Gomez wins and targets McAllister by Craig MacKay Mar 30th 2008

A mainly points-filled undercard saw former WBU champion and popular Mancunian Michael Gomez (9st 11lbs 8oz) outpoint Baz Carey (9st 11) of Coventry. A cagey opening round saw Gomez have the better success to the body when he worked inside but Carey was willing to trade punches and threw the bigger punches doing enough to share the round. Gomez won the next two rounds thanks to his more effective jab and better work to the body on the inside although his punches lacked any great power. Gomez continued to work the angles to the body in the fourth round but demonstrated limited defence when he came forward allowing Carey to tag him with a few big shots. The final two rounds continued in a similar pattern, Gomez the more talented fighter pierced Carey's guard with uppercuts on the inside and hooks around the side to the body. Carey kept Gomez honest throughout however and at no point allowed Gomez to take charge of the fight completely. Referee Paul Graham scored the fight 60-55 to Gomez. Speaking to Gomez after the fight, he admitted he was a bit flat tonight and felt he was going through the motions. He did say he hoped that a fight with Lee McAllister (whom he was originally meant to be fighting tonight) could be arranged soon and that he would be a different fighter for that bout. The show opener pitted Stevie Weir (11st 4) of Paisley against Ernie Smith (11st 4) of Stourport. The tattoo clad southpaw Weir was first to the jab and wasn't afraid to back it up with his strong left hook. Smith didn't do his chances any good by carrying his left hand low which allowed Weir to capitalize with his jab and stop Smith getting in close. Smith began to get in close to Weir and forced him into a number of furious exchanges in close but came off worst himself when he was sent to the canvas in the third, which despite his protests was a clear knockdown. Smith to his credit came back out fighting and would not lie down. Weir did the clever thing in the fourth by using his jab to keep Smith at range and even when Smith did manage to force an exchange, Weir was coming off best whenever he brought his powerful left hook into play. A one sided points victory for Stevie Weir who has every reason to be happy with tonight's performance. “Rocking” Robin Deakin (9st 4) from Crawley faced off against the undefeated Jason Hastie (9st 5) of Edinburgh. Hastie backed up Deakin against the corner early in the first and a big left hook to the body hurt Deakin. Hastie dominated the first with a snappy jab and managed to catch Deakin flush on the chin with a big right which led to Deakin holding on whilst visibly rocked. Hastie continued to look a different class in the second and third with neat work to the body on the inside and throwing big rights which Deakin was walking into. Deakin looked to hold on to survive and was warned for it in the second. A firm talking to by Graham Earl in the corner before the final round seemed to do the trick for Deakin as he increased his workrate and despite not having Hastie in any real trouble won the round thanks to a combination of Hastie appearing to tire and Deakin throwing caution to the wind. When the predicted 39-37 score in Hastie's favour was announced, Deakin was furious and remonstrated with the home support before kicking his gumshield into the crowd in anger. How he possibly could have expected the decision after only boxing for one round is beyond me. Hastie moves on from this neat display to fight on the Arthur-Guzman undercard for his next professional bout. Six two-minute rounds of heavyweight boxing saw David McKenna (17st 7) hailing from Port Glasgow face Lee Mountford of Pudsey who weighed in at 16st 8 but looked far from in shape. McKenna controlled the centre of the ring from the opening bell but was missing with any big shots he attempted. The first round saw not a single punch of any note landed with most of the lacklustre jabs comfortably blocked by both boxers. McKenna continued to throw the quicker punches of the two and was doing just enough to win the rounds from Wakefield who simply walked through McKenna's punches but didn't manage to connect with anything himself. A big right to the body from McKenna was the most notable punch of the fight and knocked the wind out of Wakefield but neither fighter looked like having any KO power. McKenna was given the decision winning every round but looked unimpressive against an opponent who was easy to hit and offered little in the way of attack. The best performance of the night came from undefeated Stephen Russell (9st 5) of Paisley in outpointing Shaun Walton (9st 7) of Telford. Russell appears to be a smooth operator with quick and effective upper body movement. He circled the outside of the ring and his right jab big left one-two kept Walton at bay. Russell looked like a predator stalking