Sparta conquers in the Bull Ring by Tom Walker Aug 14th 2008

Sparta Boxing Club's owner and promoter Steve Williams put on a part amateur and part professional show in the Plaza de Toros in Benidorm on Tuesday night which captured the imagination of a large crowd of locals and expatriates on a sultry evening with an undisputed and genuine World champion Joe Calzaghe in attendance, a British champion in Paul Appleby and Chris Sanigar also ringside. Joe spent most of his time signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans to the extent that his wrist would have writers cramp such was the demands on his time by locals and Brits alike. I'll resist any references to Ernest Hemingway since our esteemed editor Ian, isn't really a fan of the all American author. However, it is hard not to remind us that he (Hemingway) was a firm supporter of the noble art and the proceedings in bullfighting. Having got that inevitable comparison out of the way, it was a venue which was in many ways perfect for boxing, the ring in the centre with tiered seating and a cool breeze to help the boxers as the show got under way at 10.30pm after the heat of the midday sun which touched on 38 deg centigrade. The only amateur aspect of the show was the opener which featured a young boxer Siete in against a Frenchman Jermo Cessac over 4 x 2min rounds. The younger man started quickly and brightly using his heavy handed hooks to the elder mans midrift, so much so that after the 3rd standing count against Cessac in round 2 the referee had no alternative but to call it off, much to the delight of Siete's corner and the youngster himself. Next up was Ryan "Scrap Iron" Moorhead a Liverpudlian. the scouser worked very tidyily behind his jab in his bout against Jorge Fortera of Valencia, and controlled the bout with scoring shots almost at will. This was slightly demoralising for the Valencian who's attempts at countering were annoying rather than hurting Moorhead. It also frustrated the local boxer to the extent he used his head literally and received a point deduction in round 3. Fortera did show more in the final two rounds as Moorhead (who'd been up the previous evening with the "squirts" at both ends) tired. The Liverpudlian though had done enough to get a justifiable decision, much to the pleasure of even hard bitten Mancunians with their natural antipathy to all things Liverpool. Heavyweight Robert Lyndon an expatriate Welshman who boxes out of Daya club was matched against a Portugese boxer (?) Avalindo Vira. The Portugese heavyweight was only dangerous to Lyndon in the sense that he was totally unpredictable especially in the face of Lyndon's straightforward boxing skills. I had the sense that Vira was durable in that he took some heavy shots from the Welshman, but offered nothing back in terms of skill. Rather he produced some windmill threshing bombs which had they connected could have done some damage, fortunately for the home boxer he avoided them for the most part and cruised to a points victory over the hapless Vira who seemed to enjoy the experience of being stuck on the end of Lyndon's leather. It is also worth noting that the referee for this bout was eccentric to say the least, and I fancy sat his refereeing exam on another planet, it certainly wasn't AIBA in standard! Local idol "Kiko" Martinez is a ticket seller in these parts and as a former EBU champion has a reputation to protect. Far be it from me to suggest he is a "one trick pony", but I fancy his day in the sun has come and gone with the unexpected victory over Bernard Dunne. If he fancies another shot at Rendall Munroe, then on his own head be it. Certainly last night he won with a T.K.O in round 1, but to put it into context, his Bulgarian opponent Iordan Vasilev went down clutching his ear after an innocuous hook to the head, and when the ringside doctor was called up to examine him he called it off, I suspect to the relief of both Vasilev and to a lesser extent Martinez himself. The local fans were beside themselves, but those less biased would have been disappointed at not seeing how Martinez would fare against what should have been a stiffer test than it turned out to be. "El Tigre" Roberto Santos is another fans favourite in Benidorm/Alicante, this time with some reason. He's matched with a Colombian William Ruiz who looks much older and a wee bit on the podgy side. This "podginess" is his undoing as El Tigre cuts out the preliminaries and gets to work on the body of Ruiz, decking him in the early stages of the opener. Ruiz did fall awkwardly on his right wrist and looked to be in some pain with it, rather than the shot which put him down. The ringside doctor again came up to investigate and said okay to continue. Ruiz didn't look too pleased to be given the all clear, but he needn't have worried as Santos went after him like a terrier and put him away with some gusto. This time the referee called it off on another T.K.O. It turned out later that he had indeed broken his arm. Two local boxers were matched for a regional "title", a sort of Valencian version of the "Regional" titles we see in the UK. There was no love lost between these guys, Sento Martinez and Armando Candel Martinez has some height advantage over the diminutive Candel, but Candel is determined to cut him down to size and uses his movement and hooks to the body to good effect. Martinez has to resort to holding to keep Candel at bay, yet produces a terrific uppercut to jolt the head of Candel. This sends his corner into raptures, which are a wee bit premature as Candel regains control by the 3rd. This bout has more action than two of the earlier headliners as they both go toe to toe in a veritable "slugfest" with sprays of sweat being sent all over the officials at ringside. It may be abit of a Mickey Mouse belt, but the action is of the right sort. The 4th has a cut over the right eye of Candel, which requires attention, the referee indicating he thought it the result of a deliberate clash of heads from Martinez and after consultation with the ringside judges he disqualifies an incandescent Martinez. Martinez's corner are equally angered and the whole thing degenerates into a slanging match with the losers corner petulantly throwing the gloves at the open mouthed official in charge. This action will surely come back to haunt them as this man will be in charge again over more bouts in Martinez's career in this area. Joe Calzaghe went into the ring to present the winners belt with a sense of humour at the mayhem which was the actions of the losing team. The show closed with the irrepressible Leva Kirakosyan matched in with a replacement for the Angolan who was pencilled to be his oppponent. The blond haired Eastern European showed no trepidation nor too much respect for his Armenian former European Champion, Kirakosyan. He took the bout to him only to be met with some thunderous shots which impressed messrs Calzaghe and Appleby in their intensity. He obviously has a chin made of stone as he was caught with two hooks to it which would have felled heavier opponents, though they only wobbled him. His corner though, had seen enough and threw in the towel to his disgust as he'd have been willing to take some more! This act was in truth probably for his better well being as they (the hooks) were very hurtful to those of us ringside. Kirakosyan himself looked surprised, but he needn't have been as the shots would have stopped most opponenets. The whole evening was a success for the Williams family who were working tirelessly to ensure it's smooth running, in contrast to some of their federation colleagues regionally who seemed content to swan around looking important! The venue, guest appearances, lighting, sound and television coverage all added up to the sense of an event rather than a mere boxing match, and Sparta Gym of Javea who organised it all are to be congratulated on its success. The crowd disappearing into the early morning with the temperature still in the high twenties at 1.30am in the morning to continue the celebrations.

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