Elcock-Bendall - The Biggest Local Derby in Decades by Tom Podmore Nov 30th 2006

Wayne Elcock challenges for his second title in just over three months when he clashes with Coventry's English champion Steve Bendall at the Aston Villa Events Centre in Birmingham on Friday night (December 1st). And Wayne has admitted this is a fight he's wanted for a decade. The scrap promises to be the biggest local derby for decades, and the fact that it's Birmingham vs Coventry (the two main cities in the West Midlands) makes the fight even tastier. Ringside Promotions have christened this: “The Battle of Birmingham.” Another incentive (if there needed to be one) is that the winner of this contest will undoubtedly be the number one middleweight in the Midlands. The 32-year old, from the Tile-Hill area of Coventry, knows that he must win this fight if he is to live out his dream of becoming British champion. “I'm one win away from being back where I want to be. I can't wait to fight and there's no way Elcock will beat me.” A former holder of IBO and WBU intercontinental belts, Bendall has experience of facing and beating quality opposition – Mike Algoet, Lee Blundell, Kreshnick Qato, Donovan Smillie, etc. – but this is arguably his hardest test in his professional career. Elcock, a former World Boxing Union middleweight champion, was below par in his last contest but a severe burn to his hand hampered his preparation. He will be suitably prepared for this contest. One thing is for sure; he won't be eating chips! I make Elcock the favourite entering this title fight. However, Bendall mustn't be counted out – he is a top quality operator. Bendall, who has held this title for almost a year, is ready for Elcock and believes he'll have no problem retaining his belt on Friday. “This is the kind of fight I want, something I can really get my teeth into.” He will be well supported on the night and will look to send his fans, traveling from nearby Coventry, home happy. Bendall can sell tickets and will need all the support he can get as he comes to fight in Elcock's back garden of Birmingham. ‘Mad Dog' also needs to keep on winning if he wants to fight for the British title again. He was disappointed at not getting the chance when Scott Dann made the title vacant – Howard Eastman and Richard Williams get the opportunity. However, he won't be looking past this fight and knows Bendall is a huge threat. ‘Stevie' will be celebrating his 33rd birthday on fight night. Will this be the sweetest present of them all? Or will it be a case of ‘birthday beatings' for Bendall? This is a real make or break fight for both men. The loser will have no where to go and retirement would look the only option. The winner, however, can think about a British title shot early next year. Elcock won an eliminator earlier in the year and is chomping at the bit for his opportunity at the British title. Bendall, who won a Multi-Nations gold for Triumph ABC, thinks he should have had a second shot at the title long ago. Politics played its part, as always, though. A year ago I would have said this contest was boxer vs boxer, but Wayne is being molded into a puncher and now it may be a case of boxer vs box-puncher. That said, Bendall carries more than enough power to end the fight early. It's evenly poised. Both men have common opponents: Scott Dann and Jason Collins. Elcock faired slightly the better against Scott Dann (although both men lost). The Shard End middleweight lasted the distance and conceded a decision after 12 close rounds. Bendall was stopped in six-rounds by the Plymouth puncher. Bendall was made to go the full 12-round distance with Jason Collins when he challenged for the World Boxing Union Intercontinental title in 2001 - although he won clearly. Elcock has taken out the Walsall hardman in one and two-rounds respectively when they fought in 2002. The Birmingham stylist is a quality boxer with a snappy and accurate jab. He regularly spars with former Commonwealth and WBU light heavyweight king Tony Oakey, and this, he believes, makes him stronger than most of the middleweights he faces in the ring. Bendall, a well-schooled southpaw, has also got the skills to pay the proverbial bills. He is equally adept boxing off the back foot or pressing the fight. He is a strong and raises himself for the big fights. He'll need to raise his game if he wants to beat the supremely confident Brummie. The English champion has form, though, and has beaten the likes of: Algoet, Blundell, Smillie, Qato and Ahmet Dottuev. But inconsistency has marred his career and he could count himself fortunate to get the nod over both Algoet and Qato. However, when in full flight he can box with the best. Elcock, an ardent Birmingham City supporter, has beaten some shrewd fighters himself: Anthony Farnell, Lawrence Murphy, Yuri Tsarenko, Farai Musiiwa and Vincent Baldassara were all well beaten by the marauding Birmingham middleweight. He showed in the Farnell and Tsarenko fights he could box and in the Murphy and Baldassara fights showed he could put men to sleep. At 6ft, Bendall will have height over his Midland rival, who is 5ft 9.5in, and will probably want to stamp his authority with the jab immediately. As