Barnes/Hare undercard marred by violence by Dan McGovern Nov 13th 2004

Only half an hour before the main contest was to get underway, events at the Halifax sports center were thrown into disarray by some ugly, wholly unnecessary scenes, as rival supporters from Yorkshire and Lancashire clashed. A fight kicked off in the stands and soon, between twenty and thirty drunken idiots were hurling chairs, and poorly coordinated punches at each other. It was a sickening sight for fans of the sport and as blood flowed from various head wounds it appeared that the show may have been in jeopardy. As the sizable security contingent attempted to regain control moments of calm were interspersed by isolated incidents of violence, caused largely by a hard core of four or five trouble makers. Eventually a group of approximately ten males were ejected from the arena and order was restored but it is incidents such as this which make a case for all alcohol being banned from boxing shows. It was reminiscent of the unfortunate scenes which saw the Koncrete Promotions show at the Magna Centre in Rotherham called off last year. The fools who initiated and partook in these events are not boxing fans and they let down not only themselves but the boxers they were there to ‘support'. This was not the only problem faced by an otherwise quality promotion, as the show got off to a delayed start, due to the late arrival of paramedics at the venue. After an irritating wait of over an hour the action finally got underway with the British Light Middleweight title eliminator between Mancunian Thomas McDonagh (24-0-2 5KOs) Leeds' Darren Rhodes (16-7-3 7KOs). Both men had brought plenty of support to the venue and were noisily backed throughout. McDonagh, 10st 13lbs, took on the role of counter puncher from the off, whilst Rhodes stalked with a high guard and looked to land with his straight right hand. McDonagh, who is completely relaxed and at ease between the ropes, moved expertly, whilst draping his lead hand and shooting out occasional jabs. Rhodes opened the second round quickly, attempting to disrupt his foe's rhythm early on. The scene was set as McDonagh circled and looked to draw leads which he could counter punch off. McDonagh even turned south paw for periods of this round, as he made making Rhodes miss look easy. By the third McDonagh was trying to time the on rushing, some what bullish Rhodes with right hand leads. There was a lot of clinching and wrestling but a double jab right hand did succeed in troubling Rhodes and McDonagh opened up with a flurry, looking for the early finish. The fourth was a better session for the Leeds' man, but he was still having trouble getting to grips with the slippery Manchester based fighter. Brian Hughes' influence on McDonagh was obvious throughout the contest, as the youngster looked to his corner throughout the rounds, looking for the advice and reassurance that would help him over come the problems Rhodes was posing. Rhodes forced the pace for the most part of this fight, whilst McDonagh was over reliant upon movement and was a little lazy when it came to keeping his punch output high enough. Having said that the Mancunian was winning with ability and boxing skills, but his lack of dig is going to hurt him badly as he moves into championship contention. At no point could McDonagh dissuade Rhodes from his stalking attacks. McDonagh utilizes a versatile, loose jab which he can vary with good effect but his combination punching and body attack was conspicuously absent through out the majority of this contest. In the seventh Rhodes landed a three punch combination, which stirred McDonagh into responding with a quality left-right of his own. Rhodes began dropping his hands and winging shots from both hands. Rhodes' attacks were determined but predictable and he could not overly trouble the Lancastrian at any point. Rhodes' continual forward motion and aggressive mindset made the fight and may even have led to him shading a few of the closer rounds. McDonagh banged in a sharp straight right to open the ninth, but Rhodes just soaked it up and kept on coming. McDonagh finally began fighting hard, throwing body shots for the first time. Rhodes dropped his hands and invited the younger man to stand still and have a fight. McDonagh's better variety and movement was too much for Rhodes to deal with, however. The final round was fought at a good pace and once again saw McDonagh unleashing his underused body attack. McDonagh got on the front foot and was caught more often by the Yorkshire man but it was not enough to make up the short fall of the previous rounds. McDonagh's hand was raised upon the contest's conclusion and he was well worth his 97pts – 94 pts win. Next into the ring was former ABA finalist and heavy handed Leicestershire prospect, Martin ‘The Immaculate' Conception. As an undefeated, well schooled banger, it was a strange decision by match maker Dean Powell to put him in with debutant Andrew Butlin. Butlin, who looked in shape, was determined not to be intimidated, however, and immediately took the