Amar makes statement on Pickering-Hughes undercard in Burton by Tom Podmore Jan 19th 2008

You could have forgiven Adnan Amar if he'd been flat and cautious in the eight-round chief support against heavier Canadian Ian MacKillop on this Hennessy Sports and GoldenPalace.net-promoted, Sky-televised show at Burton-on-Trent's Meadowside Leisure Centre. Originally down to defend his Midland Area welterweight title against Birmingham's Terry Adams, who pulled out due to weight-making difficulties, Adnan was then pencilled in to fight French southpaw Anthony Guillet, who also pulled out on Monday and left the Nottingham fighter's bout in doubt. Matchmaker John Ingle got on the phone and managed to get in hard-hitting MacKillop, who had operated as high as middleweight during his productive and fight-filled eight-year paid career, to take on his fighter in a light-middleweight eight-threes. Many saw this fight as dangerous, maybe even too dangerous for switch-hitting Amar – a man that was once flattened by hard-hitting but fragile Dean Hickman. But, consummate pro that he is, the East Midlander brushed off the changes of opponent and showed that he is finally fulfilling his vast potential to batter the Montreal-based puncher to a one-sided three-round defeat. A quick scan of the Canadian's record and you can see that he is a fighter to be respected, albeit one that probably has seen better days. As well as stopping former top-class Aussie Shannon Taylor, Ian had also shared a ring with iron-fisted IBF welterweight champ Kermit Cintron, former WBO super-middleweight title challenger Evans Ashira and another WBO title challenger, welterweight Manuel Gomez. This was quite a step up for the Brendan Ingle-trained former British Masters light-middleweight champion, who had recently relieved Walsall's Darren Gethin of his Midland Area welterweight strap. Let us not forget that Adnan had compiled his record against the likes of Ernie Smith, Ben Hudson, etc. But the manner in which he beat heavier MacKillop (11st 5lbs 6oz) suggests he can soar much higher than Area level. His expected English title fight with Matthew Hatton is no foregone conclusion in the Mancunian's favour, as some have tried to make out it is. After a customary flip over the top rope before the contest, the 24-year-old switcher got to business straight away – bemusing the flat-footed North American, with Bob Plant in his corner, and making him look both cumbersome and slow. And MacKillop, 30, hit the deck in the second. The former IBO intercontinental champion went forward, going for broke, but Amar (11st 1lb) used his natural speed to beat him to the punch and drilled him with a long straight right, a punch that made him take an eight count. Amar, who leads as a southpaw, used his superior foot-speed to create the angles for more solid-looking shots after the knockdown. The Canadian just didn't know how to counteract anything the Englishman would do, and he was rattled once more as the round drew on. The only problem I have with Adnan is the fact he rarely throws anything in combinations. His height and length of arms mean he throws his long punches one at a time. If he can throw more shots in threes and fours – and I'm sure he can – then he can progress much further. But he finished matters well in the following round, his power improving with every contest. MacKillop, now 25-10-3 (14), still shakey after the assault in the previous three, took another long right and then was tattooed with both hands to force Shaun Messer to waive it off after only 21 seconds of the third. Amar, now 20-1 (5), is getting better with the fight. Stourbridge's Sam ‘The Man' Horton improved his pro ledger to 7-0 (1) with a tough 39-37 decision from Terry O'Connor over Ingle-trained ‘Lightning' Lee Noble in a four-threes. I had Horton edging the Barnsley fighter out by a closer margin of 39-38. All four of the intriguing sessions were close; with Errol Johnson-trained Horton edging rounds two and four, Lee winning the third and the first being an even affair. Noble is a frustrating fighter, someone who could and should have done better in the fight. He seems to suffer from self-doubt, however, spending too much time watching and not enough time punching. A greater output would have probably earned him a share. The fight followed a similar pattern: taller, upright Horton looking to work behind his longer jab and bring in follow-up rights, and Noble looking to use the ring and bring through punches from his waist. The greater workrate on the Black Country ticket-seller's part probably swung the decision for him. Horton did, however, have trouble dealing with Noble's speed and awkwardness, shipping plenty of hurtful blows that left his face red by the end. As mentioned, Lee, now 9-7 (2), didn't do enough work and was caught several times by Sam's jab and sharp right. Both weighed 11st 11lbs. Derby