Farnell Upset By Portuguese Man-O-War on Hatton undercard by Dan McGovern Jun 14th 2004

The undercard got under way in front of a near empty stadium, with Paul Smith bombing his way to an early victory. Liverpool's Smith, an amateur standout and Commonwealth Games representative, was in with the naturally bigger Steve Timms (12st 3lbs), of West Bromwich. The bout started with both men exchanging jabs. Timms was keeping his hands high, in marked contrast to his low handed, switch-hitting display at Dudley Town Hall last week. Smith (12st 2lbs) circled whilst Timms feinted, neither were over eager to engage the other. Smith landed a solid left hook to the head and Timms raged back at him. As Timms came forward he was caught on top of the head by a straight left thrown by Smith from the orthodox stance. Timms collapsed awkwardly, trapping his right leg underneath his body and the contest was waved off immediately. The spartan crowd was slow to respond to the sudden ending and only truly realised that fight was over when a dazed Timms was led back to his corner. Timms had competed evenly for the short time the contest lasted and was close to reaching the end of the first round when the contest was stopped, at the 2.57 mark. Nottingham's Matt Scriven (10st 9lbs) took on Central Area Welterweight Champion 'Magic' Matthew Hatton in the second contest of the evening. Scriven, a promoter as well as active boxer, got off to a good start in the first with left hooks to head and body. Hatton responded with good jabs, followed by right hands and solid left hooks. Hatton landed a right cross on the break and looked to unload in close but it was an even round. The second saw both exchange jabs and Scriven began to drape his lead arm. Hatton was targeting the Nottingham man's body with the right hand and landing with frequent success. Hatton punished Scriven to the body in close and was blocking and parrying most of what was coming his way. Hatton closed the round with a good right hand punch, which caught the retreating Midlands Area Champion along the ropes. Scriven looked to come forward in the third to alter the flow of the fight. He landed a left hook to the body but it was a slapping punch. Hatton was jabbing and moving well, as Scriven became more defensive. Hatton was doing most of the effective work and Scriven was now bleeding from the nose. As he returned to his corner, he looked despondent as his best punches were being blocked or had seemingly little effect on a determined Hatton. Sciven winged a right hand to start the forth and turned southpaw briefly. Hatton caught his foe with a solid right hand to the head. Scriven attacked with both hands but Hatton dropped his hands and 'went for a walk'. Hatton was in the groove by this point, utilising an effective cross arms defense and catching Scriven with right crosses. Scriven hands came down as he tired and he ate a hard right hand to the head. Scriven thought of dropping to the canvas momentarily but retreated to the ropes with Hatton in close pursuit, firing punches. Hatton landed three punches to body and head whilst Scriven had his back turned in a neutral corner before referee Keith Garner stepped in for a well timed stoppage at 2.49 of round 4. Andy Morris (9st 4lbs 4oz) continued his professional progression with a solid 59pts to 56pts victory over Sri Lanka's Jus Wallie. Commonwealth Bronze medalist Morris boxed his way to victory against his solidly built southpaw foe. Morris opened by moving in and out of range to score with single punches. Wallie, as is his style, flashed out hard, fast lead hooks and straight left shots. The first was close and both ex-amateur representatives demonstrated good skills. Morris, after sampling Wallie's strength in the first, boxed more elusively in the second, evading Wallie's sweeping counters with good head movement. Morris used his feet well and Wallie missed with all five punches of his biggest burst in the round. Morris closed the round with a cultured right uppercut lead. By the third Wallie was reduced to looking for the home run punch as Morris continued to score and get out of range. Wallie was now ducking low and attempting uppercuts, he was certainly still dangerous and the weight of his punches commanded respect. Wallie attacked hard with a jab-cross-hook combination but Morris maintained the distance throughout the forth round. Morris landed a good left hook to the head but Jus just soaked it up. Morris was now concentrating solely on his boxing, putting little into his shots, save the occasional hard left hook to the body. Morris did set himself a little more in the fifth, to gain respect from his opponent. Andy landed a hard right hand after missing with a lead left uppercut. Wallie continued to stalk aggressively but was landing few of his blows. The final round saw a clash of heads, which Morris complained about. Wallie landed a left hook lead but Morris met his charge with two lead right hands. Wallie now had his hands at his sides but was still unable to land on his ever moving, bobbing and weaving antagonist. Morris closed out a good win by touching up the fast tiring Wallie with his quick jabs