Murphy scores upset on Mountbatten Centre undercard by Emerson De-Verne-Ghent Jun 15th 2008

The first fight of the night was a Bantamweight encounter between Jason Booth (29-5) from Nottingham and Dai Davies (5-8-1) from Wales over six rounds. In the first couple of rounds Jason was using his jab well, forcing the issue over the Welshman and mixing it up with good combinations to the body and head. In the second round Jason landed with a vicious body shot that stunned Dai a little, but the Welshman managed to regain his composure. However, Booth appeared to get the most joy from backing up his opponent against the ropes, firing off solid right hooks to the head. In the fourth Dai managed to counter Jason well, which may have been compounded by Jason leaving his hands a little low, and he possibly nicked this one. However in the last two rounds Booth came back strong, once again reverting to pressing the issue and forcing Dai back to the ropes. The referee scored the contest 58-57 to Jason Booth, which I thought was a little flattering to Davies, especially as his face was showing signs of marking at the end and Jason was the aggressor through most of the bout. The second fight of the evening saw unbeaten Cardiff Lightweight Gary Buckland (14-0) face Hove resident Ben Murphy (4-1) over six rounds. Ben Murphy looked in supreme shape for this contest and immediately began closing the space on the taller Welshman, using Gary's height to his disadvantage by working the body well and throwing the occasional hook with venom. Gary, on the other hand, relied on a useful looking uppercut to try and force Ben back and give himself some breathing room. Ben got wise to this and started using his own uppercuts on the inside, throwing in the odd body shot for good measure. In round 3 Murphy landed a body shot that was inch perfect and seemed to wind Buckland, but he managed to regain his composure after a few seconds and box on. The fourth round saw a great period of give and take between the two Lightweights before Ben landed two huge hooks that appeared to startle Buckland, but all credit to him as he kept throwing back leather. In the fifth round Ben threw a great right hook that created a cut under Gary's left eye so the Welshman began to use his jab more to keep him at bay and controlled the sixth with this approach. In the end the the referee scored the contest 58-57 Murphy, which was a well deserved win from the determined Lightweight from Hove. The third fight of the night saw Sam Webb (10-1) from Chislehurst face Paul Dyer (18-8) from Portsmouth at light middleweight over six rounds in a cracker. In the early rounds Sam set a fast pace that the Portsmouth native struggled to keep up with, using a straight right to keep Paul on the backfoot and then unleashing with flurries when he was backed up against the ropes. This tactic came to fruition when Sam floored Paul with a right at 53 seconds of round two, however he managed to get up and answer the 8 count. Sam pressed on, looking for the finish, but full credit to Paul as he managed to rally back to stave off the attack with his back against the ropes although on two occasions he required the ropes to keep his balance. In the third Dyer appeared to be awoken by the rattling he took in the previous round and managed to startle Webb with good combination before Sam upset the flow of the round with a great right hand that floored Paul in the corner with a minute left and he took the standing eight count. In the next two rounds Sam managed to gain control again, almost flooring his opponent in the fourth with a very good left and shaking him twice in the fifth with sharp right hands with Dyer against the ropes. In the sixth round Sam's stamina lowered as the control swung back to Paul and on several occasions he was able to back the favourite against the ropes with a series of lefts and rights and came very close to at least flooring the Chislehurst fighter. The referee scored the fight 59-55 Dyer although the home fighter showed tremendous heart to come back from the knockdowns to control the last round and never really looked out of the fight. The next fight was the best of the night; Southampton (had to get that in!) born Henry Castle (17-4) fought unbeaten Lee Cook from Morden over eight rounds at Lightweight. Henry came out from the bell as the aggressor. throwing straight left and right hands to Cook's head and body. Then 1:27 into the round Cook was caught off balance with a solid jab from Castle, but rose to answer the count of eight. Lee soon regained his composure and the fighters went back at it, with Henry moving his head very well to keep him guessing. Towards the end of the round Henry hit Lee with a hard overhand left that forced him back against the ropes, causing his nose to bleed quite badly. In the second round both fighters upped the pace, trading shots with each other in the centre of the ring although it felt like Henry was getting the better of the action and managed to crash home a great right hand that almost floored Lee again, but he managed to stay on his feet. His nose was looking the worse for wear now, though. However a horrible clash of heads (the crack could be heard at ringside) at the end of the round caused damage to Henry's nose and this fight was suddenly getting interesting. In the third Cook began to work on Castle's nose by throwing straight lefts and it was now streaming blood, which must have been hampering his breathing. The slower pace suited Lee more and he was able to unleash a great right hand flush on Castle's nose towards the end of the round. Castle managed to regain his movement in the fourth and