Boxing back in Brum by Dan McGovern Jul 9th 2004

After an extended sabbatical, boxing made a return to Birmingham last night, and the city's fight fans were out in force for its return. The Dave Bradley promoted show was scheduled for six fights, but the proposed debut of David Payne of Northampton had to be postponed after he weighed in too heavy for his match with Karl Taylor. Nevertheless, the revised five fight card represented good value to the paying public and the show went off without a hitch. Fight fans based in the Second City will no doubt hope that this will be the beginning of regular shows in the area, showcasing local talent, as is the case with promotions in so many other major cities. The show got underway with a battle of debutants, with Dai Davies (9st 0.5 lb) of Merthyr facing off against Shrewsbury's Neil Marston in a six-twos contest. Davies, who looked huge for the weight, got off to a positive start, rocking Marston early with a right hand to the head. Marston was a looking to box off the back foot and was a little up right and static, which led to him getting caught once more later in the round, this time by a short left hook. In the second round Davies stalked his opponent with hands high and looked the more composed of the two, with Marston offering little more then a range finding jab. His hesitance allowed Davies to land successive straight right leads, to both head and body. Marston was waiting too long to initiate exchanges and despite bringing a sizeable contingent of sixty supporters from Shrewsbury, he was letting the fight slip away. Marston (8st 13.5lbs) had the look of a man not long removed from the vest, with his over reliance on the jab and lack of in-fighting, whereas Davies was the more rounded professional, with a good range of punches and decent head movement. By the fifth, Marston was doing more but was still being caught by long right hand punches as he retreated in straight lines. Marston certainly proved his durability and grit in this contest, as he was tagged repeatedly by his Welsh foe, but never lost interest in the fray. The final round saw Marston drive himself forward, in an effort to get a foothold in the fight, but his infrequently used straight left was falling short and Davies was content to move and box his way to a commendable debut victory. Referee Shaun Messer scored the contest 60pts – 54 pts. Birmingham's Joe Mitchell (10st 8lbs) had his first fight in his hometown and got off to an excellent start, nearly KO'ing his opponent Darren Gethin in the opening round. Mitchell connected with a hard right hand half way through the round and debutant Gethin froze momentarily, before the follow up punch sent him firmly to the canvas. Mitchell's home supporters erupted into premature celebrations but they had not reckoned on the toughness and fighting spirit of Walsall's Gethin, who came storming back in a wild opener. The second round was better for Gethin, a notorious slow starter. The Walsall man pressed the action, whilst Mitchell looked to sit back a little and counterpunch. Mitchell got home once again with his straight right, but Gethin, rather ominously, took it better this time. By the third Gethin was winging shots from both hands as he used his strength to surge forward. Gethin forced Mitchell into a neutral corner and looked to unload but Mitchell is a well schooled boxer and soaked up the pressure. The first half of the contest was fought at a high pace, and by the fourth both men were tiring visibly. Mitchell was jabbing more but his work lacked the sharpness of earlier rounds. Gethin is a front foot boxer who throws plenty of leather but he wasn't comfortable on the retreat and this is where Birmingham's Mitchell had most of his success. Walsall's Gethin has a good engine and had the better of the closing rounds, as Mitchell faded slightly. Gethin ducked low to avoid possible counters and through plenty of long looping shots. Mitchell's best work was to the body as Gethin kept his hands tight around his chin, hoping to avoid a repeat of the first round. Gethin closed the fight out swarming forward, ignoring what was coming his way in a crowd-pleasing contest. Star Class referee John Keane scored the contest 57pts a piece, which was about right, but a return match would be most welcome. Terry Adams faced off against old foe Geraint Harvey (both 10st 11lbs) in the third fight of the night, a rematch from a previous Dave Bradley show in April. Harvey was off to a quick start when he met Adams mid-ring with a flurry of punches, in an attempt to gain control early. It didn't work. Adams is reminiscent of a rampaging bull and whilst he stood off and used good footwork in the first, he did neglect his jab, favouring instead heavy right hands and left hooks. The second saw Adams jabbing more as he looked to make an opening for his destructive hooks. Harvey, despite significant advantages in both height and reach, neglected his jab and used the ring sparingly. He chose instead to peer out from behind a high held guard and grab hold of Adams whenever he got too close. Adams opened the third stanza with a hard right cross. He