Live from Ringside - York Hall, Bethnal Green, London
Author: Michael Angelo Serra
March 22nd 2009
York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England
On a Sunday afternoon show, aptly billed as "The mother of all Sunday's" on mothers day naturally, Miranda Carter promoted, this her fourth promotion.
Nathan Weise {Thamesmead} v Louis Byrne {Cambridge}
In the opening fight of afternoon over four rounds at light middle, Nathan Weise lived up to his surname as he seemed to have too much wisdom for Cambridge's Louis Byrne, Weise took the iniative from the bell, pushing his man back landing left hooks that seemed to trouble the Cambridge man, the latter did let go a flurry of punches but was'nt busier enough.
In the second Weise started to mix his shots more so, landing a right uppercut and a series of left hooks on Byrne, who himself did land occasionally but was outworked especially on the inside as Nathan got in close working to the body landing right hands to Byrne's midsection, Byrne gamely came punching back with left hooks himself but his work ethic was failing him miserably.
Round three saw both men using the jab, Weise {10st 12lbs} landed a right uppercut and a series of left hooks, one long left hook staggered Byrne, who by this stage had a reddened face, evidence of Weise's work.
In the fourth and final session Weise outworked his man, though Byrne {10st} did up his work rate considerably, though yet again Byrne was noticably shaken by another left hook from the Thamesmead man, but gamely punched back but it was'nt enough as Weise seemed to be growing in confidence as the round wore on and this was reflected in the scorecard of referee Jeff Hinds 40-36 verdict for Weise.
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Laura Saperstein {London} v Galina Gymlisska {Bulgaria}
Result: Saperstein won points
In a special attraction on the show, a four round womans contest featured prospect Laura Saperstein who took on Bulgaria's Galina Gymlisska.
In the opener it was fairly one sided as Gymlisska {10st 2lbs} did very little other than cover up and offered little offence in the form of a few amatuerish swipes though she tried but had little success as Saperstein showed nice movement, and a decent left jab, this was the same story for the second round as Laura started backing up the Bulgarian in this session.
Round three saw Saperstein try the old trick of touching gloves then immediately throw a sucker punch to begin, Galina seemed to be soaking up a lot of punishment by the light hitting Saperstein {9st 6lbs}, the Bulgarian was a light hitter herself and seemed to be pushing her shots, they stood in close more so and the visitor did find the target a couple of times, but found herself shipping overhand rights as Laura banged them in over the Bulgarian's guard, however in the final round, the fourth Saperstein seemed to take a breather enabling the visitor to come back into the fight, throwing a lot of punches, though ungainly and seemed to take the final round on my card, the verdict was a good one, though I had it 40-37 to Saperstein, Referee Ken Curtis official card read 40-36.
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Patrick Mendys {Reading} v Matt Jack {Newmarket}
Result: Mendys won points
It was a case of a bad start for the newcomer from Newmarket, Matt Jack who found himself in a out and out war, welcome to professional boxing!
In the opener Jack, well built and well muscled came out punching and was a quarter of a pound heavier than Mendys at Twelve stone one pound, as did Mendys as Jack was backed up, taking some solid left hooks to the body from the Reading man, also hooking off the jab, backed up Jack again this time in a corner with a solid right, however Mendys left eye was bleeding from a Jack right hand, but Mendys took the round with non stop aggression to win.
Rounds two and three saw Mendys and Jack get stuck in as they locked horns and went at it, however it was noticeable that Mendys carried the better dig as he backed up the powerful Jack a couple of times, Jack tried as best he could and did land a big right but it was not enough, one left hook from Patrick in the third backed up Matt, however Mendys cut was worsening as Jack's body was smeared with blood from his opponents eye, after a time out to inspect the injury Mendys came back punching, an air of desperation as he staggered Jack with a left hook, but Jack came fighting back in a non stop action packed round, it was one of those fights, Mendys just did enough to take the round and I had him winning every round going into the fourth and final round.
Both went for broke as Mendys cut worsened, the pace never let up as both men tired from the previous three rounds excertions tried to summon enough up for a memorable finale to the best fight of the afternoon, Mendys crowded his man and took a right hand for his troubles, as he came punching back, at the bell Mendys leaned over the ropes in his corner almost falling over gagging for his breath, that was the kind of fight it was, non stop and in the old days would have been a nobbins contest {money thrown in the ring from spectators afterwards}
Hines card read 40-36 in avour of Mendys which was an accurate asessment of the four rounds of warfare I had just witnessed.
