Barnes outboxes Bami, wins British title by Terry Dooley Mar 18th 2008

After a draw and defeat against Ali Nuumbembe and Joshua Okine respectively in consecutive fights in 2005, the once promising career of David Barnes seemed to grind to a halt at the Commonwealth level. On Friday night, however, Barnes came some of the way back by defeating Ted Bami on points over 12-rounds for the British light-welterweight title at the GH Carnall Leisure centre here in Manchester. A hot-and-cold style of fighter, Barnes was treading water against the likes of Arek Malek when this opportunity fell into his lap. Often sensational when sparring the likes of Kevin Anderson and Ali Nuumbembe, Barnes could then lapse into lethargy during routine assignments. For his part Bami entered the fight with questions over his stamina, after fading late in his comeback fight versus Nicolas Guisset, as well as concerns over his focus and drive. These concerns were proven to be well guided as Bami fought with a lack of lustre on Friday night. Barnes, 9st 13lb, spent the early rounds of the bout searching for lost confidence whereas Bami, 9st 12lb, was searching for form throughout the early going. Barnes looked sharp, if tense, early in the first round, this in turn allowed Bami to score with a pair of hooks, left and right. Bami continued to look the fighter with more authority in his shots during the second round, Barnes would allow Bami to get close then shut up shop by ducking low and tying his man up, this would allow Barnes to then step-off and get his southpaw 1-2 off. With the action sparse it seemed we were facing the prospect of a fight featuring two enigmas trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle, however life was breathed into proceedings, and Barnes, when a nick of over the left eye of Barnes started to seep blood. It seemed that the cut would prove to be bad enough to impact on the fight itself, this was not to be the case as cornerman Bob Shannon got to work on it during the break. Shannon must have healing hands because the cut was sealed tight to the extent that it made no impact whatsoever on the bout. In the third, Bami countered Barnes' flicking jab with a right hand to the head, again Barnes was ducking and holding to negate Bami and gain space but in truth Bami seemed oddly complicit in this, he showed no real fire when close and was struggling for range at distance. For his part Barnes, despite the weak jab, was getting his straight left off. Throughout the fourth, Barnes increasingly came to life, the cut seemed to breathed life into his style, a straight left followed by an uppercut from the same hand was the pick of his shots thus far, this gave him renewed confidence. Bami, sensing he needed to get going, came out attacking the body in the fifth, heads briefly rubbed, also, before Bami got off with a left hook to the head of Barnes. This temporary set-back did not affect Barnes greatly as he cameback well in the sixth, by now his style was more relaxed, allowing him to counter Bami with the 1-2, sensing that this combination, coupled with movement, would win the fight. Over the course of the seventh and the eighth the action became messy, Barnes, in trying to assert himself, was again negating Bami whilst making the action muddled on the inside. Bami landed his own right uppercut in the eighth yet seemed to be wobbled briefly by a left hand, Barnes later built on this by landing a clean right hook. Bami showed a little more drive in winning the ninth only to see rounds ten and eleven, plus the fight, slip away from him as Barnes boxed well using his southpaw style. It was not a classic by any means; both men had endured setbacks in recent years and boxed accordingly. Despite this Barnes' fans piped-up whenever their man seemed to fade. Fitter under Bob Shannon Barnes boxed behind the 1-2 to close the twelfth round, and the fight, out. By this point there was very little coming back from Bami, who put in a very listless latter rounds performance. David had looked to the Barnes necessities, put out the jab then the left hand, in order to win the fight and it was no surprised when the scorecards brought him a win – Phil Edwards had it 110-119, Dave Parris 111-117, which was the same as Mickey Vann's total. BBN had it 117-111. Upon hearing he had won the fight Barnes dropped to his knees and was very emotional, after a long rehabilitation period he is now back in title waters, he can use this win to regain his confidence. For Bami a period of reflection beckons, he must ask himself what he can do to inject some steam into his performances, as well as where his career goes from here. For many people the fight itself was always going to be a tight affair, to that end the chief support, featuring Young Mutley, in his first bout since losing to Colin Lynes last July, was the fight most looked to for fireworks. Mutley, 10st 6lb, took on Kevin Placide, 11st 1 ½ lb, over six three-minute rounds. However the anticipated early night came in the fourth as Mutley caught his opponent with a pair of left hooks, to the body and head, which dropped his man along the ropes. Placide was lethargic in getting up leaving referee with no choice but to stop the bout at 2:50 of the round. In mitigation, though, it should be held in mind that there was only a small period of time left in the round, an experienced referee like Edwards would have an inkling of this, therefore Placide should have been given the chance to rest for a minute, then allowed to come out for the fifth. Earlier in the fight Mutley, fighting before a vocal West Bromwich contingent, showed no signs that his prior bout, a