Stuart McFadyen defeated in disastrous home debut by Terry Dooley Nov 29th 2007

Stuart McFadyen literally slumped too his first professional defeat in front of his home town fans in Colne on Sunday. After five one-sided rounds the diminutive fighter was sent sprawling sideways to prompt a well timed stoppage by the referee Steve Gray. Opponent Gavin Reid had controlled the fight from the 2nd round onwards leaving Stu with an uphill battle. My journey too the fight venue echoed the particulars of the bout itself; a GPS error lead to my getting lost in my own town centre before then losing my way in Bury and Burnley before finally making it to Colne, and again getting lost, before making it just in time for the fights. For BBN read McFadyen as Stu, 8st 9lb, came out for the first bell looking to land hooks too the body only for Reid to get his own body off with the left jab leaving Stu looking a little lost and bemused. Reid looked so much bigger than natural super-bantamweight Stu, who in recent fights, most notably against Tasif Khan in July, a fight McFadyen won on points over 4 rounds, has looked like a jaded fighter. His last bout, against Delroy Spencer in September, saw him adopt a steady Eddie approach, perhaps boxing to orders after being dropped heavily against Tasif Khan in that prior bout. In this fight, however, Stu was second best to Reid in all departments bar courage, only because Reid did not need to display his mettle. The matchmaking did Stu no favours; this became clear early as natural featherweight Reid, 8st 7lb, used his greater range to control Stu from the first bell. Stu did try boxing to orders in the 1st round, he killed range with his forward steps whilst trying to establish the jab and body shots. However it was Reid who landed the heavier body blows. Stu won the first round but looked like a fighter giving his all too merely stay in the fight. By round 2 Reid was taking control on the inside as well as at range. This helped him bring combinations into the bout, something McFadyen could never really do. A left hook, right hand and left hook to the body, from Reid, was followed by a salvo of left and right hooks. With Stu being out punched at long and close range McFadyen had reason to be thankful that Reid is not a heavy puncher, such was the number of clean shots the man from Redcar was landing. McFadyen tried another tactic in round 3; he went onto the back foot, popped his jab and brought blood to the nose of Reid. Reid probably could not believe his luck, despite the blood, as it gave him scope to use his longer arms to land blows. A double jab set-up a brace of left hooks, all of which landed heavily on McFadyen. Stu, a dogged little battler, tried to force some shots out in retaliation but was met by a greater range, and strength, of return fire. A 1-2 from Stu gee'd the crowd up but this steam was killed as Reid landed a right to the ear that shook Stu and set-up a torrid final few seconds of the round for the home fighter. McFadyen came out for the 4th with his defence looking torn and frayed. Without the power to turn the fight, only one stoppage in his career thus far, Stu was left trying to force a decision win and it was now clear that he would be fortunate to see the final bell. A jab followed by a left uppercut left Stu a little bandy-legged; gamely he tried to fire a right hand only to be countered by a left hook from Reid. Reid then landed a further left hook as the arm-weary McFadyen tried to push shots out. Reid finished the round strongly once again. A left hook to the body, a step back, and then a sharp left jab befuddled Stu before a right hand to the body forced McFadyen to concede ground. The only possible positive remaining for Stu going into the 5th was that if he could survive the next two rounds it would have been a heroic effort in front of his fans. Unfortunately this was not to be the case, although McFadyen did show a great deal of grit in not only coming out for the 5th but trying desperately to turn the fight. McFadyen instead found himself turned inside out by a double jab and right hand to the body. The shots were moving Stu back leaving Reid free to throw, and land, with impunity. McFadyen, though, did land a left uppercut of his own and, perhaps seeing his final winning horizon opening before his eyes, he followed this with a few missed shots. Reid waited patiently before forcing Stu back with a left hook, right hand, right uppercut and left hook attack. Stu staggered sideways into the ropes, a busted flush after taking a massive amount of clean head shots in only 5 rounds, prompting his corner, and the referee, to rescue him from his own bravery at 1:06 of the round. It had been a harsh lesson in front of his own fans; a lesson both for Stu and the matchmaker who got him a guy who was all wrong for McFadyen, a fighter still learning how to defend adequately. Reid rises to 3-1 (2) whereas McFadyen is now 7-1 (1). However, the fans had been thoroughly entertained by the guts and grit of their local fighter and a rematch at this same venue would be an intriguing fight. Unfortunately one can only imagine the same outcome unless McFadyen, who has the roughed-up look of a fighter who takes a lot in sparring also, can defend himself on the way in, and, importantly, on the way out of, range. In the bout prior to the main even there was good news for the VIP stable as Jack Arnfield won his 2nd pro fight without any worries. Blackpool's Arnfield, 11st 1lb, remained in firm control of Bristol's Lance Verallo before stopping his man in round 4. Verallo, 11st 3lb, was deemed to be in no fit state to continue by referee Steve Gray after taking a right uppercut that put him over for a count. The follow-up attack of a right hand, left hook, right uppercut and quick right hand left Gray with no choice but to stop the fight at 1:11 of the 4th. Prior to this Arnfield had refused to give Lance a chance to get into the fight and was administering a sound thrashing of his foe. Round 1 saw Arnfield, like his stablemate Brian Rose, work almost exclusively off the 1-2, save for the odd right hook to the body and right uppercut to the head. By the 2nd round the Bobby Rimmer trained Arnfield was building on the success of his jab by cracking in left hooks to the body. Refreshingly, for a novice professional, Arnfield was content to ply his trade with patience, the virtue of which was the steady breaking down of Lance. A series of jabs opened the 3rd; Jack was also ensuring that he attacked the body with the occasional hook. Lance finally worked his way inside in this round only for Arnfield to lean back and crack home a right uppercut. Further jab work left Lance looking worked over and ready for the stoppage, which duly came, after more work with the jab, in round 4. With his long arms and rangy style Arnfield looks like a decent fighter in the making and is clearly learning the virtue of body punching under Bobby Rimmer. With Rose and Arnfield both in his camp Rimmer may have found two boxers who represent the future of North West boxing. Arnfield is now 2-0 (2) whereas Lance is looking for his first win and stands at 0-20. At this point reference should be made to other undercard action but when talking about the bout between Chris Johnson and Peter Dunn the action tag would be a misnomer. Over 6 x 2-minute rounds Johnson, 10st 12lb, and Dunne, 11st 13lb, fought five samey rounds that could have almost been scored 10-10 before Johnson brought extra firepower in the final round and floored Dunn with a sweeping left hook. It was, though, too little too late as Dunn had time to survive the crisis before going down 60-54 on the scorecard of Steve Gray. BBN had it 60-53. A late withdrawal by Danny Harding saw a hastily arranged fight between Youssef Al Hamidi, who lost to Michael Gomez in June, and Carl Allen. Youssef, 9st 10lb, used his movement and erratic punching to tap out a points win over Allen, 10st 4lb, in the 6 x 2-minute rounds fight. Allen was mostly defensive, covering up whenever possible and moving sideways, but Peter came out of his shell a little to draw the 2nd round on the card of Steve Gray. When the fight ended it was Hamidi who picked-up a deserved win, only his 3rd in 9 bouts, by a score of 60-55. BBN had it 59-55. Overall it was an interesting day of boxing in Colne with the mood of the crowd unhampered by the loss for McFadyen, although an appearance by the ‘International Fantasy Show Girls' might have sugared the pill of defeat for Stu's fans. As a venue the Civic Hall in Colne comes recommended. It is similar to a little cave, the press seats were on a stage right next to the ring and were superb, and generates a nice atmosphere. Photos by Allan Stevenson

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