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Bobby Scott {Thamesmead} v Nick Okoth {Battersea}
Result: Okoth won points
In the opener of this a four rounder at light heavy, Scott showed a stiff jab as he landed, circling getting in range before unloading however in the latter part of the round Okoth {12st 11lbs} upped his work rate significantly landing nice right hands to Bobby's midsection, but it was the Thamesmead's mans earlier work that had the won him the round.
Okoth came out jabbing, but could'nt quite deal with Scott's more fluent left hand, Okoth then decided to try and brawl, this he did with a lot more success as he threw shots from all angles as they fought in close, Okoth scored with both hands to Bobby's chin, Bobby {13 st 3lbs}tried to box his man as Okoth was getting the better of it in the trenches to even the score.
Okoth and Scott tore in to each other, as Okoth scored in close with a couple of right uppercuts, one of which rocked Scott, who did well as he fought back, but only in spurts and was'nt quite as busy as Okoth, who worked at a steady pace to take this the third.
Round Four saw Okoth box as he countered nicely, fighting off of the ropes outworking the Thamesmead man, one left hook backing Scott up as Okoth confidently bundled forward outworking his man to take the final round and take a well earned 40-37 points decision from referee Curtis.
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Ashley Theophane {Kilburn/New York} v Craig Docherty {Scotland}
Result: Theophane won points
It's not every day, that you get to report on a fellow colleague, I'm proud to say I had the chance to do so, as World class Ashley Theophane took a well deserved points decision over Scotland's Craig Docherty in a good piece of matchmaking by Roy Hilder in this the main event.
In a sense this was a marking time fight for Ashley as he will be looking for bigger names this year, trying to make an impact on the World stage.
Round One
In the opener Ashley showed good movement, circling as he used a nice left jab to pile up the points, at times Ashley fell short but soon found his range as he scored to Docherty's face, the Scotsman however seemed to have some success more so as he did land to Theophane's body now and again, but it was Theophane who was far the busier as he started to land left hooks and a decent right on Docherty's chin to easily take the opener.
Round Two
The second saw Theophane get behind the jab scoring to Craig's body, also landing some right handers on the Scot, who unleashed a good left hook of his own, but soon found himself picked off by the neat boxing of the Kilburn man.
Docherty {10st 8lbs} did find Ashley's chin with the odd right also finding Ashley's midsection, the Scot though was only landing single shots and did seem to have problems landing more than one punch at a time as Theophane's class shone through as the York Hall crowd could see exactly why he's knocking on the door of the World stage as he chalked up another session.
Round Three
Theophane circled boxing as Docherty tried to land with his left hooks, it was the Londoner who showed nice skills as he hooked off of his left jab, however Ashley had success to the Scotsman's body as the latter tried to crowd Ashley, that said he merely took a step back and countered, when they did get on the inside, Theophane {10st 5lbs} seemed to get the better of things on the inside also as noticably Docherty looked tired as Theophane took another round in convincing fashion.
Round Four
Docherty missed a big right hand to begin with as Ashley circled, it was in this particular session that Docherty began to work as he worked away hooking off of his left jab as Theophane seemed to take a breather doing very little as the Scotsman took the round easily, it seemed Ashley was looking to finish big over the final two sessions.
Round Five
It was no surprise as Theophane took the iniative after conceding the fourth, as he opened up with left hooks behind a couple of sneeky right hands as the transplanted New Yorker from Kilburn got in close, letting go with both hands landing on Docherty, who a little later came back with some decent left hooks backing up Ashley also scoring a decent right hand on Theophane's chin.
It was short lived for the Scotsman who took a big right to the head and was basically outworked by Ashley who was rather workmanlike in taking this the fifth.
Round Six
Ashley in a convincing lead merely punctuated his dominance in the final round, as he out boxed Craig, landing nice flurrys and a decent right to the Scots chin, as he continuously landed right hands and left hooks as Docherty came forwards, in taking the final session and a fairly easy points decision in a fairly well paced round that basically reflected the fight itself to take a 60-55 decision from Jeff Hinds.
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Badru Lusambya {Glasgow/Uganda} v Chas Symonds {Croydon}
Result: Lusambya won rsc 3rd
Big punching Ugandan, Badru Lusambya whom has a World Boxing Council ranking, punched too hard for Croydon's Symonds, who was brave to the last.
