Finnegan delights Burton fans by British Boxing Mar 26th 2006

P.J. Rowson may be relatively new to promoting boxing events but last night he put on a show at Burton that had something for everyone. In fact, if I didn't know better, I might have thought the whole evening had been scripted. Act 1. Scene 1. Dewsbury welterweight Tye Williams enters in the blue corner to face Derby's Scott Conway over four twos. The local fans are baying for blood unaware that, despite his record, Williams is no pushover. Clearly buoyed by the local support Conway starts confidently but soon finds that Williams is not just there to make up the numbers. Both Conway and Williams worked well behind their respective jabs and each put together a number of effective combinations. Williams in particular found a degree of success with his right hook and drew blood in the second round. In a closely contested bout the fortunes of each boxer ebbed and flowed and the draw seemed a fair result. Act 1. Scene 2. Enter local boy number two; 2002 Commonwealth Gold Medallist, the Derby billed Haider Ali. Opponent: the seasoned lightweight Carl Allen. Time to give the fans something different. Ali started as he meant to go on; on the back foot. Nimble and difficult for Allen to tag, Ali retreated looking for the opportunity to strike with single shots (almost exclusively right hooks). Undeterred by his initial lack of success Allen continued to press forward throwing combinations most of which missed in the first round. The second round continued as the first but Allen was beginning catch Ali, already Ali's corner were imploring him to up his work-rate. The third and forth rounds continued in the same vein. Ali clearly has power in some of his shots and hits his target often enough, he just didn't throw enough of them. I would have given the verdict to Allen on work-rate alone but the referee awarded the draw. Act 2. Scene 1. Time to introduce the new boy. Enter Derby's debutant light-heavyweight, Duane Reid, his opponent, the slightly more experienced Paul David. Both boxers looked trim and up for it and honours were even at the end of the second round as each of them threw good combinations and found their targets often with powerful shots. Round three started in exactly the same fashion until Reid walked on to a devastating left from David that left him rocking and made his knees buckle. Reid stayed on his feet however but this wasn't enough to convince the referee that he could continue. On another day or with a different referee Reid may have been given the opportunity to recover but he will bounce back and he will trouble future opponents. Act 2. Scene 2. With only one blemish (a loss to Tony Montana) on his otherwise flawless record Derby boy Scott Haywood came in as a clear favourite to beat Billy Smith. Billy, who is no respecter of reputations, had other ideas. Round one saw Billy on the offensive and he appeared to catch Conway off guard to edge the round. In the second round Haywood upped his efforts and honours were about even. Rounds three and four saw Haywood step on the gas and he began to string some good combinations together, Smith, however, continued to work away and didn't let Haywood have it all his own way. By round 5 both boxers were visibly tiring and Smith spent some time against the ropes. Round six was more of the same; Smith maintained his efforts but Haywood's class was now becoming more evident. Haywood got the nod by two rounds and Smith was clearly disappointed. Haywood will go on to bigger and better things but needs to guard against taking things to easily at the start. The gallant Billy Smith made a real contest of it and deserves some good fortune. Act 3. Scene 1. The comedy slot: When Hungarian Istvan Kecskes entered the ring I did wonder, for a moment, if the boxing authorities had introduced a ‘Flubberweight' division without telling anyone. Kecskes obviously doesn't go hungry and by the look of him he has more of an appetite for goulash pies than he does for boxing. Not only was he clearly out of condition but also his expression was a vacant one. In contrast, Simpkin looked in good shape and looked determined. Battle commenced and Simpkin threw left and rights with venom but Kecskes resisted. Kecskes also connected with his jab to some effect but made ‘Serena Williamsesque' sounds with each one. Round two saw Kecskes bear hug Simpkin and lift him off the ground until they both fell to the canvas in a clinch that reminded one of an encounter between Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. Just before the bell Simpkin scored with a wonderful left right combination as he attempted to dispose of the buffoon alas, Kecskes weathered the storm. Round three saw Simpkin continue to try to find a way of disposing of the Hungarian while he in turn connected with the occasional jab. By the fourth round Kecskes had given up any pretensions of being a boxer and appeared to decide that he would demonstrate his potential as a prop forward (just in case anyone from the Leeds Rhinos was watching, I presume) and proceeded to push Simpkin from one side of the ring to the other; unfortunately, the exertions must have been to much for him since he then collapsed at the feet of the side-stepping Simpkin. Simpkin then went on to dominate the remainder of the round and unsurprisingly he was awarded the bout 40-36. Luke Simpkin won't have leaned anything from this contest but at least the Hungarian did give him a good workout; six rounds might have been long enough for Kecskes to tire sufficiently for Simpkin to finish him off. Act 3. Scene 2. The Finale We all like to ‘save the best till last' but all too often boxing events fail to deliver; this however, was not such an occasion. Burton's very own Jonjo Finnegan stepped into the spotlight to face Nottingham Super-Middleweight Dave Pearson. This is exactly what the fans had been waiting for and neither boxer disappointed. Both fighters were out of the blocks quickly and rounds 1, 2 and 3 saw both men try to pierce the other's defence with jabs and both did get through but Finnegan was consistently more accurate to begin with. Round four saw more of the same but by this time each of them were beginning to get their combinations going. Just before the bell Finnegan seemed to pull a cracking left hook out of nowhere that was sufficient to remind Pearson whom he was up against. Despite his superiority early on Finnegan appeared to take a breather during rounds 5 and 6 and Pearson was now in the ascendancy. Sensing this Pearson stepped his efforts and began to outscore the local man. It was a false dawn for Pearson however and by the 7th Finnegan was edging it again; the same was the case in the 8th. Every round was closely contested and the referee congratulated both men on an excellent bout before awarding the decision to Finnegan by 78 – 76. Many other promoters could take a lesson from P.J. Rowson and Errol Johnson who, without a title bout, put on an outstanding evening of boxing, which thrilled the crowd. Each bout was evenly matched and with the exception of the Hungarian, who did provide alternative entertainment value, all of the boxers involved deserve praise for the part they played. Photos by Karl Stubbs www.karlstubbs.com

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