fight to the Leicester man. It was to little avail though, as he was decked heavily by a straight right to the back of the head. Upon rising the Leicester puncher felled his inexperienced foe once again with a straight right. Butlin was nothing if not brave and cleanly caught an over eager Conception as he tried to finish the job. It was too little to stem the tide, however, and he was soon spread-eagled by a follow up right hand shot. Despite rising at nine, referee Mickey Vann wisely called a halt to this cynical mismatch. Matthew Hatton's rematch with Barnsley's Rob Burton was set for the Central Light Middleweight title and whilst it was an absorbing enough battle, it taught us little new about either man or their respective abilities in domestic terms. Burton began as he intended to go on, by boring in with his head low swinging fairly quick shots from both hands. Hatton was the classier of the two but couldn't put a dent in the solid Barnsley boxer. Mickey Vann had his work cut out with this pairing, as heads came together and wrestling and clinching was a constant feature. Burton was cut above the left eye from as early as the second round but the injury never really became a factor in this arduous encounter. Hatton's best work was to the body, with numerous right hooks slamming into Burton's side. Burton displayed good fitness levels as he was able to soak up all that came his way without any significant impact on his overall work rate. The fighter's tested each other's strength continuously with strength sapping clinches and inside work, but Hatton's inability to turn Burton and make room for his own inside punching meant that he was never fully able to subdue the wily Yorkshire man. Hatton landed the cleaner punches but they came as single punches and were rarely landed in combination, Burton was looking to over turn the decision he conceded in their last meeting but never looked likely to turn the fight his way. By the seventh round Burton was blowing slightly from his continued efforts and was caught by a classy one-two. Hatton unloaded when he had Burton on the ropes but Burton pushed him off and absorbed the drilling punches coming his way. Hatton's own work rate dropped slightly in the eighth and Burton took advantage with surprisingly quick hands. Hatton dropped in a well timed right uppercut on the bobbing Burton in the ninth stanza and managed to fluster his foe with a good right hand, but he failed to follow up on his best work. The rivals leant on and tested each others stamina in the final session, with Hatton landing a clean right cross. Hatton got up on his toes and showed good fitness late, on as he bounced around and threw well practiced combinations. Burton fell in whilst attempting an over arm right hand and ‘Magic' Mathew nailed him with a right cross of his own. It closed out a clear win from the younger brother of ‘The Hitman', as he was awarded a 97 – 93 pts verdict on referee Mickey Vann's card. Matthew Hall, 11st 21/2lbs, followed the title tilt with a devastating display of power punching, as he erased the challenge of old war horse Ojay Abrahams with a single left hook. Hall, decked out in black trunks, threw a left hook reminiscent of his hero Tyson, at his best. Abrahams was trapped on the ropes and didn't see the shot coming. He sagged heavily into the ropes and the fight was called off without a count. It was a sudden finish but Ojay rose from the canvas unaided after a few worrying minutes. Hall is powerfully built and demonstrated that when he connects cleanly, he can take out just about anyone at this level. It was a memorable victory for the Middleton hopeful. Dave Coldwell's cruiserweight prospect got a run out in the penultimate bout and proved to have far too much for the huge Brian Gascoigne. In the brief time the contest lasted, Francis moved well and utilized his long punches, catching an advancing Gascoigne with a sweet left hook. Not long afterwards a single hard punch sent the Kirby In Ashfield man staggering sideways and the referee wisely saved the outclassed trier any further punishment at the 1 minute 37 second mark. Francis is athletic for such a big man and from this brief showing would appear to be going places. He will be tested a lot more thoroughly in future fights and only then will we get a clear picture of how far he can go. The night was rounded out with the successful debut of chunky light middle Tyrone McInerney, of Huddersfield. He faced Walsall hard man Darren Gethin and was pushed all the way in this evenly fought four rounder. McInerney is a capable southpaw who wings punches with bad intentions. He held his hands a little low and got more involved then was perhaps necessary with his hard faced foe. McInerney had the greater success with his faster hands, but when they traded, it was on fairly even terms. Gethin finished the fight with a bloody nose and was out maneuvered in the main but certainly contributed his part in these lively four threes. Referee Chris Kelly scored the contest 40 – 37pts.

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