loaded up on all his punches, but was vulnerable to counter shots, and indeed was caught by a hard wide right hook from Harvey, which steadied the local fighter momentarily. Harvey's tight guard saw him catch the majority of Adams' punches on his gloves and he tied his man up well on the inside. Adams' was guilty of waiting too long in the fourth round. Harvey was unwilling to lead off, for fear of being countered by his opponent. Adams was winning the rounds but was missing with the majority of his punches as he looked for the knockout, something he was unable to achieve in their first meeting. Adams stormed out for the last round, perhaps realising that time was running out for him to score a stoppage. He was looking to punch through Harvey's defence all night and finally broke through with a right hand-left hook combination that sickened Harvey and took his legs away. Adams smelled blood and went after his prey, landing a couple more cuffing blows as the referee jumped in and Harvey slid to the deck. The well-timed stoppage came at 1 minute and 15 seconds of the final round and the local man was understandably elated to have finished his opponent early at the second time of asking. A former good class amateur, Jonjo Finnegan from Burton on Trent had his first paid outing in the penultimate bout of the night. He was matched with Paul Billington of Warrington, who held a sizeable weight advantage, but the gulf in boxing talent was apparent from the first round. Finnegan (12st 7lbs) opened by skirting the ring and popping out a good jab, which he varied to body and head. Billington followed him around and tried to slow him down with meaty hooks to the body with little success. Jonjo (12st 7lbs) used his movement well against a bigger, slower foe but appeared slightly lacking in physical strength and could never really plant his feet and look for a stoppage victory. Billington was more than willing to trade blows whenever Finnegan elected to stay in one spot. Billington had the most success with countering right hands over Finnegan's jab but was unable to catch the Burton debutant with more then one or two punches at a time before his elusive foe slid out of harms way. The six round run out was a solid start to Finnegan's professional career and referee Shaun Messer tabbed the bout 59pts to 56pts. The main event of the evening was an 8 x 2 minute round contest between Birmingham's own Steve Brumant (11st) and Stourport's tough-as-old-boots ‘Gypsy' Ernie Smith (10st 11lbs). This was a welcome hometown debut for popular Brumant, so often forced to fight out of the ‘opponent corner' in his career thus far. Brumant opened the contest with a good right hand lead to Smith's jaw. He has a relaxed style which features good head movement, but as early as the first round, Smith was grabbing hold, hitting and mauling. It was to become a feature of the contest. Brumant, cornered by manager Trevor Smith and Dave Lovell, elected to stand between rounds and came out for the second looking purposeful. Smith tended to wait for his opponent to attack before retaliating with a body shot or two, usually accompanied by some holding and use of the shoulder. You don't get 75 career fights without learning a trick or two, and Ernie had plenty of them. By the third Brumant's attacks of three or four punch vollies were being fragmented by Ernie's hit and hold tactics, which meant the contest did not flow as it should. Smith clubbed away with a free hand whenever he could and the Birmingham fighter did well to remain composed despite the off-putting tactics of the Stourport based fighter, which included talking during the clinches. Brumant was jabbing well in the fourth round and landed a solid right hand, which Smith took on his stout chin. Smith attempted a hopeful and wild right uppercut from too far out, but it was a rare moment on the front foot from the journeyman pro. He followed this up with a series of sharp jabs, all of which Brumant slipped and rolled under, a rare glimpse of what the local man is capable of against a more willing opponent. Brumant faked and jab and crashed home a lead left hook to start the fifth round. Smith was knocked off balance by the shot but glanced to the referee to indicate that he was not unduly hurt by it. Brumant was forced to charge forward with flurries of punches against the rapidly back peddling Smith. In the sixth Smith began to clown in the clinches, and show out but the crowd had come to see him box, not mug. A hard left hook from the Brummie caught Smith early in the penultimate round but despite the incessant holding and frustrating tactics of the visitor, the bout was fought in a good natured manner. Brumant rolled under a jab and hooked well to body and head. When allowed the room to work, his work was of good quality. In the final session Ernie demonstrated his strength in the clinch by turning his opponent, despite being the lighter man, but as far as the boxing contest was concerned, there was only one winner. John Keane scored every round for the local man, as did I, returning a card of 80pts – 72 pts.

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