Thrils and Spills on Nottingham undercard by Jim Wright May 3rd 2008

In an action-packed Nottingham undercard Derby's Scott Haywood blew away French journeyman Frederic Gossett at 1-06 of the second round with a devastating double-left hook that landed under the elbow of Gossett's guard and crashed into his midriff, took the air from his lungs and sank the distressed visitor to seek refuge on the canvas. Haywood had things his own way from the start. He circled his pray and picked him off before planting his feet and letting some quality shots go with the uppercut in particular catching the eye. Scott rained down long range looping attacks on the shorter Gossett who normally trades on his reputation for durability having taken the likes of Fewkes, Watson and Bhatia the distance on previous visits. But Haywood had too much and now moves onto 18(4)-2. I don't know what the Shinfield's are feeding their fighters on at the moment but the Somercote's based camp were at their chilling best when red-hot light-heavyweight prospect Adie Whitmore iced Sheffield's Carl Wild at 2-15 of the first of the scheduled six three minute round. Wild boxed well for the first two minutes of the opener, staying out of range and providing a moving target for the Alfreton hitman. But Carl paused and showed enough of a target for Whitmore to unleash a chilling right that had Wild detached from his senses and sickeningly hit the canvas face first. This KO was on a par with Bomber Graham's Spanish nightmare at the hands of Julian Jackson. Wild was soon aided by trainer and mentor Glyn Rhodes who dived in the ring to see to his man. Whitmore's trainer Jason Shinfield sensibly signalled to Whitmore's supporters to show some decorum while Wild received treatment to help revive him. Thankfully Carl was soon on his feet and left the ring on his own steam. Whitmore looks like a star in the making. He now progresses to 8(5)-0 as he continues to carve his way through the regions journeyman, watch out for this kid, he is dynamite! Leicester's Kevin Conception looked good as he boxed himself to a six round 60-54 points shut out victory against veteran late stand in Billy Smith at middleweight. Conception adopted his relaxed boxing style that saw him probe and stiffen the legs of the defensively competent Smith. Conception took one himself at the end of the fifth that raised a wry smile from the Leicester campaigner but he was never in any danger. Conception looks good with 11 wins to 0 and is coming along at a sensible pace. Chislehurst's Sam Webb had things his own way as he outclassed 85 fight- veteran David Kirk over six three's at middleweight. Webb, fighting for the first time outside of London, looked at home, landed at will with crisp shots that saw Kirk hit the deck in the second after receiving a straight right left hook combination. Kirk did well to see the job through but looked worse for wear by the end. Webb was effective when switching stance and letting the right jab go as well as working well from the orthodox stance. The Chislehurst charge extends his unbeaten run to 6 at 10(3)-1. Boxing went out of the window when Eastwood's Olly Newham went toe to toe with Plymouth's Paul Brown for a scheduled four rounder at middleweight. Newham finished proceedings early with a quality combination, finished with a wicked left hook at 59 seconds of the fourth. Newham made a fast start to the fight, pressing the action and putting Brown down with an accumulation of shots. Olly repeated the trick in the second, following up with two shots to the head while Brown was sagged on his knee's, tangled with the ropes. Newham's over enthusiasm went unpunished by referee Nigel Gill. Brown started to find a foothold in this exciting encounter, snapping Newham's head back with right hand replies while under attack. The see-saw action tilted in Brown's favour in the third as Newham's lack of concern for defence resulted in him starting to badly mark up around the eyes. But Newham just had too much for the brave Brown, who finished the fight suffering a heavy knockout after referee Gill hesitated to jump in after Newham had brought Brown's hands down by his sides with an accumulation of punches and ended the fight with a free left hook right on the button. Although a mistake, sympathies do go out to the referee who has one of the toughest calls to make in sport, and I'm sure he was more than pleased to see Brown leave the ring on his feet after receiving treatment. Newham makes it three wins out of three outings but needs to avoid wars like this at this stage of his career. Talking of wars, Lincoln's Kevin Hammond administered a one-sided onslaught that forced Plymouth's Gavin Brook to retire on his stool at the end of the first round of their middleweight battle. Brook returned to his corner bloodied and bruised after trying to go toe to toe with the Lincoln man who makes it two out of two after joining the Shinfield camp 6 months ago. Kevin said afterwards, “I've definitely improved because of the quality sparring at Shinfield's gym, I planned to box Brook but he wanted to go toe to toe.” Hammond will be out again at the end of the month on Carl Greaves show in Newark, I'll look forward to seeing him again. Ripley debutant Steve Jevons made it a clean sweep for the red-hot Shinfields after coming through a tough test against Earls Court's Bheki Moyo 39-36 over four threes at welterweight. The newbie southpaw made a good start, probing down the middle with a sharp looking straight left that had Moyo going. Moyo touched down in the third, claiming to have slipped but referee John Keane ruled a knowdown. Moyo started to fancy the job in the last and walked through Jevons's shots. But it was too little too late for the visitor. Jevons can be satisfied at coming through the fight with his arm raised in victory. Nottingham's Barrington Brown struggled to come to term's with a spirited performance by Bridgewater's Dean Mill's and had to settle for a draw 38-38 from the scorecard of Nigel Gill after four tight rounds at super-featherweight. Brown had his man down in the second but the fast hands and big heart of Mill's earned him a draw after neither man could find a way to get on top. What a fantastic undercard. Mike and Jason Shinfield are reaping the rewards of nurturing talent and attracting new blood because of their recent success. A recipe that will surely bring more belts and nights like this to the East Midlands, long may it continue!

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