Thomas McDonagh claims unimpressive six-round win (Plus Gillick turns out and gets knocked out) by Terry Dooley Jul 2nd 2007

Thomas McDonagh, by his own admission, looked lacklustre and jaded in claiming a six-rounds win over Alexander Matviechuk on Wally Dixon's ‘Northern Invasion' bill this Saturday. Fans entering the GH Carnell leisure centre were greeted by a security crew, bolstered by a police presence, on high alert after the events of Saturday. Bags were checked for items of weaponry or explosives and with this sombre mood in mind McDonagh boxed tepidly throughout the main event despite the crowd doing its best to spur him on. Thomas, 11st 4-¼ lb, came into the ring with his game-face on only to box at the same conservative pace throughout the samey rounds. Matviechuk, 11st 8 lb, looked slightly flabby and was outclassed early as McDonagh poked left hooks and right hands through Alexander's southpaw guard. Despite looking slightly uncoordinated early McDonagh was able to time his right hand over the southpaw jab of Matviechuk. Throughout the fight Thomas had his leading foot lined along the outside of his opponents leading foot, this allowed Thomas to score with left hooks and right hands almost at will. Despite this advantage the bout became very messy when Thomas missed with his shots, which he did often. By the third round the action was switching between tepid and dire; McDonagh missed with an expansive left hook only for Alexander to miss this chance to counter. Matviechuk did get success with his left hand in the third round, Thomas pawed with his shots whilst out of range, and this allowed Alexander to score with two consecutive straight left hands. Perhaps buoyed by his success Matviechuk came out behind enough work to win the fourth round on the card of referee Howard Foster as well as BBN. A one-two followed by a right hook to the body and a straight left were Alexander's best scoring blows in the bout thus far. Thomas tried to respond yet in his haste he rushed in with shots thereby causing the ‘action' to become messy on the inside. Alexander scored with a left hand in the fifth then forced a clinch. As they broke Thomas walked away looking disgusted with himself and the action in general. Whenever possible Matviechuk was locking the arms of Thomas on the inside and wasting valuable punching time. There was no real chance of Thomas losing the fight, his left hook and right hand brace was piling-up the points for him but this was not the sharp boxer BBN watched on Dixon's last show. By the final round ‘Storm Boy' McDonagh was looking as loose as a ‘Star Wars' storm trooper in full, inhibiting, regalia. A left hook to the eye of Alexander opened-up a cut as well as providing some much needed late drama as Thomas tried to open the cut further by targeting it with left hooks. Thomas finished the fight by showing a cameo of his skill as well as a sample of what makes him frustrating to watch. A quality left-right-left (hooks) went into the head of Alexander only for Thomas to widely miss a follow-up right uppercut-left hook combination. The score of 59-55 in favour of Thomas was no surprise, BBN had it by the same margin and Thomas himself acknowledged that he had looked poor. After asking everyone not to be too hard on him McDonagh explained that he wants title fights or a bout with Martin Concepcion to get his blood going. Thomas improves to 30-1-2 (6) whereas Matviechuk falls to 8-15-2 (1). Jokingly McDonagh confided that with his marriage being a mere two-weeks away his main concern was keeping his face handsome for the big day. Despite a letdown main event the fights in general had been exciting throughout the night. First up came a six times two-minute rounds bout between Warrington's Amir Unsworth and Latvian Sergey Rozakmens. Unsworth, 9st 12 lb, seemed to enjoy his pro debut, he trapped Sergey, 9st 13 lb, on the ropes for the entirety of the first round; scoring with left hooks to the body before bringing right uppercuts through to the head. The second round was similar to the first in that Amir dominated Rozakmens, this time along the ropes and in ring centre. By the third Amir was boxing it quite clever, a left hook at range set Rozakmens up for a left hook and right hook to the body. Throughout rounds four and five it was a case of similar groove same record as Amir scored in mid-ring as well as in ring centre. In the final round Rozakmens was in pure survival mode, throughout he had been a easy to hit version of Peter Buckley; Steve Gray turned-in a 60-54 card for the debutant Unsworth. Sergey now drops to 2-15-1 (1). Next up was another debuting fighter as Brian Hughes trained Reece Roberts, 8st 8-½ lb, struggled to beat Walsall's Delroy Spencer, 8st 7-½ lb, over six two-minute rounds. Reece came in behind his jab in the first round yet everything single shot fell short of its mark as the veteran Spencer scored with a few blows. It was a dire round, Reece scored with nothing and Delroy with little, this minor improvement was enough to give the man from Walsall the round. As the fight progressed it became clear that neither man had sneaked any explosives into the venue. Reece was all movement, slips and steps with no counter punches. This deficiency in offence seemed to be handing Spencer the fight so far. Roberts finally exploded into life during the third as he landed a couple of left hooks and jabs. In the third a minor fight broke out. Reece had been posing throughout the rounds only for a jab-jab-right hand from Spencer to wake the young fighter up. Reece responded with a jab only to be outscored once again as Delroy landed the double-jab then dipped a right hand to the body of Reece. Roberts