and can be pleased with the neat manner in which he navigated his way through the six rounds. Gary 'The Rocket' Lockett (11st 9lbs 4oz) warmed up for his proposed fight with Birmingham's Wayne Elcock by pounding on another Midlander, in the shape of Burton's tough southpaw Matt Galer. Lockett started well with hands held high whilst he banged out a heavy jab. Galer was looking to hold in the early stages and the referee brought them together asked them to tidy things up. Lockett, with hands high, targeted the body. Lockett punched on the break, for which referee Howard Foster warned him, whilst Galer seemed only comfortable punching whilst on the inside. Lockett's hard jab was followed by a left hook, which dislodged Galer's mouthpiece early in the second round. Galer regrouped and worked Lockett back to the ropes, leaned on whilst throwing punches. Lockett let his hands go but was largely missing with his headshots. Galer was getting into the fight and had a better round, landing a few decent punches of his own. Both leant on in close. Galer led off with a jab in the third and both men exchanged heavy but slow blows. Galer soaked up a hard left hook to the head but returned fire with his own southpaw straight left. There was a lot of mutual holding in this round and Lockett was a little predictable with his punch selection. Lockett once more caught his opponent with a hard left hook in the forth, which made Galer hold. Galer's mouthpiece came out for a second time. It was either ill fitting, or the hardman from Burton was playing for time. Upon resumption Lockett let some of his heavy artillery fly and caught Galer with a straight right followed by a left hook and right hand combination. This was enough to convince the third man to step in, with the still erect Galer on the ropes. The stoppage looked a little early at the 2.01 mark of the round, but Galer's corner offered only mild protest. Birmingham's Matt Macklin, fighting out of the Billy Graham stable in Manchester, made a return to action after impressively halting the ill-fated Scott Dixon last time out. There was trouble matching the promising ex-ABA champion, as first Bobby Banghar, then Jason Collins turned down the assignment. Up stepped ever-willing Ojay Abrahams who agreed to a match over the four rounds distance. Macklin, who shares a house with WBU Super Featherweight kingpin Michael Gomez, looked focused and fit before the first bell, decked out in green and white shorts, reflecting his Irish heritage. Macklin came out with hands high, looking to box his way into position. Abrahams, in black shorts with yellow and red trim, came out with a low-slung left hand, looking to utilise his vast experience. Macklin landed a one-two combination early, which got Abrahams' attention. Macklin utilised his long jab well in the early exchanges and appeared to shake Ojay with a double left hook, thrown to body and head. A follow up left hook very nearly dropped Abrahams and a short contest looked in the offing. Macklin caught Ojay late in the round with a right cross, with Ojay on the ropes. Macklin was too big and strong for Abrahams and demonstrated this by pushing Ojay into the ropes early in the second round. Macklin began stalking his prey, measuring Abrahams for his big shots. Macklin landed a left hook to the head, but Abrahams responded in kind. Ojay spent alot of time on the ropes looking to counter. He landed one decent counter left hook, but Macklin opened up with a two handed attack in response. The third round saw Macklin landing punches in clusters of twos and threes. Ojay had to take some clubbing headshots and did well to absorb them. Ojay, so often a dangerous proposition for young prospects, was well handled by the Brummie and was given few opportunities to cause problems. Macklin set and maintained a good pace throughout the brisk four rounds that the contest lasted. Macklin jabbed an advancing Abrahams off in the forth, avoiding Ojay's sweeping counters. A hard left hook steadied Ojay and he resorted to looking out of the ring in an effort to distract the advancing Midlander, to no effect. As the contest came to a close both boxers acknowledged each other's efforts in this good-natured sprint. The referee scored the bout 40pts - 36 pts in Macklin's favour. In a hastily arranged chief support contest, 'Failsworth Warrior' Anthony Farnell put his WBU World Middleweight title on the line against Portugal's Eugenio Montero (11st 4lbs) It was probably looked upon as a safe assignment because despite Montero's upset win over Takaloo in January, he had lost his subsequent contest on points in Spain, only last month. It was a gamble that was unfortunately not to pay off for the Manchester man. Thomas McDonagh holds a now impressive looking points decision over the Manchester-based Portuguese, but styles make fights and here Farnell struggled throughout to impose himself. Farnell was business like and straight to work in the first round, whilst his challenger looked to hold in close. Farnell caught Montero with a left uppercut, followed by a left hook whilst the visitor looked to utilise the ring. Farnell was hooking hard to the body in