six-round win over Wladimir Borovski, had healed the scars left after that dismantling at the hands of Lynes. Mutley was hesitant at times, at other times plain unable to get his shots off. For his part Placide lived up to his name in fighting slowly and cautiously or not at all. Despite this slow start Placide did warm up a little as the round progressed, he threw a double 1-2 and caught Mutley with a partial right hand. In the second Mutley briefly went southpaw, perhaps to force a few shots out, only to revert straight back to orthodox and trade jabs with his opponent. It seemed that by round four Mutley was in danger of making Placide confident only for Mutley to find his range, and the target, with a right hand that made Placide loll back a little. The end came suddenly in the fourth, in trying to land the right hand, two of them, Mutley forced Placide into the ropes and landed the double left hook, body and head, that dropped Placide and ended the fight. Despite not being huge shots they were the first signs of Mutley's accuracy and power, the fact they put Placide into so much trouble proved that the fighter from Trinidad had his KO destiny mapped-out, however allowing him the break between rounds to recover would not have been too generous a concession. Local fighter John ‘Rocco' Hussey scored his first ever stoppage win as he defeated Chris Brophy by TKO in the sixth and final round. Inactive recently due to illness Shannon trained Hussey boxed cautiously at times, always making sure that he advanced behind a constant left jab. Hussey, 10st 12lb, took centre-ring early only for Brophy to land a neat counter 1-2. By the second Hussey was bringing a left hook to the body to the party, this in turn set-up his straight right hand. By the third, it was clear that Hussey, once again, was dominating a bout without being particularly destructive, perhaps sensing this Hussey took a few more risks over the course of the fourth and fifth rounds, often feinting to set-up clean right hands. Hussey's fans were imploring him to go for the KO win, Hussey made them roar by landing a right uppercut on the inside. A trickle of blood appeared along the left ear of Brophy in the fifth. Right hands in the sixth caught Brophy clean only for Hussey to then bundle his man down unfairly. Brophy had landed his own shots in the fight, particularly the odd counter jab, but the injury to this delicate area worsened over the course of the final round. Once again referee Phil Edwards decided to look to the safety of a fighter who, it seemed, was on his way to defeat, and waved the fight over at 1:39 of the final round, this despite Hussey also having a trickle of blood coming from the top of his skull. The cut to Brophy came as both men came in ducking low, perhaps he could have been allowed to see the bout out but Hussey will be pleased to have grabbed the stoppage win. After the fight BBN bumped into Hussey's friend Alex Matvienko, the two have been having heated discussions over who has the most KO power and until Friday it was a battle Matvienko, with three stoppage wins, was winning. Despite claiming the TKO for Hussey does not count Matvienko is now looking over his shoulder. You often find yourself sitting next to interesting people at fights. I took my seat on Friday and found myself talking between fights to the Welshman sat beside me. Over the din of the crowd he introduced himself, I recognised him also so it made sense when he said he works with manager Paul Boyce, who guided Scott Gammer from a small-town to the British heavyweight title. During a break in the action I asked him how long he had worked for Paul Boyce only for him to reply “I am Paul Boyce!”. Paul chatted for a while about his time in the sport and expressed regrets over, as well as a continuing belief in, Gammer. On this night, though, Paul had his mind on the fighter he had driven for six hours to watch. The fighter was Justin Jones/Ritchie (billed as one, announced as the other), Justin was the floating fighter on this bill, the length of the other fights meant that Boyce had to wait until the end of the night to see his man in action. Ritchie, 12st 4lb, took on Tony Stones, 12st lb, over 4 x 3-minute rounds. Despite a huge height and reach advantage Ritchie made hard work of the fight and was, incredibly, sometimes out-jabbed by the far smaller man. Stones was clearly fighting at a weight far in excess of his physiological ability, his excessive waist was evidence of this, but he consistently gave the taller man hell throughout the fight. Stones clearly has some stones and landed in disproportion to his size. By the end of the fight Ritchie, with apologies to Boyce who hopes to work with him, looked like a fighter incapable of using his physical ability in the face of adversity. Referee Phil Edwards raised the hand of Ritchie, who had drew his debut fight, scoring the fight 40-37 for Ritchie to open his ‘W' column. BBN had it 38-38, if he does not fancy Jones or Ritchie then perhaps the name Justin Drew might be the next port of call. Other results: Scott Quigg (9st 3½ lb) W4 Gheorge Ghiompirica (9st 2½ lb). Nathan Brough (10st 12lb) W6 Leonard Lothian (10st 6lb). ABA finalist Brough looked tentative in a turgid pro debut in a bout that must rank amongst the worse this writer has ever seen. Visibly shocked when caught by the odd flailing shot Brough conspired with his opponent to turn his debut into an ugly maul that featured more clinches than punches as referee Keith Garner failed to gain control of either man. John Donnelly W6 Tony McQuade. Photos By Allan Stevenson

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.