No beef with Thainstone meat market by Tom Walker Sep 10th 2006

The ever popular Mike Reid, formerly of Kemnay and now domiciled in Edinburgh, returned to the Thainstone arena to try and erase the memory of his only defeat, in the same venue at the hands of Tom Hogan of Carlisle on the 31st of March this year. Mike's last bout since that solitary defeat was in May 2006, and really was a fairly lacklustre draw against Adam Kelly of Sheffield, having had the pleasure of refereeing Mike on numerous occasions as an amateur I know that both these bouts will have hurt his pride and he'll be going all out to get back to winning ways. His opponent for the show was the evergreen Billy Smith of Stourport with a 45-fight slate, and a much tougher opponent than his record suggests. Also on the card was two other Tommy Gilmour boxers Furhan Rafiq of Glasgow and Stuart Green of Glenrothes. I've been to boxing shows all over the world, but never have I seen so much glamour in the form of young women in all their finery, as you do when Mike Reid is back in his own territory. It certainly adds to the sense of occasion in what is a very good venue, despite the name of a 'meat market'. They are all part of the “Barmy Army” which follows Mike's progress, and presumably have come to the battle in dress uniform. 6 x 2min Furhan Rafiq (Glasgow) vs Shaun Walton (Telford) 9st 3lbs;9st 4lbs Ref: Victor Loughlin Rafiq opens like a whirlwind with Walton content to bide his time and see what he (Rafiq) has to offer before letting fly with some pretty wild hooks of his own. Walton's work is sporadic and with Rafiq's speed he's in and out again before Walton has a chance to connect. This leaves the Telford man over-reaching with his shots and off balance if Rafiq could capitalise. In the third round Rafiq is unloading hurtful hooks of his own to the body of Walton; who is struggling to keep the Glaswegian at bay. The fourth is Walton's best round so far, yet for me Rafiq is still outworking him. He (Walton) is complaining about Rafiq's use of the head, but for me it is the height difference that is causing any clashes rather than any malice on the part of Rafiq. In the end Rafiq gets the nod from Victor Loughlin on a 59 -56 points verdict, which is slightly generous to Walton but then he did work hard during the bout. 8 x 2min Stuart Green (Glenrothes) vs Peter 'Professor' Buckley (Birmingham) 9st 11lbs;10st 6lbs Ref: Victor Loughlin As you'd expect from a 270+ fight warrior, 'Professor' Buckley is totally unfazed by either the parochial crowd or the task, as he starts another tutorial for aspirant pugilists in what is a very vocal and partisan arena. Green on the other hand seems either over-awed or too respectful of this double centurion, and is dancing in and out without too much real determination to make his mark on Buckley. His second, Steve McGuire snr is not one for letting his charges play around when they're in the ring and he lets Green know in no uncertain terms to plant his feet as he's not a ballet dancer but a fighter. This seemed to work on Green by the fifth as he is much more effective and it is something which Buckley is quick to recognise at the end of the salvo. Buckley will pretty much allow you to work at your own pace, but if you don't have the desire to cause him some pain for his wages then he'll toy with you. This is what happens to the Glenrothes man as the bout peters out to the inevitable points win by a 80 – 72 margin. Professor Buckley moves on somewhere else in presumably a fortnight or so time where he'll be giving someone else a run for their money and a catalogue of experience. The Glenrothes man will have learned from this and with big Steve's comments ringing in his ears causing him more pain than the blows from the Professor. 8 x 2mins Mike Reid (Kemnay) vs Billy Smith (Stourport) 10st 0lbs;10st 4lbs Ref: Victor Loughlin With the reception given to both boxers as they made their respective entrances, antagonistic to Smith and exultant towards Mike Reid, it was blatantly obvious that the weight of expectation was firmly on the shoulders of the local lad. Especially from the armchair experts who'd presumably looked at Billy Smiths record and decided that this was a formality. Billy Smith though, is no-one's patsy and his craggy features testimony to his unwillingness to lie down for a pay packet. There is a tremendous atmosphere in the suite of the Thainstone Exchange with the 'Barmy Army' in full voice supporting their own man. Reid had promised through his management team that he'd changed from his previous modus operandi of slugging it out with opponents and indeed, initially this was the case. Smith on the other hand, had decided that attack was the best form of defence, and went about it with venom. His sole armoury being hooks from both hands, and considering we were in a meat market, he delivered them with beef. I can't recall Smith even throwing something resembling a jab throughout the bout, yet this was not to his detriment, as the hooks were very heavy handed indeed. Reid was to some extent doing as he promised, boxing his way into the bout, but he really could have done with doubling his jab as the single shots he threw were promptly countered by Smiths hooks. A clash of heads in the third left the Kemnay man with a cut on his scalp, which resulted in his white satin shorts resembling an Aberdeen FC supporters strip with the red of his blood contrasting with the white of his attire. Smith's shots are, (from an amateur perspective) for the most part with the open part of the glove, but they're taking their toll on Reid. I expected Billy Smith to run out of steam by the fifth or thereabouts, but no, he obviously sensed an upset from the script and seemed to be driven on by his success with the hooking to both head and body. Smith just keeps coming at you in a straight line with winging shots, so why aren't we seeing better lateral movement from Mike Reid? In the last round a clubbing hook (again) to Reid's head, has a bemused expression on his face, as he stumbles back on to the ropes and along them to narrowly avoid the follow up shots. All of which has a muted response from his adoring fans. The die is cast and it is no real surprise when referee Loughlin raises Smith's hand as victor with a 78 – 76 score line. The angst written all over Mike's face at the end of the bout says it all and unlike the Hogan battle, his fans this time accept the result with credulity. The question though remains, where now for this really personable young athlete? Only he and his team will know the answer, but many of his boxing friends were suggesting his tactics or training may need re-evaluation. Whilst not wishing to be disrespectful to Billy Smith, who is better than his record suggests, Mike should have had this in the bag, and this completes a trio of bouts that will have taken something out of his undoubted big heart.

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