Home draw blow for Lawton by Neil Holland Feb 19th 2006

You part train yourself, you train the boxing stable, you run your own gym, you direct your own company, you promote your own show and you top the bill. Welcome to the world of Scott Lawton. As if that's not enough, you ring the changes. You change your trainer, you change your entry music and you change your tactics. Somehow you might think that the bubble is about to burst and at a well attended Kings Hall in Stoke that's exactly what happened to Lawton against the underrated Surinder Sekhon, in what was supposed to be an eight round warm up for a tilt at the English title. Richard Poxon from Sheffield was in Lawton's corner. Make no mistake, Lawton will see this drawn fight as a major loss, especially as his own pupil, Jimmy Doherty, got the decision over Sekhon only last November on his pro debut. You know what they say, “Its not losing, it's losing the lesson.” Well in this case it's not so much the draw, it's drawing the wrong conclusions. To conclude that Lawton (9st 13lb 6oz) should have breezed past Sekhon (10st 6oz) would be an insult to a boxer who recently took the newly crowned British Champion,Young Mutley, the distance over four. Really Sekhon's record should be reported to the fraud squad as a classic case of deception. He is a very capable operator indeed, fit strong, game and a southpaw who can definitely hold his own in good company under the right circumstances. All things being equal, giving half a stone away is never a good idea, especially when your usual height and reach advantage is also nullified by the size of the opposition, as in this case. Round one opened up at a bright pace with Lawton in the centre and Sekhon circling but that didn't last long as both boxers got to work. A missed back hand by Sekhon got repaid with an accurate three punch combination from the classy looking Lawton but Sekhon announced he was here to fight with a very good straight left to the body, a punch that served him well throughout the fight. The round ended with Lawton showing, as you would expect, a bit more variety in his work. Lawton sprang off his stool early for the second and landed short accurate and fast combinations that saw Surinder Sekhon backing onto the ropes. To the crowds roaring delight, Lawton unloaded his full repertoire but Sekhon has a beautiful tight guard and he's seen it all before. Letting Lawton work away I got the feeling, that in this single and significant exchange, Sekhon sensed Lawton had not got the power to really deter him from going for an upset. Scott Lawton noticeably increased his backhand work as the round progressed and was clearly seeking more power and leverage to gain the upper hand. Trying to put his full body weight behind the right hand saw him commit more to the shot than is his usual style and it was at just such a moment that Sekhon slipped outside the back hand and came up with a peach of a leg-driven straight left to the chin, the force of which carried Lawton straight off his feet and onto the canvas for a genuine count of eight. This was a cue for Sekhon to really fancy the job and he pressed forward taking the fight to Lawton as often as he could. This set the pattern for the rest of the contest. Lawton's response showed tactical naivety, and instead of boxing at range, using his feet and undoubted skills, he went into a war of attrition against a heavier man who is used to campaigning at a higher weight. Inexplicably, in my eyes, Lawton allowed himself to spend long spells under fire in the corners, and although he looked good spinning out, he was allowing Sekhon to be the boss too often and for too long. A referee scores the round to the better man and these “impressions” count. Throughout, Lawton had the classy moves and sharp combinations but I would like to pay homage to Surinder Sekhon, a very good, well prepared and utterly professional boxer, who, on this occasion dished up a reminder to the Lawtons of this world that you ignore weight difference at your peril. A draw over the eight threes was a fitting result but it leaves the talented Lawton needing a good, quality win, to rescue his ambitions. In the supporting bouts, the strong Micky Abbott (8st 13lbs 6oz) never found his range against the skilful Barrington Brown ( 9st 2lb 6oz) and he got a boxing lesson from Barrington in the process. Abbott needs to get his feet closer to his opponent before firing. In only his second contest Abbott always went forward but his lack of experience undermined his work and punching fresh air is very tiring. Well done to Barrington who looked good in this one over six twos and easily deserved the points win. Chris Edwards (8st 4lb) took on Gary Ford ( 8st 8lbs) from Oldham, in a really entertaining six twos. Chris is a good pro and an honest trainer but until he learns to put his body weight into his punches he will always enjoy mixed fortunes. Chris was light on his feet, very