found his jab, which unsettled Cook and his nose now began to bleed again. The fight was now in the balance. With less than thirty seconds remaining in the round Henry fired a double left hand that caught the Morden fighter unawares and down he went again. Gingerly he rose to his feet, looking at his corner for assistance, at the count of eight and managed to hold on for the bell. In the fifth Cook tried to continue where he left off, holding on to Castle to allow his senses to return, but he kept getting hit with the left hand which was now giving Henry more and more joy. On two occasions Lee was almost floored with Henry's most potent weapon before a combination sent Cook back to the floor with eighteen seconds remaining. Then it got surreal. Cook's corner threw in the towel, which the referee promptly ignored, and he was given the eight count which Lee answered. The referee, who was obviously caught in a time warp at the time, then promptly returned in his Delorean and stopped the fight. An odd ending to a truly great fight and both fighters received a standing ovation from the fans who appreciated the slog that both men had been through. In the fifth fight of the night previous British Heavyweight title contender Micky Steeds (11-2) fought Radcliffe Green (5-20) at Cruiserweight over six rounds (although it was originally announced to be over eight rounds). From the early rounds Micky dominated, using his right and a nice jab he appeared composed and relaxed and mixing up head and body attacks. His opponent appeared reluctant to fire back until a late flurry in the second sent Micky back to the ropes. The pace lowered in the third and fourth and Green looked more happy with this and let fly with a good body attack, although when he returned to his corner something didn't seem right. Green's left hand was shaking, or it seemed to be, but he answered the bell for the fifth round and then early in the round Radcliffe's corner pulled him out with a damaged shoulder. In the seventh fight of the night Heywood's Mark Thompson (15-1) fought Artur Jashkul (3-14) from Latvia, who was a replacement for Gilbert Eastman, at light middleweight over six rounds. Artur appeared a little sheepish, and small for the weight, when entering the ring and it showed in his performance. Thompson started fast and the Latvian tried to stay with him, but found it hard. Although Thompson was caught on two occasions on the chin after throwing some wild hooks to the body, this was an easy fight for him. A superb hook to the body, that Richard Hatton himself would be proud of, forced the stoppage at 2:53 of the first round when Artur was counted out. In the penultimate fight of the night Chas Symonds (12-1) of Croydon fought Paul Morby (5-1) of Portsmouth in an ugly fight at Light Welterweight. During referees instructions there were mind games between the two, culminating in a stare down, which then escalated into the fight. In the early rounds Symonds chased Morby around the ring trying to land wild overhand rights and lefts on the much taller Portsmouth fighter. Surprisingly Morby wasn't using his superior reach to keep Chas at bay and instead decided to hold. In the middle rounds Chas continued to chase Morby, trying to get him against the ropes to make his power count but Paul seemed wise to this and started to pick him off when possible and hold. In the later rounds it got worse as Chas tried to close the space Morby reverted to throwing him around the ring and was warned on several occasions by the referee for holding, as was Chas for the use of the head. The referee told both fighters to stop playing silly buggers and the action improved for the last round although Symonds managed to make a wanker sign during the final round, presumably at Morby. That was about as good as it got. The referee scored the contest 58-57 to Symonds. In the final fight of the evening the Isle of Wight's Jay Morris (9-7) fought Jason Rushton (17-5) from Doncaster at Welterweight. Jay was the aggressor in the early rounds, landing some good body shots on Jason but he was getting caught going in to apply further pressure. This was caused by Morris coming straight down the pipe at Rushton instead of slipping and moving in for the kill when unleashing the body attack. That said, he seemed the more active but it was close. In the third round Rushton took control with some great body shots of his own and followed them up with the odd hook for good measure. In the fourth round Rushton upped the pace, whilst Morris wilted a little, until Jason was caught with a low blow which caused a halt to the proceedings. After a minute or so he managed to catch his breath. If anything the low blow seemed to help Rushton more than Morris and in the final two rounds the pace lowered further allowing him to throw more accurate, conserved, punches. The referee scored the fight 59-57 to Rushton but this was a tough fight to score. All in all this was one of the best Southern boxing cards in recent memory. A thrilling main event accompanied with two very good fights on the undercard made this a night to remember. Thanks Mr Maloney. Come back soon. Photos: Chris Royle

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

Mountbatten Centre Jun 16th 2008, 01:34:30 by charles Congratulations to Sam Webb, one of our great hopes - superb boxer. Great night of boxing - would like to have been there.   buckland Jun 15th 2008, 11:23:27 by gizzie i think your review on the buckland murphy fight is a bit harsh i had would have said gary took 4 of the six rounds and he never had a cut under his left eye murphy did look in great shape but looking good dont win you fights