Wigan undercard action: Thompson pushed to the limit by Terry Dooley Oct 27th 2007

Jack Arnfield, 11st 2 ½ lb, kicked-off the show, and his pro career, by powering past Louis Byrne, 11st 4lb, in a single round. The Bobby Rimmer trained Arnfield is a rangy fighter with a good skill-set and showed too much for Byrne in every second of the fight. Cambridge's Byrne falls to 1-3 (1). Next on the bill was another fighter in a hurry as Ajose Olusegun, 10st 3½lb, brushed aside Spain's Armando Candel, 10st 3¼lb, in the third round of their scheduled six-round bout. Olusegun started in a hurry, a left hook to the body was followed by a vicious left uppercut before another solid pair of shots, this time a brace of right hooks, sent Candel backwards. Ajose's shots sounded like rifle cracks as he cracked Candel time after time in round two. A right hook to the body followed a right hook to the head before a further pair of rights hammered the body of the Spaniard. Candel opened-up a little in the third round but his were the protestations of a man facing execution and Ajose took him apart shot by shot. Olusegun switched angles perfectly on Candel to land a pair of right hooks, these pushed Candel backwards. A left hand then went right through his guard to signal the intervention of referee Steve Grey at 2:12 of the round. Olusegun used the angles well, weathered the odd drop of rain and served a fine eulogy to his departed manager James Oyebola. Ajose rises to 21-0 (11). Unfortunately there were no such fireworks in the next bout as Brett Flournoy, 10st 9lb, defeated Ryan Ashworth, 10st 10lb, over six three-minute rounds. Flournoy had looked sensational in his pro debut, against Tommy Jones July last year, yet has often seemed tepid in subsequent fights, despite possessing some fine skills. Ashworth fought well with Brett for the first two rounds only to take too many body shots from the southpaw stance of Flournoy. Ashworth then faded as the fight went on. Brett then lost his inhibitions and scored well to take the fight 59-55 on the card of referee Phil Edwards. BBN had it by the same score. Flournoy rises to 6-0 (2) whereas Ashworth falls to 2-2-1 (0). Craig Watson, who was in scintillating KO form in his last fight, also had to settle for a six rounds win over the deceptively flabby but tough Frenchman Frederic Gosset. Watson, 10st 7lb, pinged Gosset, 9st 13 ½ lb, with right hands throughout the first two rounds only for the Frenchman to come out for more rounds of abuse. By the middle rounds Watson was switching angles and landing shots but Gosset was so resolute that by the final two rounds Watson was nodding to him in appreciation of his toughness. Craig had hit Gosset to both body and head, indeed he landed a solid left uppercut to the body in the final round, only for the Frenchman to keep it tight and remain upright. Watson now has an 11-1 (3) record, his sole loss coming against fellow prospect John Fewkes. Despite not being able to score another KO Watson is keeping active and getting rounds, and the odd KO, under his belt. In the next bout another tough Frenchman took everything a young British fighter could offer – lets hope that is a not a premonition of Mormeck-Haye - as Mark Thompson endured a torrid eight rounds against Frank Harroche Horta. Thompson, 10st 8lb 4oz, eked out a win despite taking some flush shots from the southpaw in front of him; Horta, 10st 9lb, took advantage of the fact Thompson did not throw enough left hooks off his 1-2 and tagged Mark with left's from the portside stance. Mark came out winging lefts and rights in the first only for Horta to serve notice of his ability by adding the three, his own straight left counter, to the 1-2 of Mark. Incredibly Thompson was looking red-faced as early as round two, Harroche looked like a fighter who had smelt the blood of an overconfident Englishman. Frank landed a right hook then pushed Mark off him a straight left as the round wore-down. Mark again looked like he might wear himself out in there. Thompson came out behind his jabs in round three but it was clear he saw them as a prelude to his right hand bombs. Harroche remained calm whenever Mark threw then landed a left uppercut or hook inside. Through the fifth and six rounds Mark's own bombs were doing damage to his own stamina tank as the canny Frenchman got himself behind his own jab and onto his own front-foot. Thompson landed a left uppercut in the fifth but the reply from Harroche, a straight left hand, was clean and true. Thompson was still not using the left hook to straighten-up after his 1-2 and when he did throw the left hook it was as a single, wild shot, and this again left him wide-open to counters. By round six Thompson seemed utterly spent from the exertions of the fight. Harroche looked as cool as gazpacho soup, once again he stunned Thompson with a left hand. At this point there was a real danger that a sustained attack by the Frenchman could spell disaster for Thompson. It was close on the cards thus far and, to his credit once again, Thompson showed his spirit to really dig-in and win the final two rounds. There were scares, Thompson went for broke in round seven and his opponent countered him well at times, but Thompson's work rate, if erratic, culminated in a short right hand that knocked Frank back a little. Not to be outdone Harroche knocked Thompson's head back with a 1-2, even when taking this combo, though, Mark threw a right hand that landed. Harroche may have thought he had the result in the bag as he eased back on his output a little in the final round despite still being the man with the better accuracy and boxing tools, he just chose, as is a Frenchman's wont, to leave them in his bag. Thompson produced