Nuumbembe pushes Barnes all the way. by Ben Carey Apr 23rd 2005

A new star announced his arrival on the domestic welterweight scene at the Barnsley Metrodome last night. Ali Nuumbembe, a Namibian now residing in a public house in Glossop, battled current British welterweight champion David Barnes to a thrilling draw after 12 seesaw rounds of action for the vacant WBO intercontinental welterweight title. Judges Micky Vann (116-114 Barnes), Dave Parris (Nuumbembe 115-114) and Roy Francis (115-115) were unable to split them. And neither was I. A rousing final round where he appeared to have Nuumbembe on rubbery legs towards the close was enough to earn Barnes a draw on my card. Surely, they will have to do it again. Nuumbembe, trained by the highly respected Bob Shannon in Manchester, was expected to give Barnes a run for his money, but no one on press row believed he was good enough to win. “He'll be tough for the first three rounds but Barnes will stop him in about six,” said Pontypool prospect Tony Doherty, Barnes' stablemate, as he mingled with his supporters in the crowd after earlier recording his 14th straight win. “Barnes will do him in four or five. These two know each other really well. They sparred together the other week and apparently Ali didn't want to know after three rounds,” remarked one freelancer. Expecting a nip-and-tuck skirmish beforehand, I was left somewhat deflated by the considered opinion of “those in the know”. Purely in terms of a spectacle I'm glad they were proved wrong. Nuumbembe, roared on by a fanatical following, actually seemed like the “home” fighter. He began brightly, drilling a circumspect Barnes with straight rights down the pipe to edge the first couple of rounds. Gradually, David warmed to the task and an excellent counter right hook made Nuumbembe briefly wobble in the fourth. Ali refused to release his early stranglehold on the fight though, answering straight back with a stinging right as the contest began to boil up nicely. Barnes seemed to have the power and the speed to trouble Nuumbembe but seemed uncomfortable forcing the action on the front foot, instead preferring to counter. His pawing jab merely left him open for Ali's right who continued to box with an air of confidence as we approached the halfway stage. The British champion, whilst struggling to impose himself, did seem to be gradually taking over as Nuumbembe was guilty of being right hand happy. The crispness of Ali's earlier work had deserted him and he almost went over the top of Barnes when lunging and missing wildly with a right in the seventh. David looked to capitalise and a cracking left hand, his best punch, shook Nuumbembe to his boots which left the Namibian bleeding from the nose. A follow-up left made Ali's knees dip on the bell and had the round continued one felt that Nuumbembe seemed booked for a visit to the canvas. The eighth belonged to Barnes too and the Manchester fighter was firmly in the ascendancy now, despite an unpleasant swelling that had developed under his left eye. Nuumbembe, possibly still feeling the effects of the previous round, seemed content to simply nullify Barnes' work and was noticeably holding more now. In hindsight, Ali was merely conserving his energy to box at a high tempo down the stretch. After appearing as though he had proceedings under control, Barnes received a nasty surprise in the ninth and tenth. Awakening from his slumber, Nuumbembe went back on the offensive and backed Barnes into a neutral corner with potent right hands. The Manchester man was briefly disorganised, and rather than attempt to claim the centre of the ring, he elected to cover up but was punished to the body as Nuumbembe concentrated his efforts downstairs for the first time. Growing in confidence, Nuumbembe built on his success in the ninth by issuing Barnes with a one-sided pasting in the tenth as a sensational upset suddenly seemed possible. Arms down by his side, Barnes was nailed flush by three straight rights in a row and sported a concerned expression on his face now. Unable to answer back, Nuumbembe marched forward and snapped Barnes' head back with a left hook as trainer Brian Hughes anxiously looked on. But for the eighth round shellacking that Barnes received against Jimmy Vincent when he snatched the vacant British welterweight title, this was the most turbulent round of his career. Nuumbembe was the dominant force now and he did more than enough to bag the eleventh as well, placing him one point up on my scorecard going into the last. Barnes, despite his post-fight assertions to the contrary, knew his unbeaten record lie in the balance and came out all guns blazing in the 12th. Boxing with more authority, Barnes finally let his hands go instead of remaining in second gear. An uppercut followed by a left landed and Nuumbembe looked in a spot of bother. Now feeling the effects of his late rounds surge, Ali elected to get on his bike. Barnes desperately tried to find the punches to force a knockdown, and for my money he came perilously close, but the weary Nuumbembe made it to the final bell. Though much will be made of the fact that Nuumbembe took this contest on five days notice, it's worth pointing out that Barnes was a late replacement too for the postponed main event between Michael Jennings and Gavin Down. It was a curious performance from Barnes. He appeared to possess the artillery to get Nuumbembe out of there but either felt it was only a matter of time or lacked confidence in his own gas tank to really ram home his advantage. But credit, of course, must go to Nuumbembe for an outstanding performance. A return would make for a fantastic spectacle. Rhodes shines on ring return Ryan Rhodes returned from a year-long lay off to deliver an encouraging performance at the Barnsley Metrodome on Friday night. Rhodes, in his first fight with new trainer David Coldwell since leaving long-time mentor Brendan Ingle, looked more like his old self as he easily outpointed Halesowen's Peter Jackson over six rounds, 60-54. Rhodes had previously beaten Jackson by the same margin in December 2003. However, the Sheffield star had to withstand a scare in the opening seconds, but not from his opponent. After stepping back to avoid an attack, Rhodes tripped over the foot of referee Howard Foster and landed awkwardly on