his prey with calculated sharp punches with the right hand lead. One such right hook from Russell drops Walton to his knee in the second and he takes the standing eight. Russell finished the second by dropping his hands and holding out his chin, goading Walton into coming forward. Whenever Walton did take the bait Russell landed first and then moved back out of harms way. Russell continued to dominate the final two rounds by boxing exquisitely. His speed ensured he was first to the punch and he presented a moving target that appears nigh on impossible for Walton to hit despite his low guard. If a boxing coach could instil one thing in a young boxer it would be to hit your opponent without being hit yourself and what Russell did tonight was exactly that, a fantastic display from the undefeated prospect. Badru Lusambya (10st 10) of Uganda was dubbed the new king of Scotland by Barry Hughes thanks to his 17-0 with sixteen KO's record. He faced off against little known Gheorghe Danut (10st 10) from Romania in six three-minute rounds. Lusambya is a well built fighter who was looking to throw jabs to set up big bombs to continue his impressive start to his career. Danut wasn't content just to take the appearance money and managed to get in close to Lusambya to throw quick combinations before moving back out of range. One such speedy combo from Danut won him the first round and signalled to Lusambya he had a real fight on his hands. Lusambya threw the more measured and powerful punches in rounds two and three but had no answer to Danut's speed who he must have hoped couldn't keep the pace up for the full six rounds. Lusambya had more success with his punches in the fourth and fifth rounds with his jabs beginning to find a home although he continued to be bemused by the quick combinations of Danut and found himself walking onto several punches. I had the fight level going into the last and Danut's cornerman could clearly sense an upset, getting so overexcited he was sent to sit with the media! The final round saw Lusambya walking Danut down all over the ring and Danut countering successfully to possibly nick the round. Although I had Danut one up I want in the least bit surprised that referee Paul Graham scored the fight a draw, a result neither fighter could complain over. Much was expected of Lusambya but it ended up Danut who walked away with the greater plaudits thanks to his impressive boxing ability. Kris Carslaw (10st 13 and a quarter) of Paisley and David Wakefield of Tooting (10st 12 and a quarter) competed in the most exciting bout of the evening. They say that styles make fights and this was a great fight between two men who did nothing apart from come forward for the four rounds of non stop action. Carslaw was the superior boxer of the two as could be seen by his ability to punch out of awkward situations when he found himself backed up by Wakefield who was trying to press the fight. Carslaw unloaded with body shots and demonstrated his power with a big right hand which stunned Wakefield in the third. Rather than back down or slow the pace, Wakefield did the opposite and throws everything he had right back at Carslaw whom he was giving a real workout. The final round saw Carslaw consistently catching Wakefield with big rights but Wakefield persisted with his all action style which did force Carslaw to cover up a number of times. The final bell was greeted by a huge cheer from the crowd who seemed to enjoy the fight as much as I did. Carslaw's class won through and he took the decision by 40-37 but it was a valiant effort from the entertaining Wakefield. The 2006 Commonwealth Gold medallist Kenny Anderson (12st 3 and a quarter) faced an opponent he had stopped in only two rounds in his second fight, Dean Walker (12st 5lbs 12oz) of Sheffield. The fight proved the mismatch everyone assumed it would be with Anderson jabbing well and throwing his big right hand looking for an early stoppage. Walker looked to do all he could do and survive as long as he could by staying out of range of Anderson's right hand, something he managed to do adequately for the first two rounds. By the third, Anderson's right to the body had slowed Walker and his jabs were finding his face with increasing regularity. A big right hand from Anderson near the end of the round scored a knockdown and only the bell saved Walker from further punishment. The fourth round proved to be the final one with Anderson's body punches hurting Walker whenever he was backed up. Right on the bell a carbon copy of the punch that floored Walker in the third floors him again and although he gets up before the count he doesn't come out for the fifth, retiring in his corner. This fight only served to get Anderson back in the ring and he will be hoping he gets more fights with a better quality of opponents in the near future.

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