light-heavyweight Matthew Hainy (11st 12 1/2lbs) made sure his paid debut was a successful one by outpointing hard-hitting James Tucker (12st 7lbs) 39-38 over four. I thought Terry O'Connor's scoring in the good-value show-opener looked spot-on. Hainy, a martial arts instructor who had a 6-2 amateur record with Clifton Mitchell's One Nation ABC, had plenty of people cheering him on in nearby Burton, though took one or two heavy punches from the Dave Coldwell-trained Doncaster fighter. He will need to shore-up his defence in future fights. Both were prepared to take a punch to give one and this led to some blistering exchanges throughout. Muscled Hainy instigated a lot of them but Tucker, now 0-2, wasn't a shrinking violet himself, always hitting back with some iron-fisted reposts. However, the better, cleaner and accurate work came from Clifton Mitchell-trained Hainy and he deservedly had his hand raised by Mr O'Connor at the final bell. Muhsen Adaney Nasser (11st 5 1/4lbs), the Sheffield-based Yemeni, showed a plethora of moves when outpointing fellow-southpaw Tye Williams (11st 5 1/4lbs) 40-36 over four-threes. Shaun Messer's evaluation of the four-rounder looked correct. Whilst Michael Marsden-trained Williams never gave up, Ingle-trained Nasser's greater height, long arms, footwork, use of the ring and skills always meant that the Dewsbury banger (four stoppages in five wins, 13 defeats and two draws) was always a step or two behind. Like stablemate Adnan Amar, Muhsen has one big problem: he only throws his punches in singles. He has got away with that so far, compiling a stellar 15-0-1 (2) pro tab, but could be in trouble against a fighter who can negate his height and has a greater punch output. Worcester iron-man Billy Smith, the Midland Area light-welterweight champion who is much better than his record would have you believe, managed to do that and earned a deserved draw at the York Hall in November. To this fight – and Nasser dominated all four rounds with his southpaw jab and long lefts, one of which connected on Williams' mush with a slapping sound in the fourth. When Tye tried to make a fight of it, the undefeated Yorkshireman pot-shotted him as he marched in. Woodville light-middleweight Duane Parker, after an impressive debut win over Peter Dunn at this venue in September, looked a little laboured as he earned a hard-fought decision over four-threes against winless Bristol-based Welshman Lance Verallo. Although he outboxed Verallo (11st) when on the outside, the 20-year-old former Burton ABC boxer (11st 1oz) was caught far too often when he worked on the inside. He wasn't as sharp or as accurate as he'd been on his professional bow last year. I noted after the second that maybe Errol Johnson-trained Duane, cheered on at ringside by former Burton ABC boxers Carl Groombridge and pro Jonjo Finnegan, was feeling the pressure of the television cameras. There were the occasional bright moments for him, however, making Verallo concede ground with well-timed left-rights in rounds one and four. Verallo, 23, who was based in Birmingham with Nobby Nobbs for his first 14 bouts, is still yet to get off the mark after 21 outings. He also had his moments against Parker, especially with uppercuts and neat rights in the third, but was outworked and outboxed for the majority. Shaun Messer marked it 40-37 to blonde-haired Parker, now 2-0 (0). Another fighter to look laboured was Brendan Ingle-trained Jack Perry (10st 1lb 8oz). He repeated a 40-36 four-round win over 51-fight Nuneaton switcher Kristian Laight (10st 6 1/2lbs), but looked like he'd rather be having a sterner test. Perry, now 6-0 (1), has fought at this venue on three occasions, losing only one round in that time, but look uninterested for large chunks of the contest. When he put his punches together – especially with one-twos in rounds two and three and with uppercuts in the last – he looked good. Maybe he wasn't thrilled with fighting a 27-year-old survivor he'd outscored by the same margin in Nottingham back in November 2006? The Derby stylist, whatever the reason, is much better than his latest showing. Terry O'Connor was the man in the middle for the four-threes.

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Good undercard Jan 20th 2008, 20:34:46 by whicker A generally entertaining undercard- Hainy-Tucker being the highlight, followed by Horton-Noble. Both of these seemed well matched fights. McKillop was a bit of a let down, didn;t seem keen to be in there, really. The other fights were decent, but all had the air of Prospect V Journeyman, and at times it was hard to keep interested, especially as no-one seemed greatly inclined to go for a KO. Great show, Just a bit annoyed at the 7.30 start, when the tickets said 6.30. OK, they need to revolve around SKY (who only showed one fight live- the main event) but it wouldn't have hurt to tell people- I would have brought a book!