In the opener both came out in a fairly quiet opener to begin with as both men felt the other out, it was'nt long though as the Croydon man started using an effective left jab as he continuously outboxed the strong African whom is based in Scotland, however when Lusambya did manage to back up Symonds, it was the Surrey man whom showed an excellent defense as he took the opener.
In the second Symonds continued to utilise his jab as the African {11st 7lbs} started to up his workrate, as he started to close in on Symonds, as he forced the Englishman in to a fight as they got into some exciting exchanges, Symonds however soon reverted back to type as he started to catch his man again making Lusambya miss with his shots, as Symonds landed with quick short punches on the inside, the African kept pushing forwards and then managed to back Symonds {10st 13lbs} on the ropes, where he landed a big right hand to the chin flooring the Englishman before the end of the session.
In round three Symonds had an apprehensive look on his face as he looked very wary of the Ugandan's power, as he got on his bike trying to counter the big punching Ugandan, whom got inside again this time landing another big right to Symonds chin, sending him to the canvas a second time, who showed bravery beating referee Curtis count, the African sensing victory was'nt far away landed a fusilade of leather as Symonds yet again found himself in trouble as he almost turned his back on the Ugandan as he was staggered again, this time Curtis jumped in, Symonds tried punching back as Curtis wrapped his arms around him, it was too late as Curtis stopped the contest at the 1:44 mark of the third.
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Pat Mcaleese {Newmarket} v Lester Walsh {Leicester}
Result: Mcaleese won points
In a four rounder at light middle, Newmarket's unbeaten Mcaleese showed great tenacity as he continoulsy pressured Leicester's Lester Walsh, backing him up for periods on the ropes, working his man over with an accumulation of shots to body and head, at times Walsh did manage the odd time to turn the tables, even turning his man and pinning Mcaleese {11st} to the ropes, though it was short lived, for the best part of the fight it was Mcaleese who proved the stronger of the two, as he landed good body shots mixing in right hooks and the odd uppercut, it was in the last two sessions that Walsh gamely tried to fight back at one time unleashing a nice burst of punches to make the third a little closer though still losing the round, it was apparent though Walsh {11st 9lbs} was taking a pounding, he wasn't here to make up the numbers, showing a lot of determination and tried to match Mcaleese in the final session, however it was Mcaleese who was that bit stronger and busier and deservedly took a clear points win on referee Hines card of 40-36, now improving to 5-0 with the one stoppage.
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Ryan Barrett {Thamesmead} v Georgi Chiompirica {Romania}
Result: Barrett won points
In the show closer Ryan Barrett handled the much shorter, stockier Chiompirica with ease in taking a points win over the aggressive visitor.
From the opener Barrett {10st 7lbs} was far more the composed of the two, as Chiompirica tried to bull his way in, however he couldn't seem to get inside, and when he did, he was caught by Barrett and backed up, things got a little messy as Georgi tried to throw barrett over in a clinch, getting a warning from ref Curtis for his flouting of the rule book.
Ryan composed looking, kept scoring with lefts to the body as Chiompirica kept trying to get under Barrett's long reach but was picked off continuosly by the Surrey man, and it wasn't only Ghiompirica {9st 12lbs} in trouble, as his cornerman was given a warning by Curtis to keep quiet.
In the third Georgi managed to get inside and land the once to Ryan's face, Barrett pretty much did what he wanted to do, as Chiompirica posed no threat as he couldn't cope with the height and reach of Ryan, though the Romanian started to dart in and out, he kept missing and was picked off for his unsuccessful assaults, at the rounds conclusion Georgi sportingly offered his glove, niceties weren't exchanged as Barrett skipped away and back to his corner, by now the points deficit was growing, unlike referee Curtis patience, whom a little later on, told the annoying cornerman in no uncertain terms to "shut up" even telling the offender to move away a few seats along, in the Fifth Barrett smiled after one exchange as he clowned a little pulling faces, even in the final session looking away from Chiompirica shadow boxing doing a little showboating, however Ryan did little in the final session, the previous five sessions were in the bag as he had continuosly outboxed the game, brave Chiompirica, whom I thought won the last round on sheer effort and aggression if little else, but it wasn't enough as Barrett was rightfully awarded an easy 60-54 points win from ref Ken Curtis.
Michael Angelo Serra reporting