Broadbent, Lewis & Gethin victorious at Elland Road by Paul Concannon Nov 8th 2006

Mark Bateson and Kevin Spratt staged the latest instalment of their thrice-yearly black-tie promotions at Elland Road last night. While suits and boots are required, as usual, the West Yorkshire Fight Promotions show had a lively small hall atmosphere to accompany three value-for-money 6 x 2's Fight of the night by some distance was Bateson's fearsome debutant Tommy Broadbent of Leeds in a light-middleweight bout against erratic, hard-hitting Steve Cooper of Worcester. The well-supported Broadbent entered with a reputation as a genuine tough-nut. Early in the first, Cooper, upright but stiff punching, shot out a jolting left jab as the compact Broadbent barrelled in with hooks. Cooper, who weighed 10 stone 10lbs, was the first off the mark, catching Broadbent, who weighed 10 stone 12lbs, with a big right, sending his head back on his shoulders. The action became scrappy as the furious local bullied Cooper around the ring, looking for payback. His over-enthusiasm earned a swift reprimand from referee Howard Foster who issued a stern warning to keep it clean. Moments later both landing thudding left hooks – with not quite a minute gone wicked shots were being given and taken on both sides. Cooper connected flush with another massive left hook, quickly followed by another of his huge right crosses. Another good Cooper right landed flush, spurring Broadbent on to some showboating, but sealing a frenetic first round for the Worcester man. After a stern finger wagging from Mark Bateson in his corner, Broadbent started off the second round looking to box. After absorbing a few jabs and another right, he landed a cracking right to the body before following up with combinations. Cooper landed another thumping right, but was forced back by some heavy-looking left hooks and uppercuts. Instead of following up, Broadbent went back to showboating, and found himself tagged with more of Cooper's heavy looking, snappy punches – on my card he dropped his second round to the game visitor. A ferocious motivational job from his corner saw a different Broadbent emerge for round three, he quickly landed 1-2's, rights and left hooks, before sinking some quality combinations to the body. Cooper, who was displaying a concrete block for a head, hit back with another flush left hook, right hand, followed by more jolting jabs and another right-hand bomb. Broadbent, whose own chin appears caste-iron, took the punches well, and then almost brought the ring lights down with a Naseem Hamed style uppercut, before punishing Cooper with both hands to seal the third. It was from this point the greater class of the Leeds fighter began to show. Although he was forced to endure another terrific right hand early in the fourth, overall his classy single punches and heavy combinations earned him this round and the final two, with Cooper becoming ever more predictable as the fight progressed. Broadbent's heavy hands and greater accuracy earned him a 58-56 decision from referee Howard Foster, which looked spot-on. Credit to both boxers for a great fight. Earlier in the evening Walsall's undefeated Martin Gethin took his undefeated record to 7-0 with a points win over six against Kristian Laight, the man he had defeated on his debut in 2004. Switch-hitter Laight from Nuneaton got off to a good start, winning the first two rounds with nagging jabs and crosses thrown from each stance. Gethin, 10 stone 2lbs, stepped up a gear from round three and from that point he took over, using his greater strength, class and accuracy to chip away at his fellow midlander. Laight, 10 stone 3lbs, never stopped trying, but Gethin's edge in each of the last four earned him a well-received 58-56 decision – which matched my card. It had been a good, sporting six rounder. The night's final bout saw two-fight Sheffield novice Jon Baguley drop a razor tight decision to Colchester debutant Matthew Martin Lewis at lightweight. The bout provided a nice blend of styles; with the Ingle-trained Baguley, 9 stone 5 & a half, moving and popping out incessant bunches of nuisance punches, while the more compact Lewis, 9 stone 10lbs, stalked behind tighter, more accurate combinations. The bout was pretty much punch for punch, but Lewis' greater variety and accuracy down the stretch earned him a 58-57 verdict on the referee's card. There was a smattering of booing, but Howard Foster's verdict appeared spot-on – Lewis had done enough – I had it slightly wider at 59-57 to the Colchester man, but it was a tough one to score. All in all, another good evening of quality match-ups from West Yorkshire Fight Promotions.

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