant Maltese middleweight WKN K1 title belt

By Alex Zammit

The Malta Kick Boxing and K1 National championships which were held on Tuesday the 28^th of June at the Stitch club in San Gwann, Malta, were a huge success. The ‘Gladiators Promoters’ delivered what they promised an exciting fight event which was easily one of the best .in recent years.

The large crowd of spectators and fans vociferously showed their appreciation and support for the event by being proactive all the way, often chanting the name of the fighters. The venue it self was excellent well lit and the organization was smooth and fault less. A truly enjoyable and memorable fight night.

Main Event K1 – Steve Martin vs Daniel Zahra (Middleweight)

Round 1 – Both fighters came out of their corners hard, fast and vicious and engaged directly at close quarters exchanging several low kicks and blows, with the action going back and forth. Martin suffers a cut to the forehead over his right eye.

Round 2 – Martin got the upper hand in the opening minute with two beautifully executed front kicks, which had Zahra down on the canvas momentarily, in this round both fighters landed several kicks and blows but Martin seemed to have the upper hand in this round.

Round 3 – Zahra came out strong with flurries of kicks and punches; Martin picked up the pace and responded. Both fighters showing no fear exchanged blow for blow and kick for kick but neither could quite connect a KO blow with the knee.

The last two rounds added to the drama in great fashion. Zahra continued his incredible assault, while Martin increased his output, himself looking for the knockout. Zahra looked like he was close to getting it when he battered Martin in the last minute of the fifth round.The closing seconds of the last round definitely belonged to Zahra,a well executed round house kick missed Martin by inches and the plucky Martin although being battered on the ropes held on and found the strength to block the onslaught of blows and kicks unleashed by Zahra.

In the end, neither one scored a KO but they still delivered a brutal and thrilling middleweight war, a candidate for the Maltese “K1 Fight of the Year”. It was a close fight and the judges had to decide who would leave the ring with the prestigious local WKN belt. Zahra got the decision but it is without a doubt that both fighters showed true mettle and proved themselves as true warriors in the ring.

Co Main Event – K1 – Renald “Ice Man” Tabone vs Reuben “Wolf” Azzopardi Tabone for the Red Dragon and Azzopardi for the Ying Yang - battled for the Maltese light heavyweight WKN title. This was a three round contest; both fighters came out fighting from a distance and avoided engaging in close combat, both using jabs and high kicks trying to find an opening for a KO blow. The end came for Tabone in the third round when Azzopardi locked him in the corner and delivered a beautifully executed knee strike to the side which send him down to the canvas. Tabone could not regain his feet and referee Demis Sicluna waved it off with one minute to go.

Undercard – Main

MaltaHeavyweight Kickboxing Title – Sean Cutajar (for the Wu Shu Ky) vs Kevin Cassar (for the Ying Yang). The first round opened with heavy punches and some nicely place kicks by Cutajar but the tide soon turned as Cassar upped the pressure and Cutajar startd to absorb some heavy punishment from the faster Cassar. While Cutajar had his moments there was little doubt as to the outcome of this encounter and the judges had no problems in declaring Cassar the winner.

MaltaCruiserweight Kickboxing Title – Tyron Borg (for the Wu Su Ky) vs Nicky Ellul (for the Ying Yang) – A balanced fight in the first two rounds, with Borg showing slightly superior punching power. The tide turned toward the end of round two when it seemed that Ellul had run out of steam. Borg took the title on a points win.

Malta Super Cruiserweight Kickboxing Title Belt – Eman Zammit (from The New Kickboxing Club) vs Elian Mallia (from the Ying Yang) – Both fighter started very aggressive and exchanged flurries of low kicks and punches, round 2 was more of the same, with Mallia showing signs of settling down and edging ahead, round 3 Mallia found his range and started landing better kicks and blows – Mallia became champion on a points win.

Malta Welterweight Kick Boxing Title: Terence Cilia of the Ying Yang defeated a game but outclassed Tyron Muscat of the Wu Shu Ky – Cila came out fast and furious, to his merit Muscat rallied against the onslaught to answer back with some well executed kicks and punches but Cilia showed superior ring skills and the judges gave him victory on points.

Undercard – Non Title – Full Protection Gear.

• Alan Ellul of the Ying Yang defeated Clayton Portelli of the Wu Shu Ky on points.
• Lorna Mifsud of the Wu shy Ky defeated Jessie Davey of the Yin Yang on points
• Andrew Hillsden of the Ying Yang defeated Joseph Fenech of the Wu Shu Ky on Points

The Hillsden vs Fenech fight is worth noting because Hillsden is 50 years of age and he was taking on an opponent half his age. Andrew Hillsden sporting a good physique and a good level of fitness started training kickboxing at the late age of 49 and considering his age his skill level is quite good, his fitness was also tested to the full when the judges ordered two extra rounds of one minute each as they could not decide on a winner.

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