Faggots and peas, Dudley Zoo, The Black Country museum, more pubs then you can shake a stick at…The Black Country has long held many hidden gems that have for the most part have remained obscured from the rest of the country's vision. Until last night, one of those was West Bromwich's Light Welterweight Young Muttley, but following his impressive blast out of Chesterfield's Gavin Down, you get the feeling he is a secret no longer.
Muttley and Down contested the main event on the latest Dave Bradley promoted show at Dudley Town Hall and the sold out crowd were treated to an excellent championship contest. Officially they competed for something called the WBF Intercontinental Light Welterweight Title, but seeing as Mutley is the reigning English Champion, that would have been a far more sensible tag line to give this contest. Down, boxing out of Sheffield's Wincobank gym was supported at ringside by stable mate Junior Witter, who took the opportunity to weigh up a potential future foe in the West Midlander.
Down, decked out in Red and Gold shorts and sporting braided hair, was looking to bounce back from his points defeat to Francis Barrett, but he found Muttley, real name Lee Woodley, in fine form. The contest got underway with a tempered exchange of jabs. Down chanced a lead right hand and landed on the advancing Muttley but towards the end of the round the West Bromwich man dropped a useful left hook on the crouching visitor. After the even opener Muttley (10st), looked to take the fight to Down, who was happy to stay outside and use his boxing skills. A left hook caught Down and he was put off balance as a result. The power appeared to reside in the home corner, and Down looked like he knew it.
By the third Muttley was coming forward with hands high, but in straight, predictable lines. Muttley was backing Down (9st 13lbs 6oz) to the ropes and looking to unload once he had him there. A right hand-left hook combination got home from the local man, whilst Down could offer little aside from an infrequent jab. Things were looking bad for the experienced campaigner. The forth was a turning point for Down, it was as though he had solved the puzzle in front of him and began to box with more authority. Down still had to absorb hooks to the body whilst on the ropes, but he did flash out a classy 1-2 combination and followed up with a nice flurry.
The fifth continued the good pattern for Down and his snaking jab began to nail the advancing local. A double left hook from Down signalled his increased confidence, whilst Muttley was thinking too much before punching and looked slightly confused. For the first time in the contest Muttley was unable to land when he had Down backed to the ropes but he did close the round with a hooking combination, thrown to body and head.
Down's assent continued in the sixth as he looked to take control of the contest but his increased output left him vulnerable to attack and Muttley took advantage. A heavy right hand-left hook combination caught Down napping and he was dropped heavily to the seat of his trunks. Muttley was in no mood to let his foe off the hook and unleashed a series of left hooks, culminating in damaging left uppercut, which convinced referee Terry O'Connor to call an end to the bout, at 1 minute 21 seconds of the sixth round, with Down still on his feet.
This victory should boost Muttley's rating domestically and can lead to meaningful fights with the elite of domestic 10 stone fighters. Muttley is huge for the weight, quick and possesses an excellent dig. The talent pool runs deep at Light Welterweight but Young Muttley has undoubtedly made his mark with his latest showing and there is plenty more to come.
The show got underway with a 6x2s match up in the Light Middleweight division, between local lad Mark Wall and Birmingham's Joe Mitchell. Both have had indifferent starts to their professional careers but here was an opportunity to get one in the win column in front of a receptive crowd.
Wall advanced in the early stages, utilising a high guard. His right glove appeared almost glued to his face, whilst Mitchell had a far more relaxed style. Mitchell flashed a good jab early on and slipped most of what was coming back from Wall, it was a good opener for the Birmingham native.
Wall caught Mitchell high on the head with a sweeping hook, in the second, and Mitchell stumbled to the canvas. It was a messy, unconvincing knockdown, but referee Paul Thomas issued a standing 8 count and this prompted Wall into action. Mitchell jabbed his way out of trouble and Wall's offensive burst soon subsided.
The third saw Wall swinging hooks from both hands but the punches were uneducated and not particularly well delivered. Mitchell slipped the majority and worked his jab well. Mitchell, a tidy counter puncher, narrowly missed with a long right uppercut on the bell. Wall was far too stationery in the forth and was allowing Mitchell to box as he pleased. Mitchell opened up with both hands to the body and Wall stumbled to the canvas. Wall was spending so much time covering and blocking his opponent's attacks, he was throwing very little of his own.
