Elcock v McDermott countdown: Wayne's five best wins by Tom Podmore Jun 16th 2008

With the build-up and excitement to the biggest all-Midlands clash in recent memory (maybe all-time), the British middleweight title fight between Birmingham's Wayne Elcock (champion) and Dudley's unbeaten Darren McDermott in Coventry on June 20, BBN's Midlands correspondent, Tom Podmore, looks at the two combatants five stand-out wins of their professional careers. Part one: Wayne Elcock, British champion. Hometown: Shard End, Birmingham. Age: 34. Record: 18-3 (8). Trainers: Paddy and Tommy Lynch. Manager: Self. Height: 5ft 9.5in. Style: Orthodox. Former titles: English, WBF International and WBU (all at middleweight). 1. Opponent: Howard Eastman, 42-4 (35) entering, Battersea, England. Result: WUD12. Scores: Mark Green 116-113, Terry O'Connor 115-113, Howard Foster 115-114. Title: British middleweight (Eastman's first defence in third reign, fourth overall). Date: 28 September, 2007. Venue: Skydome, Coventry. Promoter: Pat Cowdell. Despite Eastman having seen better days, losing three of his last five though winning his last two in good company (vacant British title against Richard Williams and vacant Commonwealth belt against Kenya's Evans Ashira), the Londoner entered the Elcock contest as a big pre-fight favourite. The 36-year-old had been unbeatable at this level, even if he lacked that special something to upset the true elite of the middleweight division. He'd never tasted defeat to a man from Britain, going 27-0, and had never lost the British, Commonwealth or European titles in the ring. Oh, and a 42-4 (35) pro ledger showed what he was capable of. Elcock, however, remained unperturbed by any of those factors – relishing the challenge. From the moment the match was announced, originally scheduled to be promoted by Frank Maloney in Birmingham but then taken over by Pat Cowdell, who moved it to the Coventry city centre-based Skydome, Elcock had an air of someone who knew the win was going to be his. Yes, Eastman was slowing down, but still could whack (as said, 35 men failing to see the distance out) and still could take one hell of a shot (only been halted by dynamite-fisted Edison ‘Pantera' Miranda in world-class company that included fights with Bernard Hopkins, William Joppy and Arthur Abraham). And he could still fight. The Birmingham ticket-seller was written off by most from the start – probably remembering his tepid and disappointing showing against Plymouth banger Scott Dann in 2005. Elcock, his own sternest critic, would be the first to admit he was too negative in that other British title challenge, letting the fight slip from his grasp in the last four or five rounds. Times had changed; this was two years, three wins (all inside) and two titles (English and WBF International) later. Attitudes had changed; this was a better-prepared, more focused fighter. Elcock was a hungry boxer, a fighter, to steal a quote from Rocky III, with the eye of the tiger. Still, even I wasn't convinced Elcock could do it. Eastman had looked solid when outscoring two-time world title challenger Evans Ashira in Dudley five months earlier, despite many thinking he was fortunate to be given the verdict. Ashira was a good opponent who had mixed at a better level than Elcock – taken Joe Calzaghe the distance at super-middle. Eastman still won unanimously (116-113 twice and 116-112). From the opening moments of the 12-round British title fight Wayne was in the zone. I always felt the first three minutes would be crucial to the challenger's chances, judging his reaction after taking a full-bloodied shot from Howard. But Elcock was fired up, thrashing the long-standing domestic and continental champion with chopping punches in the opening three rounds. Eastman was fighting with more urgency than his previous two, too. As the rounds went on the more you sensed the Shard End-based challenger was going to do it. It wasn't all one-way traffic, mind. Oh no. And Howard, like he'd done against ex-amateur foe Williams nine months before, Ashira earlier in the year and many other times throughout his long career, started to chip away at Elcock's lead in the middle rounds. However, the Lynch-trained Brummie showed he had the skill, the class and power to resume control. Still, the Skydome had an on-edge air, sensing that one of Eastman's dynamite-fisted punches, shots that had seen 35 men fall inside, could end it all. And the Guyana-born ‘Battersea Bomber' did find the target in some rounds, but Elcock shrugged them off and came back. Elcock broke free of the former undisputed world middleweight title challenger's tentacle-like arms and dominated rounds ten, eleven and twelve; Howard forced to grab like his life depended on it in the last three minutes when a huge right hand bounced off his jaw. The soon-to-be ex-champion saw out the contest but didn't make any feeble or bravado-esque attempt to raise his arms aloft at the bell to end the twelfth. He knew his vice-like grip on the British title, his reign of terror that had lasted for eight years, was finally at an end. For what it's worth, I scored it to Elcock by 117-113. 