Barnes retains in convincing style by Mathew Tyrer Jul 5th 2008

David Barnes retained his British Light-Welterweight title after a convincing points win over Motherwell's Barry Morrison. Mancunian. Barnes met the tough Scotsman at the wrong end of the East-Lancs road when he stepped through the ropes on Friday night at Everton Park Sports Centre in Liverpool. Both men entered the fight confident that they would be walking away with the famous belt but after the opening three rounds it was clear that Barnes (now 24-1-1) was going to be too much for the game Scotsmen whose raw gutsy performance was only equalled by his travelling army of fans. One suspects that Morrison (who slips to 16-3-0) and his corner knew it was going to be a long night as he attempted to close down Barnes who done some serious damage on the back foot catching Morrison as he chased the fight. Barnes began the fight as expected, his weight back with that slick American style that many British boxers try to emulate; only here Barnes looked convincing and had great success on the outside catching Morrison. Morrison came out for the second not looking to give too much away and kept his hands up high but Barnes began letting his shots go and his southpaw left cross in particular was landing with extreme precision. By the time the third round came Morrison had the look of a man who knew he was behind and didn't have much of chance of out pointing the superior stylist, however his game plan changed slightly and he began to land some telling shots. Morrison began to cut the ring off rather than chase after Barnes and was unloading some clean body shots when he had him in the corner, although he just couldn't keep the Manchester man pinned down long enough to do any real damage. In the fourth Barnes suffered a cut above his right which Morrison failed to capitalise on as his jab was perfectly placed to open up the southpaws wound. A scrappy fifth round saw Morrison nearly end up on the card girls lap as Barnes turned him with ease, one suspects that Morrison would have much preferred to spend the rest of the evening there as Barnes continued to frustrate him. As the second half of the fight continued the experience of Barnes was clear to see. Morrison, looking for that big shot which is debateable whether he actually posses, left himself exposed as Barnes covered his cut up well and stung Morrison with quick clinical punching that must have seemed to be raining in on every angle. In the eighth round Barnes landed a sweet right hook that seemed to stun Morrison for a second and with the crowd on its feet Barnes homed in on finishing the task, however Morrison had other ideas and landed a right cross that snapped back Barnes head and sent him to the ropes. Morrison took the fight to Barnes and sunk in a three shot combo, Barnes managed to turn and move but looked all the more slower for taking unnecessary punishment. As the ninth round rolled around and the solitary card girl seemed to tiring as much as the Motherwell pretender I scribbled in my notes ‘does either man have the firepower?' it was quite obvious that no one was going get stopped all the best shots had been thrown and both men looked spent. Which raises the question about where will Barnes go next? Sure he looked comfortable in the closing rounds as he moved and landed the shots when he had to keep Morrison away but he never hurt Morrison or had him in any real trouble. Interviewed after the fight he claimed he needs to be scared to take his game up, the only fear is if does make that step he could be in for the fright of his life. Brixton's Ted Bami did a number on Stuart Elwell from Darlaston in the chief support bout to the main event. Although up until the point when the referee stepped in at 2-42 of the seventh round Bami (moving up to 24-3-0) had endured a torrid time at the hands of Elwell (now standing at 11-3-0). From the first bell Elwell set the pace against Bami who looked sluggish at best. In a similar way to when he tried and failed to challenge David Barnes for the British title Bami struggled to deal with the southpaw right jab which never seemed to miss every time Elwell sent it out. Elwell continued to be by far the busier man and I had him ahead in all four opening rounds as he looked to be cruising, despite all of this though Bami never looked concerned he must of knew something no-one else did and in the seventh he showed Elwell what is was. Elwell looked to have run out of steam far too early and when Bami got his chance to pin him on the ropes he let go two crunching right hooks to the body the second of which sent Elwell down only to manage to haul himself up on eight. At that moment the writing was on the wall and Bami had no hesitation in overwhelming his man forcing the referee to step in at 2-42 of the seventh. Prize-fighter runner up David Dolan got his career at Cruiserweight off to a flyer when he disposed of Brazilian Elvecio Sobral in four rounds Dolan ( 11-1-0) controlled the entire fight and won every round with ease before big right sent Sobral (8-2-0) to the canvas at 0-33 of the fourth round. Rising star Scott Quigg learnt a few lessons in his short but thrilling encounter with Italian Angelo Villani (4-3-0) who was somewhat of wild card and hands down won the worst shorts of the night competition (they looked like something Rocky Balboa wore in the mid eighties, very revealing and tight, quite horrendous). Villani also fancied himself as something of an Italian stallion, despite being bullied around the ring by the dominant Quigg both men let left hooks go simultaneously only for Villani's to dump Bury's finest on his pants. An embarrassed Quigg took his mandatory eight count and finished the round well. As the second round began Quigg steamrolled over to Villani who went from Italian stallion to Bambi as he bounced all around the ring trying to evade Quigg's efficient punching. Quigg ( now 8-0-0) eventually caught up with his man lifting him up with a big left hook to the body that allowed him to let go a powerful flurry that forced the ref to end the bout at 2-37 of the second. Local Bantamweight John Donnelly (8-1-0) took on Faycal Massaoudene (2-6-0) over six rounds. The final score of 60-55 for Donnelly was more than fair as the scouse prospect continued his ring rehabilitation after suffering at the hands of Gavin Reid two fights ago. Donnelly was his usual industrious self, never in any trouble and landing some nice shots, particularly to the body. Although one may think that if he could bring his jab into his game more he would be giving himself more leverage and the positioning to let the shots go he seems to favour so much. Barnet's Joe Smyth got his paid career of to a good start as he faced the durable Paul Bonson (a staggering 20-99-7). Bonson who like many of his fellow journeymen turned up to survive looked as if he wished he hadn't bothered taking this bout as the youthful Smyth but in a polished performance and finished a deserved 40-36 winner. Liverpool Light-welterweight Steve Williams put in four much needed rounds after he blew away his last opponent after 47 seconds. 42 year old Karl Taylor (16-112-6) hadn't had a win in five years and although his record says he is 42 he doesn't look a day over 60. Credit must go to both men who tired to give the fans their moneys worth. Particularly Williams who could have allowed himself to be dragged down to his level but used it as a chance to get some rounds under his belt, Williams is now 4-0. Rhys Roberts also made it to four straight wins with a resounding victory over Delroy Spencer, the only problem being Roberts has now beaten Spencer (10-69-3) in three of his four fights and surely he must be questioning the actions of his matchmaker.   Photos: Knockout Images

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