mentioned earlier, Elcock has a trusty jab of his own. Could it come down to who has the superior jab? Wayne, a fresh 32, loves fighting in Birmingham and his performances suggests that he raises his game when at home. ‘Mad Dog' left Frank Maloney because he wouldn't put a show on in his city. Now with Ken Purchase, who calls himself ‘Mr. Midlands', Elcock's fighting regularly in Birmingham. Bendall won't be intimated fighting in the lion's den. He went down to Plymouth to fight hometown hero Scott Dann and went to Germany to fight Sebastian Sylvester for the European crown. Both men have travelled to opponent's backyards to fight – remember Elcock beat Manchester's Farnell in Manchester for the WBU title. The champion, 25-2 (12), does seem to have a legitimate problem around the whiskers. He has been stopped twice, dropped, and rocked on countless occasions. It seems that Bendall is rocked every fight, which may be down to his careless defence. Steve has got a tendency to drop his hands whilst still in range – it could be disastrous against Elcock who is hitting harder than ever. Another cause for concern for the Coventry man is his paper-thin skin around his eyes. In other words: he cuts… frequently. Elcock does cut, though – Farnell cut him in 2003 and Baldassara cut him in his last fight, although it was from a clash of heads “A Glasgow kiss,” remarked Elcock after the fight. The challenger, 16-2 (7), may have the edge in power and speed (hand and foot). He has stopped three out of his last four (Dann being the only blemish in that period) and will want to make Bendall number four. Classy Bendall is not without a chance. He racked up 21 straight victories before the British title shot against Scott Dann, and those 21 victories were scored primarily in good class. The adage is you lose if you're not good enough against class operators. Plus, as a rule, everyone has a bad time against southpaws! Both men are 12-round fighters and the prospect of doing 10-rounds won't bother them in the slightest. Elcock wasn't at his brilliant best last time out, but was still too good for Scottish middleweight champion Vinnie Baldassara. A crunching body shot knocked the brave Scot out in the sixth; it was a cracking shot and had the full weight of the Brummie's power behind it. Wayne picked up the World Boxing Foundation International title that night, by the way. A title he has subsequently relinquished. Bendall had a warm up fight in October when he took on Wolverhampton puncher Conroy McIntosh. Bendall looked back to his best in pounding out a six-round distance win. McIntosh was floored in the last and the bell saved him from a stoppage defeat. So both men are used to having belts strapped around their waists, who will be the one with the English title around their waist on Friday night? Kevin Taylor, owner of BBN, feels the hometown fighter will take the title: “I think Elcock wins. He seems to be going back to the top, whereas Bendall looked bad against Majid Ben Driss, who hurt him on a couple of occasions. Sebastian Sylvester stopped him this year, so is his confidence dented? Elcock is on a good run and should stop him.” Bendall can have his moments on Friday, but will he be able to sustain it? Lesser men than Elcock have hurt him, and when he's hurt his gameplan seems to go out of the window. Elcock is the fighter most likely to force a stoppage. He is hitting harder than ever and Sylvester stopped Bendall in three – although the stoppage did look a tad premature, Bendall was undoubtedly hurt. Is Sylvester a harder hitter than Elcock? That's up for debate. The Shard-End middleweight can bring another title to Birmingham with a seventh round stoppage, after Wayne's right hands become too much for the gallant Coventry warrior. Bendall will never make it easy, though, and you can guarantee he won't lie down. Ringside Promotions (Ken Purchase) will stage this fight card. Making his return to the ring, after four years out, is Birmingham's heavyweight puncher Pele Reid, who feels he can make an impact after a succesful spell in K-1. He takes on Sheffield's Paul King, who always gives it a go. Pele, 33, who signed for ‘Ringside Promotions' at their last show in Wolverhampton on October 26, certainly has the power to knock out most heavyweights in this country, but has he got the durability to compete? Frank Warren once remarked that Pele was too vulnerable to win major honours. Reid, as ever, is confident: “This isn't something I have gone into lightly; it is something I have thought long and hard about.” “I only had one full-contact kick-boxing fight and no amateur bouts before I took up boxing. “I've become a lot tougher since I've been in Thai boxing and K-1.” The Birmingham banger, who stopped 15 men in his 16 wins, 14 before the third round, has promised to put Birmingham on the map with wins and feels signing with the fast-rising ‘Ringside Promotions' is a step in the right direction. “Boxing is back in Birmingham and that's good news. Ken's a caring promoter and that's seldom found in boxing.” Reid, 16-4-2 (15), now trained by Richie Woodhall, is not only powerful but also awkward and very, very quick. I'm looking forward to this comeback and