Explosive Sykes stands out in Leeds. by Paul Concannon Apr 14th 2006

Despite the disappointment of Carl Johanneson's late notice withdrawal from the bill, the slimmed-down seven-bout card from Leeds town Hall lived up to all other expectations with a mixture of brutal knockouts and well-matched encounters. Dewsbury featherweight Gary Sykes caught the eye in explosive fashion against Merthyr Tydfil's Dai Davies in the night's opening bout. Dubbed by promoter Rick Manners as, “Yorkshire's Oscar De La Hoya,” Sykes certainly looked the part. After an initial delay that had seen Davies enter the ring, only to be subject to a five-minute wait, Sykes, from nearby Dewsbury, eventually entered to a rapturous reception from his West Yorkshire fight faithful. Gary is clearly a ticket seller, with good looks, flashy skills and is, by all accounts, a great talker too. He showed in only his second pro bout that there is clearly a little substance to go with all the undoubted style. After initial early probing from both, Sykes, who weighed in at 9 stone 3 1/2, got down to business, connecting with a quick left hook, then opening up with a flashy flurry culminating in a well-placed body shot. Fighting aggressively, I made a note that Sykes had ‘blurring handspeed', which may be a cliché, but one that applies to the Dewsbury prospect. Gary ended a largely one-sided opener with a neat 3-punch burst. Davies, 9 stone and four pounds, clearly knows his way around a ring, and started the second round more positively, clipping the stalking local with one good right cross. Sykes absorbed the punch without a problem. It cannot have been fun having a versatile heavily supported prospect like Sykes in front of you, but Davies diligently stuck to the task. Gary, alternating between clever boxing and aggressive banging, punctuated the second with another perfectly placed combination to the head. The start of the third was more spirited, with Davies hitting back as Sykes leapt in behind beautifully placed left hooks. Just I was sitting back to enjoy what I thought would be a four round exhibition of skills, Sykes switched his attack downstairs, landing a double-left hook to the body. The second blow appeared to catch the Welshman in the liver, dropping him in an agonising heap. The final blow had ‘one-way ticket' written all over it, and the brave Davies had little choice but to take Mickey Vann's ten count. The time was 1 minute and 53 seconds. After just two fights it's too early to tell if Sykes is in the ‘can't miss prospect' category, but it's easy to see why the Dewsbury fighter is already exciting people. He looks like a sensational talent. Further down the bill, another flashy prospect, Bradford's Nadeem Siddique, was given one of his more demanding outings by tough Northampton journeyman David Kehoe, in a viciously bad-tempered 6 x 2's. With some-head-rubbing needle during the referee's instructions, it was already shaping up into a lively affair before the first bell and indeed just seconds in, Mickey Vann issued a stern warning to Kehoe, apparently for dangerous use of the head. Moments later, an untidy maul saw both boxers wrestle each other to the canvas. There was some wincing at ringside as both boxers untangled themselves. Vann clearly felt Kehoe had been more at fault and issued a public warning and point deduction from the Northampton fighter. It had been an ugly start. Siddique, 9 stone 13, did some neat scoring in the first real exchanges late in the round, only to himself lose a point for an infraction (unclear to me) just before the bell. It had been a hectic 120 seconds for Mickey Vann. The fight gradually settled in the second and thus began the predictable pattern that seems to mark nearly all of Siddique fights, he waits, let's the other man do a bit of work, then explodes with his trademark whipping combos. The main difference with this fight was that Nadeem was clearly riled by Kehoe, who weighed 10 stones, thus allowing the visiting fighter several opportunities to place left hooks and right hands over his guard in the preceding rounds. There would be more eyeballing after the third, which spurred the local on to a good fourth, where he worked the body and banged in flashy 1-2's. Yet again the round ended with the two boxers glaring at each other. The Ingle-trained Siddique largely dominated the fifth, and after an ill-tempered spell of infighting in the final round, punctuated the dirty, sometimes exciting affair with a knockdown late in the round. Kehoe hopefully offered his arm to the referee at the end of the bout, but it was Siddique who came away with a deserved 59-55 decision. The ill feeling spilled over into the aftermath of the bout with Siddique batting away Kehoe's offer of a touch of gloves, and then almost getting involved in a scuffle with one his opponents cornermen shortly afterwards. There was a vicious whiff of rumour that the bad blood between the two fighters had had racist undertones, which in-turn threatened to boil over into the crowd later in the night. Whatever the truth of that matter it appears to be time the abundantly talented Sheffield fighter stepped up a level. His record stands at 18-0 (3) and is stockpiled with well-known journeyman from the UK fight circuit. Can he fight? I strongly suspect