Brum boxing back with a bang! by Dan McGovern Apr 10th 2005

It was a triumphant homecoming for Wayne Elcock last night at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre. The former WBU middleweight titleholder was making his professional bow in his home city and a good sized crowd made for an electric atmosphere. Elcock, who has been out since last June, was matched against Leeds' tough Darren Rhodes and all in attendance anticipated a hard, elongated battle. Elcock had different ideas. Rhodes, having his first outing as a full blown middleweight, looked ready upon entering the ring, decked out in solid blue trunks. He appeared fit and ignored the smattering of boos and jeers that greeted him. Elcock, was cheered lustily on his ring walk by his sizeable fan base. Elcock was a picture of concentration as he made his way to the ring bare-chested, ready for battle in blue and white trunks, a homage to his beloved Birmingham City FC. At the opening bell both men advanced with high guards and tentative jabs. Rhodes was the first to shoot a right cross which fell short. There was to be little feeling out and with less then sixty seconds gone Elcock badly wobbled his northern rival with an ultra sharp right cross. Rhodes' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards to the deck, where he received the eight count from referee Paul Thomas. Elcock was in no mood to hang about and upon resumption he backed Rhodes to the strands, where he unleashed a hellacious two-fisted combination, to both head and body. Rhodes, a real warrior, rolled and blocked what he could and absorbed what he couldn't, until Paul Thomas broke them and reset the fight to centre ring. With the distance re-established between them, Elcock once again found a home for his fast and accurate right cross and the Leeds man went down as though shot. The arena erupted with wild celebration as Paul Thomas went through the formality of completing the count over the vanquished Yorkshire man. Rhodes (11st 6lbs) was soon back to his feet and sat in his corner with a look of shock on his face, unable to quite fathom what had transpired in the preceding 1minute and 45 seconds. Elcock (11st 4 ˝ lbs) had produced the goods in stunning fashion in front of his home town fans and smiled broadly as he was congratulated by his corner men. It will undoubtedly be a relief for the man once dubbed ‘The new Randolph Turpin' after a difficult and frustrating couple of years. In a classy gesture Elcock commandeered the ring microphone after the official result had been announced and thanked his fans, stating: “I would like to thank you all for coming out to support me tonight. Let's bring boxing back to Brum and I'll bring some titles home for you.” His explosive, crowd pleasing performance will undoubtedly lead to further bills being staged in Birmingham and if Elcock can continue to turn in this level of performance, they will make for compulsive viewing. In the chief support Burton's stylish Jonjo Finnegan (12st) was unable to do much with Peter Dunn, despite significant physical advantages. Pontefract's Dunn was happy to crouch in an exaggerated fashion for the first two rounds, creating an almost comical height disparity between the fighters. Finnegan, for all his amateur pedigree (he is a former ABA quarter finalist), was unable to create openings for himself and instead was over reliant on power packed jabs and quick one-twos early on. By the fourth round Finnegan was dropping his left a little and old pro Dunn soon took advantage with a few looping right hands. Dunn certainly started to attack more as the fight wore on but Finnegan always maintained control by dictating both the pace and the range the bout was fought at. Finnegan, now fighting at super-middleweight after a really hard fought draw with London's Nick Okoth at light -heavy, is going to be held back by his lack of punch. He couldn't discourage or subdue Dunn, who talented welterweight Tony Doherty had dismissed inside two rounds last year, although to be fair to Dunn he nearly always hears the final bell. Finnegan sold over a hundred tickets to his Burton based fans and certainly has the skills and height, if not the punch, to garner plenty more victories. One fighter who certainly doesn't lack in the power department is ‘Brummie Bulldog' Terry Adams. Here he faced a competitive centurion in Welshman Keith Jones. Adams, who was desperate for a win following an early KO loss at the hands of Michael Lomax, boxed with a degree of reserve and displayed the boxing skills that brought him to a schoolboy title as an amateur. Southpaw Jones (10st 12lbs) maintained a disciplined defensive shell throughout the first two rounds as Adams used his jab and fast right cross to dictate proceedings. By the third Jones knew enough about the man in front of him to open up with hooking attacks, predominantly to the head. Adams had to eat a stiff right uppercut, which reminded him that he couldn't attack with impunity. Adams (10st 12lbs) placed several sharp straight rights to Jones' soft body in the fourth but he was concentrating on maintaining a high punch output in this contest, as opposed to attempting to decapitate his opponent, as has been the case in the past. Adams, well supported in the hall, cut loose a little in the final stanza and winged some of the type of punches that have helped make his reputation as an exciting fighter. Jones was trapped on the ropes for much of the final round and whilst the crowd whooped loudly as Adams looked to close the show, the majority of his heavy punches were taken on the gloves and forearms of his experienced foe. Adams was well worth the 60-54pts verdict but will undoubtedly have learned from this outing. Birmingham's Anthony Maynard had a four-threes sprint with Sheffield-based late replacement, Tony Montana. Montana came in for his gym mate Daniel Thorpe and proved a far more testing proposition, due in part to the natural ability that he rarely fully utilises. The contrast in styles was apparent immediately, as Maynard advanced with an orthodox guard on his lithe and laid back foe. Montana (10st 2lbs) slid to the right and cracked with a lead right hook early in the first but it was a rare success. Maynard responded with a left hook on the ropes at the end of the first, a shot that drew applause from the partisan crowd. Maynard (10st) looked to draw leads with fake jabs and shoulder feints in the second but Montana was unwilling to engage on anything but his own terms. The round was punctuated with more missing than clean work and whenever trapped Montana would reel around like an electrified eel. The bemused expression on the local man's face told the story of the fight. In the next session Montana received his third warning in as many rounds from the referee for yet another minor infraction. There was little time for Montana to score with clean shots in between holding, pushing down and generally messing Maynard about. Montana did always pose a threat with his unorthodox sweeping hooks but they were all too rare to win rounds outright. The fourth round saw both working hard in an attempt to close out the win. Maynard pressed the action, as he had done throughout, whilst the Sheffield switch-hitter threw the more flamboyant, eye-catching punches. Maynard was given the nod by a 39-38pts margin in an instantly forgettable meeting. Both are better fighters then they showed here and the Small Heath fighter is hoping to stay busy now and get another fight in June or July. The show opener ended in disappointment for local ticket seller Gary Coombes as he came up short against Carmathen's Gavin Tait in their six-twos. Tait, who is a better fighter then his record would suggest, had the best of the opening round as he outworked the Birmingham man. Coombes (10st) utilised his boxing skills in the second round, avoiding getting drawn into the kind of crowd-pleasing war that have punctuated his short career. It was a better round for him but he appeared sluggish and his worked lacked its usual sharpness. The third saw both men trade freely along the ropes but it was the longer armed Tait (9st 11lbs) who was having the most success. Coombes' head was too static in the main and he was forced to take a hard right hand flush. Tait stayed busy in the fourth round and landed an excellent left hook to the body that forced the local man back onto the strands. Tait wasted little time in piling on the punches and referee Paul Thomas was well placed to make an intervention at the 1minute 34-second mark of the fourth round.

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