the second in an effort to slow his challenger. Farnell looked to double up on his jabs but was guilty of attacking in straight lines. Montero holds his hands out in front of himself in an unusual style and plants his feet wide for one who relies on movement so much, but he is hard to time with an off tempo punching rhythm. Montero had his first real success in the third round with a left uppercut, which momentarily stunned the Mancunian. Montero is a difficult opponent who often hold and hits, frustratingly for Farnell. Farnell scored with a left hook as he fought out of a clinch. Montero landed a long right hand to the head on the bell. It was a messy contest up to this point but Montero has demonstrated that he is dangerous. Farnell managed to slip a Montero jab and land his right hand in the fourth round, in between flurries from the Portuguese fighter. Anthony also found room for his right hand lead in this round as Montero stood off and tried to draw leads from the champion. Montero was fighting with his hands down in the fifth, landing lead left hooks and giving Farnell problems. Montero was jabbing well, where as Farnell was neglecting his own. Anthony's best successes came with the right hand lead but was his aggression sufficient to win the rounds? Farnell continued his forward momentum into the sixth round but there were frequent clinches. Farnell kept working when in close and tried to punch whilst Montero was clinching, showing good intent. Farnell landed his right uppercut in close but he had to absorb a one-two combination from the import and covered. A good left hook from Farnell got Montero's attention and a follow up straight right sprung Montero into action. Eugenio missed with the majority of his unorthodox combination, but scored with the final three punches, despite Farnell's high guard. Montero opens the seventh round by circling the ring's edge. Farnell caught him with a right cross which made the challenger stumble, but the champion is forced to cover on the ropes as Montero leans on. The challenger leaned away from Farnell's attacks in this round. Despite wearing a support bandage below his right knee, Montero retreated without hindrance. In the eight Farnell landed a right hand to the head but had to absorb an uppercut in return. Farnell stalks his foe, but it is Montero who springs into action when he sees the openings. Montero connected with a hard one-two and a right uppercut visibly stunned the champion. A three-punch combination from Montero landed on Farnell and he looked in trouble. Farnell was stationery at this point, looking to absorb what was coming his way. Farnell's trainer Oliver Harrison worked feverously in the corner, aided by Dean Powell, in an attempt to revive their charge. The ninth saw the brave Farnell caught with multiple uppercuts. Farnell was no longer throwing enough punches to win the rounds. Farnell finally came to life towards the end of the round and launched a right cross-left hook combination, however, both punches fell sort of their target. The tenth round was to be Farnell's last as champion. Montero opened by moving around the ring, forcing Farnell into pursuit. Farnell was no longer cutting off the ring effectively and when caught by a Montero right hand, he was felled by the follow up shots. Despite rising at the count of five, referee Dave Parris wisely stopped the all too brave Farnell from absorbing any more punishment. Farnell was taken to hospital following the grueling bout for observation but was later released. One could not help feeling for this brave fighter, who gave his all after stepping in at short notice for this title defence. The penultimate bout of the night feature Matthew Hall (11st 4lbs 8oz) of Middleton against transplanted Spaniard Isidro Gonzalez, fighting out of Brixton. Middleton, decked out in solid black trunks, boxed in the style of Tyson, with plenty of aggression and an attacking style. They wasted little time in getting down to business with winless Gonzalez throwing plenty of leather. Hall plied forward with hooks to the body and a left hook to the head. Gonzalez was sent onto the back foot but was still punching consistently. Hall just missed with a big left uppercut on the bell. The second round commenced with a clash mid-ring and a hard jab from Hall dropped Gonzalez (11st 5lbs). Hall's over enthusiasm saw him follow up with punches on his downed opponent. Hall could smell blood and loaded up with his right hand. There was a vicious exchange on the ropes that saw Gonzalez throwing plenty of leather back, but landing with few shots. Both boxers were warned at the start of round three to tidy up their over enthusiastic work, after which Hall scored with a hard right hook to the body. Hall was now swinging for the fences in an effort to attain a crowd pleasing KO. Gonzalez attacked with a combination culminating with a left hook, which Hall countered neatly with a devastating overhand right hand. Gonzalez dropped heavily and whilst he made it to his feet, Referee Keith Garner was convinced to terminate the bout at 1 minute 19 seconds of the third round.

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