I believe he can exploit the weak domestic scene if he can rack up a few wins. King, 5-11-1(1), is durable, though, and recently went the distance with former IBF cruiserweight world champion Kelvin ‘Koncrete' Davis. He has been stopped before - Carl Baker stopped the Yorkshire man in two, Scott Gammer in three. Reid has to be favoured to win inside the distance. It's scheduled for six-threes. Birmingham's former British title challenger Anthony Maynard fights for the first time since June against hard as nails Canning Town based African Silence Saheed, 8-15-2 (5), in a four-rounder. The Quinton lightweight is hoping for a shot at the British title in 2007. And the Brummie will hope to make a statement of intent on Friday night. Maynard, 19-8-1 (6), knows a loss now would spell the end of his dreams, so he has been training extra hard with the likes of Wayne Elcock and Roy Rutherford in the gym and is leaving nothing to chance: “Training with Wayne has really helped, as we clicked immediately and we bounce of each other. I'm in the best shape I have been in a long time and can't wait to get going again.” A quick, awkward and talented fighter Tony, 34, had the ability to beat Dean Phillips, Anthony Campbell, Gary Flear – who he bested for the Midlands Area crown - and former world class lightweight Michael Ayers early on in his career. He is positive he has what it takes to beat the best again. Saheed shouldn't stop him in his quest. Brummie duo James McKinley and D Mitchell look to remain unbeaten on this action-packed undercard. Mitchell against Wales' Neil Bonner, 4-10 (2), and McKinley against Barnsley's John Musgrove, 1-0 (0). The Birmingham twosome, both trained by Richie Woodhall, have unblemished 2-0 records and they want to make it three out of three on Friday night. D, a switch-hitting welterweight, looked highly impressive on his debut. He won in two-rounds against Swansea's normally durable Chris Brophy. Mitchell, who had a short amateur career at Chelmsley Wood ABC, showed quick hands and a punch as he cut up the Welshman in two. D (Dean), outweighed by seven pounds, beat the decent Birmingham middleweight Tony Randell over four in his second outing. McKinley, an aggressive middleweight, was a 40-37 winner on his debut against the tough Welsh farmer Mark Phillips, who outweighed him by 12-pounds. Jimmy, who was a decent amateur for Small Heath ABC, then went onto beat Thomas Flynn over four in his next outing, again being outweighed. They have bright futures and want Midland Area titles as soon as possible. Both will feature in four-rounders. Max Maxwell will be hoping for better luck in his second pro fight. He faces Stourport veteran Ernie Smith. It's a good fight for Max, who was a little raw on his debut and needs to be matched carefully early on. The Birmingham light middle was pipped by a solitary point by Anthony Young on his debut in October, and had many fuming after looking a good winner. Maxwell has talent and wants to show that his debut loss was a temporary setback on his quest to greater glories. Richie Woodhall, his trainer, is confident he can be a champion in the future. Telford light-heavyweight Lee Jones finally makes his debut after twice having it put back due to red tape and injury. He is thankful his quest finally gets going at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre. He takes on Doncaster's Nicky Taylor in a four-rounder. A former kickboxing champion, Lee showed enough talent in a sparring session at Woodhall's ‘Aces Gym' to warrant him getting a pro licence. Lee was thinking about it anyway, but Richie made his mind up for him. Lee thinks the sky's the limit: “I'm working with an ambitious promoter who intends on keeping me busy. In 18 months from now I see myself at around 10 or 11-0, and looking to challenge for titles.” Taylor, 1-7-1 (0), is tough if little else. Lee should win heartily on points or force a late stoppage. Another fighter making his professional debut will be Stoke heavyweight Alex ‘The Bull' Ibbs, who is also trained by Richie Woodhall. He goes in with burly Wolverhampton based Hungarian Istvan ‘Stevie' Kecskes. Ibbs gets his moniker from the talent he has for flipping full size bull's by their noses! Alex had only four amateur contests with Queensbury and Wolverhampton ABC (winning only one), but Woodhall sees something in the Potteries heavyweight. Although, admits there is work to be done with the 21-year-old, who is 6ft 5ins and 16 stone. He has been having full-on sparring sessions with Pele Reid, and has been performing well. That gives an indication to the talent of this big-man. But how will he perform against the roughhouse Hungarian? The pick's Ibbs. Former Aston ABC fighter Waz Hussain is another talented welterweight making his debut. He goes in with Peterborough's Neil McQuade. Waz won only half of his 24 amateur contests; however, Richie and Len have been impressed with his work in the gym and have chucked him in the deep end. It's a case of sinking or swimming for the Brummie. Don't count on it being sinking.

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

Please login before posting comments.

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.