his right ankle. For a brief moment it appeared that Rhodes' first bout in South Yorkshire in four years was to end in disaster. But desperate not to disappoint his large army of supporters, Rhodes rose gingerly and signalled he was fit to box. To the amazement of everyone back in the changing rooms afterwards, Rhodes' ankle had literally ballooned due to the heavy swelling. Upon resumption, Rhodes delivered a breathtaking opening burst leaving Jackson with a badly cut right eye. The plucky visitor gamely battled on peering through a sea of blood as Rhodes continued to connect from all angles. Jackson is one tough cookie and never stopped trying. When Rhodes paused for breath the Midlands man determinedly banged away to the body and even seemed to briefly stun the local favourite with a right hand midway through the third. For the main though it was one-way traffic but Jackson's corner did well to stop his cut from bleeding. A left hook, delivered with speed and precision, had Jackson reeling in the fourth but somehow he managed to remain upright until the final bell despite Rhodes' best efforts. After a lazy fifth, Ryan closed the show with a spectacular volley of blows in the final round, to head and body with Jackson boxing through a fog. Somehow, “Jacko” remained on his feet and afforded Rhodes a rueful smile. “Jackson is such a tough kid, I hurt my hands on his head. My ankle stiffened up and it was hurting me for a couple of rounds,” said Rhodes who finished the fight in the wars. “But I feel great and I'm going places again. My speed and footwork is back and so is my spark,” he added. (I spoke with Peter Jackson this morning and he has decided to retire due to work commitments, he's broken hearted about it, but work has to come first. He added “I have achieved far more than I ever imagined and mixed it with some good fighters.” BBN wish Jacko every success in the future, and hope we still see him around the circuit. – KT) Ibbo blasts The Tease Earlier in the evening, Sheffield's John Ibbotson needed only 47 seconds to destroy Rotherham's Daniel Teesdale in a battle of unbeaten prospects at light-heavyweight. With the win Ibbotson made it three out of three since turning pro in December. Teesdale, supporting tinted blonde streaks in his flowing hair and wearing Union Jack shorts, certainly looked the part (if that floats your boat). However, the former amateur star hadn't fought for a year amid rumours that he preferred to work out on the dance floor instead of at the gym. Ibbotson jumped on Teesdale from the off as the pair engaged in a wildly entertaining toe-to-toe slug fest. Attempting to meet fire with fire, Teesdale was hopelessly outgunned. Rocked by a right hand-left hook, a spectacular follow-up left pitched Teesdale, head first, onto the mat. Danny did well to beat the count but was still on queer street upon the resumption. Reigning in blows with both hands, Ibbotson's blows ripped through Teesdale's gloves leaving referee Chris Kelly with no alternative but to wave things off. With MC Michael Pass taking an age to announce the official verdict, Teesdale was so far “gone” that he presumed referee Kelly had separated the boxers due to them reaching the end of the round. Bouncing up on his toes, and motioning to throw his jab Teesdale was ready to go for what he presumed was round two. “What? Are you sure? No, are you sure?” asked a confused Teesdale as his cornerman tried to explain that it was over. Finally, MC Pass put him out of his misery. A series of spectacular displays has led to many proclaiming Tony Doherty as one of the finest prospects in Britain. However, the Pontypool welterweight struggled to justify the hype last night, meandering to a dreary eight-round points win over the unpronounceable Belaid Yahiaoui from France, 79-73. “I was fucking shit tonight. I kept falling short with my punches,” said Doherty rather harshly afterwards. True, he delivered a below par performance, but the Welshman still made it 14 out 14 and will have benefited from this experience. It was a curiously subdued performance, though. Yahioui, but for enjoying height and reach advantages essentially did nothing. Doherty remained hesitant throughout however, reluctant to lead but unable to draw a feint from the Frenchman to make the first move. If they were any highlights, I can't remember them. Cruiserweight John Anthony made a winning debut, squeaking by Lancaster trier Gary Thompson 39-38 in this four-three's show closer. Howard Foster scored from ringside as trialist referee Kevin Durandt handled the action between the ropes. Thompson felt hard done by afterwards, and in truth this one was very much open to interpretation. Anthony has power, but is very raw, and at 30 it remains to be seen if his faults can be ironed out. He was guilty of loading up and lunging with looping overhand rights but Thompson, unphased, easily evaded them and countered effectively. A right hand stunned Anthony in the second but with sheer brute force he rallied to arguably shade rounds 3 and 4, on workrate alone. Light-middleweight John Boy Marshall recorded one of the best wins of his career by forcing former two-time Central Area champion Rob Burton to retire on his stool after four one-sided rounds. Marshall seized command from the off, peppering Burton repeatedly with one-twos thrown from the southpaw stance. Burton, looking fleshy, sporadically unleashed a burst of blows with his back against the ropes but the shorter Marshall wisely covered up before resuming his attacks. After a particularly painful fourth, where Glossop's Marshall hammered Burton for the entire duration, the Barnsley man returned to his stool with his head bowed. Burton's heart doesn't seem in Boxing anymore, but Marshall must take the plaudits for persuading him. In the show opener, the well-supported Rod Anderton made somewhat hard work of decisioning Birmingham trailhorse Michael Pinnock on his professional debut. He was hampered by a nasty gash above his left eye that occurred due to careless use of the head from Pinnock in the third, but Rod was guilty of crowding his work throughout. Anderton finished strongly though and rocked Pinnock in the last, deservedly running out a 60-55 winner in this six-twos light-heavyweight contest.

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