2. Opponent: Anthony Farnell, 31-2 (19) entering, Manchester, England. Result: WUD12. Scores: Karl Rogers 119-108, Des Bloyd 118-108, Howard Goldberg 116-111. Title: WBU middleweight (Farnell's second defence). Date: 5 April, 2003. Venue: Manchester Evening News Arena (M.E.N), Manchester. Promoter: Sports Network (Frank Warren). Another example of ‘Mad Dog' being written off before he stepped into the ring that Saturday night. Although undefeated in ten fights, four quickly, no one outside Birmingham gave Elcock much of a chance on his opponent's show (undercard of Ricky Hatton's breakout win over former IBF boss Vince Phillips). He was there to add another ‘W' to the ‘Failsworth Warrior's' record. Not that it turned out that way. Hard-hitting Farnell, then 24 and backed by a famous and vociferous Mancunian faithful that would stay on to support another Mancunian, future two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton, was a win or two away from a World Boxing Organisation (WBO) title fight. The mission objective was simple: dispose of Elcock in impressive fashion and get a recognised world title fight by the start of 2004. So much for best laid plans. Everything about the fight was heated: Birmingham vs Manchester (the Second City vs the Third City Third City? Who says? Mancs? - Ed.) and a fiery nose-to-nose staredown at the weigh-in. The action in the fight itself encompassed skill, heart and an unwavering will-to-win. The fact that the Mancunian had 33 pro outings to his name (31 wins) stacked the odds heavily in his favour. But as he would do against another man who was promised a world title crack in his next fight, Howard Eastman, four years later – another against-the-odds showing – Elcock got down to business from the opening bell, rarely conceding control for the next 36 minutes. It was a punch-perfect display from the Midlander, who shook the aggressive and hard-punching Farnell early on. And a right hand, landing a split-second before the champion found range with his, dropped Anthony in the fifth. He got up, beating the count fairly easily, but was forced to contend with a blitzkrieg from the challenger, in his first his 12-rounder. Elcock later admitted his attack was too wild and better picking of his punches would have seen him wrap up the bout then. The Billy Graham-handled crowdpleaser had his moments during the contest – scoring with some solid rights in the eleventh and twelfth, always looking a threat and, aside from a rocky spell in round eight, never looking like being dropped again. He was, however, a beaten man at the final bell and had the class to admit the same. I had Elcock winning by a 117-110 scoreline. 3. Opponent: Steve Bendall, 25-2 (12) entering, Coventry, England. Result: WRSF8. Score: N/A. Title: English middleweight (Bendall's first defence). Date: 1 December, 2006. Venue: Aston Villa Events Centre, Birmingham. Promoter: Ringside Promotions (Ken Purchase). Much like Elcock-McDermott fight – albeit without the Sky Sports fanfare and prestige of the Lonsdale Belt – the all-Midlands English title clash between the challenger, Birmingham, and the champion, Tile Hill, Coventry, was anticipated by every boxing fan in the Midlands. Elcock, on his then-promoter's show, started as the pre-fight favourite. He was coming off back-to-back stoppage wins (Lawrence Murphy and Vinny Baldassara) and had disposed of three out of three in Birmingham via knockout or stoppage. The winner could also look forward to a shot at the British title, which was about to be fought out between Richard Williams and Howard Eastman two weeks later. Bendall, though, had been chasing Elcock since they were top ten-rated amateurs in the mid-90s. Steve, an international amateur and Multi-Nations gold medallist, was the number one in the Midlands and Elcock, an ABA runner-up, the number two during that unpaid period. Ten years on and the rivalry that had been brewing was finally about to be settled. Although the Tile Hill-based fighter had suffered two stoppage defeats, both had come in title challenges: Scott Dann for the British title, stoppage in six, and a three-round defeat for the European title against Sebastian Sylvester, though the title opportunity came on only three days notice. Nothing to be ashamed of on either count. Before that loss to the German, Bendall had looked terrific when tearing the English middleweight belt away from hard-hitting Donovan Smillie, an Ingle-trained puncher from Bradford, at Coventry's Mercia Park 12 months earlier. There