more, albeit messy, work to take the round and just about win this one on the cards. Referee Phil Edwards raised the arm of Thompson and Harroche was quick to embrace Mark. It seemed that the Frenchman did not immediately realise he had lost the fight. When he did realise he stormed out the ring shouting Gallic expletives before storming away. Upon realising he was heading for the fire exits he then stormed back, thought about gate crashing the Sky interview, then thought about getting back into the ring, before heading away shouting in protest. For enforcing casual British stereotypes held about the French we salute you. Edwards scored it 77-76 whereas BBN had it 77-75. It was a close call and, despite being a thrilling ride so far, it could be that Thompson needs to step down a little in class before going for a fight with Kevin Anderson or Matthew Hatton. Certainly, on this evidence, Thompson will not show Anderson anything he has not seen before and the British Champion would be too fit and clever for Mark at this point. Thompson now has a 13-1 (7) record. Other Results: Martin Murray, 11st 13½ lb, scored a first round TKO over Phil Callaghan, 12st 4lb. Phil got up from knockdown, a right hand and left hook, with a grotesque and sudden swelling over his right eye. The left hook must, surely, have inadvertently landed with the thumb to cause such sudden and violent swelling. Callaghan tried to carry on but with Murray making every shot an accurate bomb referee Steve Grey had no choice but to call the fight off, due to the swelling, after 1:21 of the round. Duracell-powered Mark Moran, 8st 12lb, out-hustled Gavin Reid, 8st 10lb, over four three-minutes rounds in as exciting a one-sided fight as you will likely see. Moran landed shot after shot from his southpaw stance, including a ridiculous amount of right hands to the body, yet, despite this prodigious work rate falling upon him; Reid gamely kept landing shots of his own. Most neutrals must have been hoping Reid would make the final bell for his busy effort but Moran, showing a desire to go for the kill, went at Reid in the final round and made Reid wilt. Despite this Reid got what he deserved, he heard the final bell and referee Grey gave him a sympathy point in producing a 40-37 round. BBN had it 40-36 but you cannot fault a guy like Reid, who bravely tried to fend off the tide. Moran rises to 7-0-1 (1) whereas Reid falls to 2-1 (1). Last but not least Carl Dilks went through the gears, albeit slowly and deliberately, to stop Lee Nicholson in the final round of a four three-minute round fight. Dilks, 12st 4lb, is a lovely fighter to watch, he rarely puts a foot wrong and there is real thought behind his work. As the bout wore-on he made things very tough for Nicholson, 14st, despite Lee's best efforts to make the fight a messy and bruising one. Dilks put out a series of stiff jabs in rounds 1 and 2 would then pitch over an overhand right. By the third his work was looking very deliberate and correct, which could be seen as predictable at the higher levels. However Dilks brought in a bit of flair into the fight in the third before sending Nicholson over with a right hand in round four. The shot was well timed and came over the guard of Lee. Upon rising Nicholson looked a little wobbly and Dilks finished him with a similar right hand off the jab. After seeing this second knockdown referee Phil Edwards stopped the fight at 2:14 of the round. It had been a well-matched series of fights and a good show fro Frank Maloney, one can only now hope that he matches Jamie Moore in the type of fight that will get Jamie's pulse racing and take the fighters fighter to the next level. After four years of great British title action – the fights with Michael Jones, the war with Matthew Macklin and the drama of the second Facey fight – Moore can move on from the British scene with his head held high. It would be harsh to judge him on the basis of this fight; he had to take on a tough ungainly guy but did so and got the all-important win. The show, and Moore, also brought out the cream of British boxing talent past and present. Hatton, Junior Witter, Michael Gomez, Carl Johanneson, Steven Foster Junior, Matthew Hatton, Ali Nuumbembe and Alex Matvienko were just a few of the current fighters in the venue. Also there was Paul Ingle who seemed to enjoy the Moore-Facey bout in particular. Ringside Interview: Matthew Hatton BBN: What is next for you? MH: "I'm training for a fight in Vegas in December and after that a few names have been mentioned. Mark Thompson has been mentioned and we came to watch him box tonight. "There is Craig Watson and we hope we can make those matches to help me get a crack at Kevin Anderson." BBN: Was an offer made to Anderson recently? MH: "We offered him the fight for November but he said that he needs more time to prepare then signs for a fight with Kevin McIntyre a few days later. I don't think he fancies it. He was offered a fight and he would have got a better payday. It is a bit of a puzzler to me and shows he does not relish the fight to be honest. "There is no reason the fight shouldn't have happened and I've just got to get myself into a position where I'm the mandatory." BBN: Were you pleased with the win in Dublin last week? MH: "Yeah. I was pleased with the performance and it was a good night. It was a good boxing display and the perfect work out before Vegas." BBN: What did you think of Mark's fight tonight? MH: "Aw, it was another fantastic fight. He's had great fights the last couple of times I've seen him box and it was a really crowd pleasing fight. But if I did fight him it would be a fight I'd be very confident going into."

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