Reynolds Catches the Eye in Debut. by Paul Concannon Nov 9th 2005

Mark Bateson and Kevin Spratt's three-fight card proved a success at Elland Road last night – a packed house was treated to a glittering night's entertainment included a Q& A session with guest of honour Frank Maloney. Other guests included Jamie Moore, Herol Graham and former British heavyweight champion, Richard Dunn. First up was a super-middleweight bout over six-twos featuring Pontefract's talented Adrian Clegg, coming from just down the motorway, against Warley veteran, Howard Clarke. The first belonged to Clegg who starting purposefully, using the ring and looking to plant a right hand to Clarke's body. Clarke stayed busy, jabbing mostly, and despite his constant forward motion, making his head an elusive target from Clegg's sharp punches. Clarke slotted home a stiff left late in the round but Clegg tagged him on the counter with a left hook and a nice right to the body, his pet punch, to punctuate the round. Howard started the second quickly, looking to unsettle the youngster, who was coming off his first loss (to John Harrison, on points) last time out. Adrian responded well with sharp left-rights before getting on the move and using the ring to spear Howard with eye-catching punches. A barrage in ring centre drew some showboating from Howard, who's antics, at times, remind me of Emmanuel Augustus, the talented American journeyman-cum-contender. Howard kept busy with nuisance punches and did get through with a good left hook to the body late on, but it was another round for the local man. The third was another competitive two minutes, Clegg displaying great head movement and slotting that tidy right hand to Howard's body with surgical precision. Clarke landed two excellent rights, but was largely outworked and lost his third round on the bounce on my card. Clarke, a former World title challenger, now well into the journeyman phase of his career, nearly always gives the proverbial good account of himself and still looks amazingly fresh after almost 100 bouts, I have always believed, had he been matched more kindly following the loss to Fernando Vargas in his unlikely IBF title fight back in 1999, he could have been way more than just a trial horse – as it stands, he earns well, and is comfortably resigned to his place on the right hand side of the bill. Howard pressed the action once more through the fourth, getting through with bustling punches and displaying superb defence, at one point avoided every single shot in a ten-punch bombardment in ring centre. Clegg's first real scare later in the round, was a cut on his right eye, presumably caused by a punch, as Howard zeroed in with rights, and worked the body again to earn at least a share of the round. Clegg landing slick looking left-rights and quick combinations as both battled hard through the fifth, Clegg landing the sharper work while Howard landed jabs and a few good rights in another even round. Adrian caught the eye in round six as he worked purposefully and with grit and aggression, and despite taking one sharp left, seemed to briefly rock the Midlands man with a decent looking hook late in the round. Clegg came away with a deserved 60-55 verdict on Mickey Vann's scorecard, which seemed about right; I had it 60-56. Next up was a tactical light-heavyweight six-twos that saw Sheffield's Tyan Booth repeat a debut win over Birmingham's useful, Domville ‘Jimmy' Hendrix. There was little by way of clean scoring from either, Booth did his best to smoothly apply pressure, fighting like a taller version of Amir Khan, while the shorter, stockier, Hendrix did his best to unsettle and negate the Sheffield prospect with head movement, a probing left jab and a wild overhand right. It was until round four that I gave the Ingle-trained Booth his first round, marking the first two even and giving Hendrix the edge in the third. Once he got into a flow, he swept the last three rounds with cleaner punching and a marginally better work-rate. That said, there really was very little between them, Booth's cleaner punching and edge in accuracy took the eye and he earned a 60-55 decision. The score seemed a little harsh on the visitor, but the result was correct. The relieved Booth, who dropped to his knees in a neutral corner after having his hand raised, goes to 2-0, both against Hendrix. This bout had been a late notice replacement for a scheduled fight to have featuring energetic Wakefield livewire, Mark Franks. The disappointed Franks pulled out with a nasty bout of flu at late notice, but told me he will be fit and ready for a card at the Queens Hotel, Leeds, in early December. In the last bout of the evening, a man who really took the eye was Mark Bateson and Kevin Spratt's well-supported debutant Danny Reynolds, who entered to a roar in a light-middleweight bout against Birmingham's veteran journeyman Karl Taylor. Karl, hard as nails and ancient, isn't impossible to stop by any means, but the way Reynolds manhandled him before forcing the stoppage was nonetheless impressive. Reynolds, an aggressive, stalking southpaw, fires lovely, tight combinations. Taylor was rocked in the first, floored in the second by a perfect left, giving a beating in the third and finally floored and stopped in the fourth round, the official time was one minute and thirty seconds. Taylor was all heart but Vann's stoppage was spot on. “Danny was tremendous. He was a little nervous in the first because it was his debut, but once he settled down and unloaded he looked great,” an elated Kevin Spratt told me afterwards. Danny, who has tangled with the likes of Ricky Hatton and Anthony Farnell in the unpaid ranks, looks like one to watch.

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