was plenty of reason to suggest he would give Wayne a decent argument, even having the all-round ability to beat him. As it was, Elcock-Bendall – a fight that looked 50-50 on paper – became a one-sided battering that saw Bendall only have one bright spot in eight rounds of torture: a counter left in the opening three minutes that stiffened the local ticket-seller's legs sufficiently enough for him to step back and look for solace further away. But Elcock was in total command from then on. Bendall, whose 33rd birthday celebrations turned into birthday beatings, never went down, showing a terrific chin to withstand constant stream of rights and lefts throughout the entertaining bout. He was eventually stopped on his feet in the eighth when a right-left-right sent him stumbling drunkenly to the ropes. Elcock had only lost one session on my scorecard at the time of the well-received stoppage that added the English 11st 6lbs belt to his ever-growing collection of professional silverware. 4. Opponent: Lawrence Murphy, 15-1-1 (6) entering, Belshill, Scotland. Result: WRSF5. Score: N/A. Title: British middleweight title eliminator. Date: 6 May, 2006. Venue: International Convention Centre (ICC), Birmingham. Promoter: Ringside Promotions (Ken Purchase). This was a rematch that Elcock had been wanting and chasing frantically since that shock one-round KO defeat in late 2003 – a defeat the relived him of his WBU belt and cost him a crack at the WBO middleweight title. The Brummie was adamant that it was a lucky punch, a punch that caught him on the temple and, more importantly, a punch that caught him cold. New promoter Ken Purchase, putting on his first professional card at the ornate surroundings of the ICC in the heart of Birmingham city centre, delivered the rematch and it was given a British title eliminator status. The winner would be next for Plymouth-based banger Scott Dann, who had outpointed Elcock six months earlier in the West Country. Not that the home city hero needed any more motivation. Murphy, 30, had also lost his World Boxing Union belt in his maiden defence, a three-round stoppage at the fists of Anthony Farnell, who screamed, “I'm back, I'm back,” after the one-sided win in Scotland. Like Elcock, Lawrence then scraped through a comeback fight with awkward Nottingham switch-hitter Michael Monaghan, who thought (surprise, surprise) he won both. But Elcock was on fire in the rematch. Murphy's legs were buckled by an innocuous-looking jab in the second, rattled and bloodied with rights in the third, and dropped a total of three times before Phil Edwards made a well-timed and well-received stoppage, putting the Scotsman out of his misery in the fifth. Lawrence, who'd suffered defeat for only the second time in 18 paid outings and decided to retire immediately afterwards, had the class to concede that Elcock had done a job on him. 5. Opponent: Yuri Tsarenko, 17-7-1 (12) entering, Vitebsk, Belarus. Result: WPTS10. Score: 98-93 (Ken Curtis). Title: N/A. Date: 15 February, 2003. Venue: Wembley Conference Centre, London. Promoter: Sports Network (Frank Warren). A win that put Elcock's name firmly in the mix with the domestic middleweights at the time, the likes of Wayne Alexander, Anthony Farnell, Howard Eastman, Ryan Rhodes, Steve Bendall, Lee Blundell, Paul Samuels, etc. But he had to overcome a serious scare to do so. Tsarenko had made his name on these shores with a 12-round crushing of previously unbeaten Welshman Gary Lockett, 16-0 entering, for an international belt ten months earlier. He had won nine of his previous ten (one draw, six early) and hadn't suffered a defeat for over two years. Oh, and he'd had over twice as many fights as the untested Englishman. Still, then-manager Frank Maloney had faith that his man could do the business. And Elcock dominated the early rounds – using a solid jab, tossing in lefts, rights and uppercuts, even opening a cut on the Belarusian's left cheek in the second 180 seconds. But far from an easy night that looked certain after the opening six minutes, Wayne slackened, which let the dangerous and ambitious banger gain some momentum. The Birmingham-based fighter gritted his teeth to win rounds six, seven and eight but was given the shock of his life in round nine. Elcock, dropping his hands in a show of bravado-like confidence, was stung by a short right and was then fighting for his survival as Tsarenko, then 24 and hoping to land another couple of punches that would flatten his rattled foe, followed in pursuit. The unbeaten middleweight survived, winning the last round with box-and-move tactics shouted by an anxious Maloney at ringside, and won on referee Ken Curtis' scorecard by a comfortable five-point margin. For the record, I had Elcock winning by four points in his acid test.

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