busy and threw plenty of shots but Ford has mastered the art of making punches tell and that was the difference. The fight was always about the volume of Edwards against the quality and accuracy of Ford. Rounds were close but Ford deservedly got the nod from the referee by a single point. The only fight result that really caused debate amongst the crowd was home grown Danny Johnson ( 11st 1lb) against Birmingham's Terry Carruthers. If any young boxer wants to see what an important punch the left jab can be, then try and get hold of a tape of this fight. Carruther's use of it was relentless as he singled, doubled and tripled it to very good effect. There is no doubt in my mind it caught the referee's eye, and won him the decision by a single point in a very well contested six twos. Against the scoring jab of Carruthers, Johnson, who got caught too often, even though it never troubled him, always looked to counter with his very sharp left hook. Danny doubled it up nicely to head and body, popping right hands over to follow. Mixing his work up well and trying the uppercut now and again Danny looked in control and had an air of confidence in his work. Carruthers however was having his own repeated success. I had this one close but felt the accomplished Johnson was the boss overall and expected him to come out for the last round to cement the result. For some strange reason he came off the gas whilst Carruthers went for it on the well-placed instructions of his corner team. I was not too surprised that Carruthers edged it on the strength of work rate with that left lead. My advice to Johnson is “Always come to play Danny, right up to the last second”. The very likeable and bubbly Gary Reid ( 10st 4lbs) got himself onto the bill against Manchester's Davis Kamara ( 10st 7lbs). Gary “The body snatcher“ Reid, is a well known puncher with either hand and Kamara's tactics from the start looked like he'd had a comprehensive briefing. Kamara has a rangy style and good boxing skills and he did the right thing by using the outside ring space, popping out the jab to keep Reid occupied. Occasionally he spread his legs wide and went for power behind a speedy left right combination to let Reid know he was here to out box him if he could. Kamara could really report Reid for stalking because he spent the whole fight doing it, and Gary looked to test the ribs of Davis Kamara right from the opening bell. Just when the message was getting home in the first round and kamara had dropped his hands for protection, Reid swung a sharp overhand right to the open target that connected high up sending him down for a count of eight, a classic body puncher set up. The die was cast and the always-menacing Reid visibly hurt Kamara on a number of occasions. Throughout the stalking there was plenty of good boxing from both fighters but Reid was always in control. Before the fourth round kamara's corner asked him to work the uppercut against the smaller Reid but Kamara clearly wanted the fight to be kept long. It can be hard for punchers to get fights and my hat goes off to Kamara who could have chosen a far easier come back than this, but once again Reid showed that he has the power and can box in between using it. Overall a commanding, distance-win for Gary against a skilful but nervous opponent. The amazing Peter Buckley (10st 5lbs) also graced the Kings Hall with his presence against popular local Jimmy Doherty (10st 5lbs), over six twos. Against the experienced Buckley, Jimmy showed patience, unlike his only other contest last November where he started like a whirlwind. Of course Peter allowed him the time, boxing in economy mode as he does, and in between Buckley's occasional reminders Doherty jabbed well, moved beautifully and explored a good range of punches. In the third Jimmy strutted his stuff, as he realised there was no danger, began rolling his lowered hands whilst flicking out light impetuous jabs and pivoting sweetly on his front foot into the next move. A slight marking of his right eye showed however that Buckley's own left hook was finding the target. Doherty's boxing was nice to watch but in the fourth he went into show boating mode complete with raised arms and hip wiggle, it didn't last long thankfully, and he needs to learn that all it tells his opponent is that all is not well. Buckley was not allowing Doherty his own way, all of the time. Unsurprisingly Doherty got every round from the referee and Buckley also gave him a little nod of approval. A nice touch from the veteran who was then hoisted off his feet by Doherty. Also a nice touch, and without doubt a very public acknowledgement that he had just shared the ring with a modern legend. Another good show from Impact Boxing with some tough matchmaking to remind the Stoke on Trent boxing public how tough the professional game really is. Pictures copyright Karl Stubbs - www.karlstubbs.com

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