improved in the fifth round, a few counter left hooks hit their target, but he seemed to be in real danger of posing his way to a loss on his pro debut. Spencer took a left hook in the final round only to show his maturity by responding with a pair of right hands. Spencer seemed to have won the fight due to his settled work; Roberts' Roy Jones imitating pot shotting had seemed to fail him. Spencer had, seemingly, won the fight yet he was never going to get the decision. Howard Foster scored the fight a close 58-57 for Roberts whereas BBN had it a clear 56-58 for Spencer. Delroy looked disappointed after the decision was announced but it was to be expected. Spencer falls to 10-51-3 (1). Next up came a clash of debuting pros as Mick Jenno wiped-out Martin Gillick with contemptuous ease after only 1:16 seconds of the first round. Gillick, fighting out of Scotland, had been announcing his impending debut for moths via the Internet. This has led to many feeling he should be commended for lacing-up the gloves even if he was cleared out in less than two minutes. Well if you subscribe to that viewpoint scroll on by as there are going to be some harsh words here. Gillick, 12st 3lb, came out to fight, for want of a better word, looking fat. Rolls of the stuff rested on the band of his shorts as he waited for Jenno, who was roared into the ring by a sizeable Scouse travelling support. BBN had watched Jenno spar some torrid rounds with prospect Denton Vassell earlier this year as Jenno had trained for a few aborted debuts. Mike had kept quiet and kept training as he awaited his first fight, when it came he was fit and ready. Jenno, a trim and tight 11st 11-½lb, came out behind a tight southpaw guard. A right hand to the body followed by a left to the head signalled his intent, as did his pumping out the southpaw jab early. The ending began when Mike landed a left uppercut to the body that floored Gillick. It was a nice shot but surely a fighter who has been preparing for a long time for a debut should be able to take it. Anyway, Gillick could not and shortly after beating the count found himself on the canvas again as a left uppercut to the body followed by a right hook to the head floored him for the second time. Gillick rose only for a straight left to the body to send him down and out barely two minutes into his debut. It was an easy win for Jenno – the fighter who has toiled hard in the gym for months to produce this moment – and Mike showed plenty of quality in the bout. For Gillick it serves notice that his preparation was woeful and if that deserves praise then so be it. In reality all praise should go to Jenno for coming into the fight with the fitness and skills needed to win in this tough sport. Next up was a contentious first-round win for Scott Quigg, 8st 10lb, as he powered his way past Shaun Walton, 9st 4lb, at 1:40 of the first round. Quigg was hit early by a right hand; he shrugged it off then landed a left hook on the inside. As Walton moved away a short right hand sent him staggering into the ropes. Howard Foster jumped in to stop the bout with a bemused Walton protesting the timing of the ending. Foster should have observed then protected, as it stood he did not even give Walton a chance to recoup his guard. Quigg was jubilant; the win improves him to 2-0 (1) whilst Walton falls to 3-21-3 (1). Paulino Da Silva recorded a 60-56 win by working to the body of Lee Jones throughout the course of six two-minute rounds. Silva, 12st 3½ lb, worked his advantage on the outside and spoiled using his strength on the inside to close out the decision against an opponent who boxed well occasionally on the back-foot. Jones, 12st 11lb, kept the bout interesting despite the holding on the inside, which at one point prompted a warning for both men from the exasperated Steve Gray. In the final two rounds a fading Jones was being clipped with jabs and right hands, despite taking a consistent beating throughout the bout Jones had enough stamina to see it out. BBN had it 59-55 for Paulino who rises to 4-3 (0). Jones is now 2-1 (0). The penultimate bout was a gruelling one as Mark Nilsen, 12st 11lb, dug-out a final-round KO over Doncaster's Nicky Taylor 12st 12-½ lb, in a bout that had been scheduled for four three-minute rounds. Taylor started well behind his jab; he drew Nilsen inside where the action grew messy. Mark came out of one clinch with a right hook to the body that foreshadowed the fights end. Throughout the first two rounds Mark seemed tense and open to counters. A ten-foot head-down dash from Taylor opened the second round and prompted some messy inside spoiling by both men. So far the fight was hit and clinch from both. Mark overcame this by stepping to the side and powering in hooks to the body of Jones, this paid-off in the third as Jones slowed noticeably. In the fourth both men were clinching away cohesion only for Mark to punctuate this mess with a clean burst of hooks to the body and one to the head. A follow-through right hook to the ribs of Taylor sent him down to one knee. Taylor was wearied, he rose and deserved to hear the final bell but Nilsen finished him with another right hook to the body. Hooks to the body had been draining Taylor over the final two rounds plus a tender bruise around his right eye attested to the headshots he had taken. The end came at 2:25 of the fourth and final round of a gritty fight. Nilsen improves to 6-0 (2), Taylor falls to 2-11-1 (1).

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The Internet Warrior! Jul 5th 2007, 08:00:44 by mick helliet Sorry to hear that the 'Internet Warrior' has come unstuck so early in his career! Shame he didn't spend as much time in the gym as he did on his pc!