Froch has too much and rest of Nottingham card by Jim Wright May 11th 2008

Nottingham's Carl Froch held up his end of his hometown show's double header, albeit in easier circumstances as he comfortably despatched the limited but game Polish import and late stand in Albert Rybacki after four one-sided rounds of action. Carl had things his own way as he knocked the pulverised Pole from pillar to post in the first. The visitor tried to find a way into the super-middleweight encounter in the second, sticking the jab in the face of the advancing cobra, but this just proved to be a temporary respite for the previously unbeaten Rybacki. In the third Froch started to stand his man up by letting the shots go at will, the uppercut was particularly eye catching after one devastating combination. With the local man shooting for fun, referee John Keane proved his worth by intervening and saving the outclassed opponent from himself and more punishment at 2-35 of the fourth. Froch got to look good in front of his hometown fight fans while marking time after the disappointment of the withdrawal of Denis Inkin for a WBC final eliminator bout. Carl looks capable of filling the void at super-middleweight that Joe Calzaghe's move to light-heavyweight left. Bigger and more challenging nights await the Cobra who moves his unbeaten run to 23 (19) while finishing his last seven early. Nottingham's Adnan Amar bagged himself the English welterweight strap by proving to be too cute for Telford's Mark Lloyd over ten tough rounds. Amar made a strong start by keeping the fight at long range where he held the aces with his Ingle switching style and his longer limbs that kept Lloyd on the outside and less able to compete. The Telford man showed his frustration in the third by petulantly using the head after being tied up after working his way inside. This act earned him the wrath of referee Terry O'Connor who authoritatively docked the offender a point for his violation. Adnan continued to hit and move but showed a weakness on the inside where he looked less effective. Lloyd hustled his way in and started nicking rounds by showing more industry on the inside but it proved too little too late for the visitor from Telford after the local man had racked up the points. Amir got the nod 97-95 after 10 hard-fought entertaining rounds with both men giving a good account of themselves. Another local man, Nottingham's Tyrone Wright kept hold of his Midland's area light-heavyweight title but had to be at his best to see off Sheffield's Paul David over 10 brutal rounds. Hard as nails David, with scant regard for Wright's power, was happy to take one to give one in the early exchanges. Wright stuck to the more conventional fight plan of working behind the jab and he started to find his range with each passing round. The Sheffield challenger showed good lateral movement to Wright's pivoting advances but it was Wright who started to force the pace and dig deep. David began to slow and become easier to hit, he took a count in the ninth but argued that it was a slip. Wright saw the job through with a 97-93 margin from referee Shaun Messer's notepad. John Murray rounded a bad week off by edging past perennial party-pooper Youssef Al Hamidi, bloodied and worse for the experience. After original opponent John Fewkes had to withdraw because of being laid low by gastroenteritis thus scuppering the mouth watering lightweight clash, a succession of possible substitutes were touted then found to be unavailable before Chris Aston's ever-ready Dewsbury Syrian stepped up to the plate. Al-Hamidi started the brighter and nicked the first couple of rounds through boxing on the outside then moving in and pumping out the rapid fire jab. Murray looked to be loading up, struggling to catch the late sub cleanly. The Manchester prospect started to hit his stride in the third with the classier shots but suffering from a bloodied nose. However that was nothing compared to the gash he suffered after a tangled clinch in the fifth that left Murray with claret leaking from above the ear. The pace was starting to tell on the Dewsbury man in the last three rounds with referee Terry O'Connor scoring the fight 77-75. The crowd roundly booed the margin and the performance. One to forget for Murray but that could be difficult considering the exposure it received. Bradford's Nadeem Siddique had to climb off the floor in the first to overcome wild Ghanaian southpaw Alex Brew by stopping the danger man at 2-17 of the second at lightweight. Brew caught Siddique by surprise in the opening exchanges with a haymaker overhand left that caught Siddique more off balance and he jumped up and made sure he didn't give his foe a similar opportunity. Sid soon worked him out as a one trick pony and finished the contest with a combination between head and body that left the African on the floor and surrendering to the count administered by the man in the middle Terry O'Connor. Siddique extends his run to 22 (6) - 0 and needs to start mixing in a higher class of company. Nottingham's Nathan McIntosh edged a tight encounter over Bristol's Daniel Stewart 39-38 over four three minute rounds at light-welterweight. Stewart tried to stay positive by coming forward but McIntosh nicked it by dictating from the outside. Telford's Keiron Gray looked impressive against Sheffield's Lee Duncan with a third round stoppage after 37 seconds of the battle of the debutants. Gray came forward in style against Duncan who couldn't find the shots to deter that advancing Telford middleweight. Father and son team Brendan and Dominic Ingle read the riot act to Lee after the first, ordering their charge to frustrate his opponent, but by the end of the second Duncan had only managed to further frustrate his world class trainers with his lethargic performance. Gray, sensing the end was nigh jumped on his man in the third and soon brought about the stoppage. A good start to Keiron's career in the paid ranks. Stylish Shepherds Bush southpaw John O'Donnell got back to winning ways with a comfortable four round shut-out victory against Worcester's Billy Smith after his American nightmare 360 days ago. O'Donnell got to do what he liked against defensively proficient Smith. Job done for John who looks good to rebuild at welterweight. Derby light-welterweight Dave Ryan impressed with a 40-36 four round shut out against 91 fight veteran Carl Allen. Ryan pushed his man back with an array of shots and dominated the contest throughout. Derby's Jack Perry and Colchester's Tom Glover closed the show in the wee hours of Sunday morning with a cracking four rounder that was declared a draw 39-39. Glover fought on the front foot against the taller Perry. There was lots of give and take between the two and Glover looked the more disappointed of the contestants with the decision. An entertaining show from Hennessy considering the frustrating bad luck encountered by the line-up changes, a tough couple of months for Hennessy Sports. Photos copyright Geoff Roughton and Klick Photography

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? Jun 11th 2008, 06:22:16 by dansapien rest bite?????????????? (You have spotted another typo. Well done.)   Great report May 12th 2008, 03:06:50 by tom-podmore Good stuff, Jim. Thoroughly enjoyed this card from the beginning to the end. I thought Lloydy just edged the all-Midlands English title scrap with Amar. As you rightly point out, Jim, Amar befuddled Mark with his long arms, but Lloyd’s work inside (especially from the sixth onwards) earned him a one-point victory on my card (though I am biased, I suppose). The other all-Midlands title-fight, Wright-David, was the night’s best fight for me (as I thought it would be). Huge win for Wright, especially as Northampton’s David has scalped so many good men and is pencilled in to fight Tony Dodson for the English 12st belt next month.