The final two sessions belonged to the Brummie fighter, and whilst Wall was blocking a good percentage of his attacks, he was simply not doing enough work to make an indentation on the fight, or so I thought. Mitchell attacked for the majority of the final round and when he offered his arm to the referee at the bell, was shocked to see Wall's arm being raised at the same time.
The crowd booed a poorly scored drawn contest. Paul Thomas marked the bout 57-57pts but aside from the knockdown, what had Wall done to merit a share of the spoils?
An emerging talent from Telford was show cased in the next contest. Tristain Davies is a well-schooled addition to the pro ranks and continued his education against Gavin Tait (9st 13lbs 6oz), from Carmarthen. Davies set out his stall with a style that still owes a great deal to the amateur code. He jabs smartly from the back foot whilst using good in and out movement. Early on Tait was reduced to firing hooks from well outside in an effort to catch his sprightly opponent. A double right hand from Davies pleased his travelling support in the second and it was good to see the youngster looking to work on the inside when the opportunity arose.
The close up mauling gave rise to a cut to Davies left eye in the third but he continued to pound his Welsh nemesis to the body with both fists. Davies has a frail, spindly look to him but was not afraid to mix it up in close, he has obviously been getting some good quality pro sparring which has taught him the importance on working when in close. By the forth the prospect was dropping his hands a little and fired a tidy right uppercut counter which caught his less polished rival. Tait's frustrations were showing when he clocked his protagonist with a very late right hook after the bell and Davies threw up his arms in protest. Davies' cut was worsened in the fifth, which was generally a quieter round. As they both charged forwards heads clash once again and it was easy to see how the cut came about.
The pace slowed in the sixth, with both men concentrating on boxing up close. Davies got back up onto his toes for the last half of the round and boxed his way to a clear cut 60-55 pts verdict from referee Paul Thomas. It was a fair score but didn't reflect the efforts and hard work but forth by the Welsh visitor.
Returning local favourite Andy Flute (12st 7lbs) was next out of the blocks, but he faced a tough match in the shape of Worksop's Simeon Cover, who is better then his poor record (9-20-1) would indicate.
This Light Heavyweight contest was fought over 4x3s and was undoubtedly the most pedestrian of all the bouts on the card tonight. Flute, vastly experienced with names such as Catley, Ottke, Beyer and Reid on his c.v, found it difficult to get his punches off in the early going and was restricted to occasional stabbing jabs to the midriff. Cover appeared to mesmerise the local fighter with his low-slung lead arm, swinging it in a slow, pendulous fashion. Occasionally Cover would throw a low handed flurry at the crouching Flute and he was having the greater success.
It seemed as though Flute's reflexes had rusted up during his time on the sidelines. He took time out from boxing to concentrate on running his pub, but when he returned to the ring, it appeared that he should have stuck to pulling pints.
By the third Cover was well into his groove and was beginning to enjoy the fray. Flute was too tense and tight, whereas Cover was loose limbed and agile. Flute picked up a nasty looking cut to add to his woes in this round. It would take an almighty effort to turn around his misfortunes in the last, but it was not to be. The forth was undoubtedly Flute's best round as he bundled forward and landed a couple of useful 1-2s, at one point he stumbled to the floor in his eagerness to get to Cover. The Ingle fighter posed and switched stance too much in the last but there was only ever one winner. Cover got the nod, 39-37pts on the scorecard of referee Paul Thomas.
The penultimate bout of the night saw the explosive debut of an exciting new force at Middleweight. David Payne (11st 3lbs), from Wellingborough, took on a fellow debutant in Paul McInnis, a former cage fighter from Cannock. This contest was scheduled for 6x2s but never looked like going that far as Payne came rocketing out of his corner, full of nervous energy.
McInnis (11st 1lb), was looking to take stock and feel his way in but Payne refused him the room or time to do so. Payne let go with some scorching punches from either hand and McInnis was forced from one side of the ring to the other. Payne briefly paused to assess the situation before tearing back in and one left hook in particular left McInnis in trouble in his own corner. Payne pounced, and with McInnis throwing nothing back, the referee had no option but to terminate the contest at the 52-second mark.
McInnis left the ring immediately in disgust but he was simply caught cold. Payne celebrated with his band of travelling support and the relief and joy were visible on his face. He is certainly one to keep an eye on.