the answer is yes; now seems like as good a time as any to find out. Later down the bill saw one of the best fights of the night when popular York prospect Danny Wright took on Peterborough's useful Tony Randell over 6 x 2's at super-middleweight. The affair would prove to be a lively fight number for two Wright against the underrated and cagey fighter from the Nobby Nobbs camp. After absorbing some awkward-attacks in the early going, Wright landed some good left hooks to the body and a jolting jab before walking in to an equally jarring jab himself moments later. Wright, advancing behind a high left hand, found himself pinned with a combination late on. It had been an even first round. The second was similarly even. Both came out swinging in the early going with each having success. From around this point the pattern of the bout became set, with the lanky Randell boxing and moving and the stockier Wright stalking from behind his high guard. Both landed to the body late on and I simply could not separate them again in another even round. The third was the first round where I was able to find a winner. Wright absorbed a long right hand in the early exchanges only to be caught with the same shot himself seconds later. This in turn seemed to spur him on to drive Randell back across the ring with his first big attack of the night. Tony hit back with a nice right uppercut and kept his own guard high as the York favourite bustled away. Randell ended the round with a chopping right cross but had been just out-worked, giving Wright a slight edge in round three. The fourth was a little untidier, with both men appearing tired from their early exertions. Both swung and missed before gradually meeting in ring centre to chip away at one another. Randell's cleaner output gave him the edge in this round. I made a note, ‘would hate to score this one' as the round ended. The pendulum swung back towards Wright in the fifth. Clearly sensing the fight was too close for comfort, he launched another big attack, and despite smothering his work a touch, did connect with one very solid right. Despite absorbing a flurry of uppercuts, he stayed busy until the bell to take the round. Randell took the play away from Wright early in round six, landing a big left hook and solid right cross, and for my money landed nearly all the effective work in the last. Wright tried desperately hard, and did land some hooks, but the back-peddling Randell ended the round big with another big left hook right cross combination. I scored the bout a draw, but felt overall that the talented visitor had held a slight edge. Referee Peter Barnes scored the fight 58-57 for Wright. The decision saw the frustrated Randell dropkick his gumshield out of the ring. It was difficult not to feel sorry for the likeable Peterborough battler, who took the fight on one day's notice. Much better than his journeyman stats of 3-11 indicate, he provided a stiff test for the York favourite. Ringside notes: Promoter Rick Manners on Carl Johanneson: “We find out late on that if Carl went ahead and fought he could jeopardise his number one status. Carl was obviously pissed-off, we only found out on Wednesday, but withdrawing was the only thing to do in the circumstances. “The good news is that Rick Manners & Bauer Promotions are joining forces with Mick Hennesey to promote Carl's vacant title shot against Billy Corcoran in a genuine 50-50 fight, and we have agreed that the fight will happen in Leeds. We will have a major press conference soon to announce further details. “With reference to Alex Arthur (who recently vacated the British title), we have cause to question whether the Arthur camp actually fancied the job, but maybe Frank Warren is doing us a favour in that we could build it (a potential Arthur-Johanneson bout) into a bigger fight further down the line. Alex is a great fighter and Frank Warren is one of the greatest promoters ever in the UK. I would still love to work with him at some point in the future. I am still open to offers!” Recently retired promoter Keith Walker on life after boxing: “Truthfully, I just want to spend more time in my villa in Marbella,” Keith told me last night. “I was coming back to the UK just to take care of the promotions, and began thinking what am I doing? “I love this sport and my fighters so it's nice to be able to watch without the emotional attachment and the stress.” Keith, a successful businessman, has been a key-figure in the West Yorkshire boxing scene in recent years and Britishboxing.net wishes him all the best for the future. Bradford promoter Steve Garber on his next show: “I was looking at doing something in April but time commitments haven't allowed, so it could late in the year before my next promotion – but you know it's going to be a good one though!” Tony Randell on that decision: “I am disappointed but it was a close fight and I guess I let myself down by fighting his fight too much. I took the fight on one day's notice and will be better prepared next time.” Photos By Loura Conerney

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wright too strong for rendall Apr 14th 2006, 16:24:35 by mickey2006 danny wright deserved the decision.rendall was better than his record suggested but didnt quite fancy going toe to toe with the york man