Midlands promoters go head-to-head tonight by Tom Podmore Feb 28th 2008

With the huge Birmingham vs Black Country British middleweight title fight between Wayne Elcock and Darren McDermott pencilled in for April 25 at the Aston Villa Events Centre, we see a warm-up of sorts between two men from those respective areas in Wolverhampton on Thursday evening (February 28). That's because Walsall's Matty Hough goes head-to-head with Birmingham's Max Maxwell for the vacant Midland Area 11st 6lbs title, a belt vacated by McDermott last month, in a fascinating-looking ten-round main event on First Team's eight-fight card at Wolverhampton Civic Hall. This will also be a clash of two of the biggest promoters in the Midlands: Black Country-based First Team (Paul (PJ) Rowson and Errol Johnson), who promote Hough, and Birmingham-based Pugilist Promotions (Jon Pegg and John Costello), who promote Maxwell. The 50-50 Area title fight is full of intrigue and clashes of style: quick, long-limbed and skilful Maxwell, coming up from light-middleweight for this, against come-forward, solid-hitting and strong Hough, moving down from super-middleweight for this title opportunity. There are also plenty of questions being thrown around: will the greater power and strength of the Black Country ticket-seller nullify Max's speed? Will the long-limbed punches of the muscled Brummie pick off the aggressive, two-fisted charges of Hough? And will Hough make the weight comfortably? And the sparks have already been flying, even before a punch has been thrown in anger. The pair indulged in a fiery staredown after the Brummie's last contest in January, orchestrated for a bit of publicity, with former WBC world super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall forced to step in and separate them after the eye-balling got a little too heated. Both claim to have held the upper hand in the psychological stakes when they came face-to-face, though neither looked like they were going to back down. But it's probably a good thing Woodhall stepped in when he did; we could have been there all night. Interestingly, the former Pleck ABC boxer looked so much bigger and taller (6'2 to 5'10) than the ex-Navy fighter from Chelmsley Wood, a pro since October 2006, during that staredown. Will that height and greater size end up playing a role in the scheduled 30-minute bout? Still, the mind games will matter for little when they step inside the ring. I make Hough the slight pre-fight favourite – mainly because of the aforementioned height and size advantages. Max is definitely a live underdog, however, capable of springing an upset and taking the vacant belt back home with him. Maxwell, 6-1 (1), will also be bidding to be the first Birmingham boxer to hold the Area 11st 6lbs crown since Darren Sweeney, who also procured the Irish middleweight title on the same night, wore the brown belt between 1997 and 1998 – a belt he never lost in the ring. Hough would be the first fighter from Walsall to ever hold this 160lb belt, interestingly. He is confident he can pick up the baton of another Black Country boxer, Darren McDermott, the Dudley box-fighter who relinquished this strap to fight for the Lonsdale Belt, and go on to higher titles. But this will be Hough's first attempt at making the middleweight limit. He weighed a career-lightest 11st 10lbs against John Ruddock in September and looked better for it, hitting harder and forcing a two-round stoppage. But there will be another four pounds to remove on top of that. The 31-year-old has always looked a little too small to deal with the bigger men, and his two defeats have both come against fighters, Norwich's Danny McIntosh (RSF6) and Doncaster's Nicky Taylor (RSF2), who operated at light-heavy and had a significant weight-advantage (seven and six and a half pounds). Further proof of his David and Goliath battles are illustrated by the fact that the three-year pro has given away big chunks of weight in seven of his 10 pro appearances (seven wins, one quickly, two losses and a draw). Middleweight could finally be the division to really kick-start a career that has always seen him in crowdpleasing, toe-to-toe contests. I also get the feeling that the Aldridge ticket-seller could be a decent banger if can make the weight without too much trouble and still remain strong. Richie Woodhall-trained Maxwell, meanwhile, should have little trouble making the weight. He hoped his title shot would eventually arrive at light-middleweight – having weighed under 160lbs on five occasions – but said this was too good to turn down. He insists that he'll be strong, quick and, more importantly, powerful. Though many had considered him a non-puncher, a second-round stoppage over Bolton's Johnny Enigma at the Holiday Inn last month changed that – and that was in spite of having a 10-pound disadvantage. Max had previously been boxing with a measured approach, taking his time and using his long lead well. He is good at changing his modus operandi. And he'd looked good in distance wins over former Midland Area and British Masters boss Matt Scriven, Worcestershire ironman Ernie Smith, durable Duncan Cottier and aggressive Sherman Alleyne. This was a stark contrast to his debut when he was scrappy and untidy in losing a four-round decision (39-38) to Anthony Young. Hough isn't short of decent wins himself. As well as twice outpointing former British Masters light-heavyyweight champ Mark Phillips, he's also outscored dangerous former Central Area champion Rob Burton and tenacious Dean Walker. He probably should have been given the nod last time out, a four-round draw with Jamie Ambler. But the Errol Johnson-trained warmonger said with some justification that the steel-fisted Welsh light-heavyweight, enjoying an eight-pound advantage on the night, was too big in that cracking 12-minute bout. That draw convinced him that his future lay a division bellow. Who wins this all-Midlands showdown? Though I feel Maxwell has the ability to upset the rhythm of his foe with his speed and long jab, Hough should make his greater natural size and power show, forcing the 28-year-old Brummie back and getting the nod after 10 hard-fought and entertaining rounds. But it's a fight that could swing either way. Wolverhampton's Dean Harrison, 10-0 (2), boxes 29-year-old Ghanaian puncher Alex Brew, 9-2-1 (7), over eight in the chief support. Harrison's last contest saw him win in five impressive rounds over Ramon Guevera on the ‘British Invasion' card in Las Vegas (night before Ricky Hatton's loss to Floyd Mayweather). Unbeaten Wolverhampton pair Rob Kenney, 4-0-1 (0), and Lyndsey Scragg, 3-0 (2), Stafford's Rob Hunt, 7-0 (1), Halesowen's Scott Evans, 2-0 (1), Brierley Hill's Martin Gordon, 0-4-1, and Birmingham heavyweight Neil Perkins, debut, make up the rest of a good-looking undercard.

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