Another York Hall Victory for the Treasure by Bernard Miller Jun 17th 2008

While the old York Hall may not have been packed so full as it usually is for the regular Friday night Sky Sports affairs, those punters who sacrificed a rare sunny Sunday afternoon to take in Miranda Carter's inaugural foray into pro fight promotion were rewarded with an entertaining and action-filled card - one that included the successful return of a prodigal son, and the explosive professional debut of one of the world's most widely-recognised amateurs. The main event, in which Ashley Theophane fought for the first time in the UK in over six months following his American sojourn, was in some ways an anticlimax to the eight-fight card. Theophane easily outpointed Kenyan Geoffrey Munika 60-53 over six rounds, and didn't appear to have to work terrifically hard to do it, to those watching from the seats. But if Theophane's win appeared to be less than compelling, it belied some real concern. "It was hard to get up for it," Theophane admitted immediately afterwards, "after fighting in America. But I tried to make sure I was in really good shape, that I'd got myself in really good condition for this." He needed that - and his experience and a bit of heart as well - because "I broke my (right) hand in the third round," Theophane said. "I've never had an injury like that before, but I'm sure it's broken. I can't open it at all right now. "I couldn't let go at all like I wanted to after that." Strangely though, the injury may have helped a bit, at least in this contest. While Theophane was certainly busy in the first two rounds, his blows lacked telling accuracy. Most of his punches whistled harmlessly past Munika's chin or over his head. That wasn't all due to rust on Theophane's part, to be fair - his shorter opponent made himself tough to hit, displaying admirable head movement early and making for a rather frustrating target. Theophane didn't find the range until the latter half of the opening round, eventually catching Munika with a right uppercut from way down low, and then scoring with some short, sharp lefts in the final minute. The second round featured more of the same, with Munika proving difficult for Theophane to lock onto. But in the third, Theophane started rapidly, cracking Munika with a hard left to the face, and then a solid right to the top of the head (the blow which may well have done the initial damage) followed by a snapping left to the Kenyan's jaw. After that the round, except for a nice overhand right and a few left hooks that found the mark, saw little of note. Whether it was the effect of the damaged hand, or simply the adrenaline wearing off a bit, Theophane slowed his pace a bit in the fourth. But while he was throwing fewer punches, more by far were finding their mark. That included a smashing left hand into which Theophane turned the entire force of his body - a perfect specimen of pugilistic art. It drove Munika entirely across the ring and deposited him neatly upon the seat of his trousers in a neutral corner seconds ahead of the bell. Having done enough by that point practically to win the fight, and realising that for all his defensive skills Munika lacked any offensive arsenal capable of inflicting real damage upon him, Theophane exercised the better part of valour. He cruised the fifth until fighting his way out of the corner at about 1:45 of the round with a nice left hook, a punishing right despite the damaged paw, and a third nice shot that again drove Munika rearwards. Munika opened the final round with a pair of crisp lefts, but Theophane held him at bay otherwise with relative ease. Theophane, who sported stylish navy and white high-top Air Jordan boxing shoes - a little side benefit of his time in the US, no doubt - was well happy after his win, aside from concern about the injured hand. "It was nice," he said, before hurrying off to get it checked out. "It was great to be back. Miranda showed me some love and put me on the top of the card. Although it was a bit hard to get up for it, (Munika) was a good opponent to go up against right now, and I'm pleased I could go out and get the win in front of the home crowd." Even more excited was 2004 Iraqi Olympian Najah Ali, who thrilled the crowd with one of the quickest knockdowns anyone in attendance could possibly have seen, in his very first pro fight. Ali, whose rise from the chaos of post-invasion Iraq to one of the world's top amateurs has been documented by CNN and other media outlets, had Birkenhead's David Keogan flat on the canvas within the first eight seconds of the contest. Almost before the final tones of the opening had faded, Ali had stormed from his corner and nailed Keogan with a hard right, a stiff left, and a sweeping right hook that floored him. Keogan went down two more times in the fight's first minute, each time the result of staccato combinations of multiple blows finished off with wicked rights. Referee Ken Curtis looked willing to give Keogan yet another chance when he was knocked down for a fourth time just past the minute mark, but when he observed Ali preparing to pounce in to deliver even more damage, and Keogan's obvious inability to defend himself from same, he waved off the contest 67 seconds into it. Ali, nearly breathless with excitement afterwards, surprised himself with his performance. He certainly delighted his flag-waving and very vocal supporters, and wowed the rest of the appreciative crowd as well. "I really enjoyed it," he enthused. "I thought I might knock him out, but not in the first round. Maybe the second or third round, but not so quickly. "I wasn't thinking about the knockout. Knockouts come on their own. I just always work myself very hard in the gym, and I concentrate on what I set myself to do until I get it done. "I'm happy to get off to a good start - Iraq could use someone right now to represent our country well to the rest of the world." (So could America and Britain - Ed.) The penultimate fight on the bill was an entirely more competitive affair. Gokhan Kazaz scored a narrow 59-57 win over Anthony Young that was so close that at the final bell, both fighters rushed at referee Curtis with a fist in the air. But it was Kazaz's arm that Curtis seized to indicate victory, to Young's chagrin. The compact Turkish southpaw used the power in his left hand to land hard body shots throughout the early going, and consistently managed to get off first throughout the opening rounds of the fight. But Young showed the ability to fight back, and drove Kazaz into the ropes at the end of the second round, pounding away while weathering some solid counter shots. The middle two rounds were very close, and the pace of action waned a bit over the six-minute span. The fifth, however, was nearly disastrous for Kazaz. He dropped his gum shield 30 seconds into the round and before Curtis could call for a break in the action to replace it, Young had turned Kazaz's mouth into a bloody mess. Kazaz continued to bleed profusely throughout the round. By the end of it, he was blinking blood from his eyes that had been spattered upwards by the force of Young's blows. Young won the round decisively. But Kazaz's corner managed to stem the crimson tide before the start of the final round, the first half of which found both fighters leaning on each other and slugging away. Young landed a couple of nice combinations, but Kazaz scored with a solid overhand right. Kazaz seemed to realise that punching room was what was called for, and he increased the distance between himself and Young during the round's final half. Kazaz asserted his advantage at that point, getting the better of Young but only by the slimmest. The post-fight appeal to Curtis was not a ploy - both fighters certainly had the right to feel that they had possibly won the fight. But Curtis' call was the correct one. He was also right in another, mildly unpopular, decision. Silence Saheed broke an 11-fight winless streak with a 39-37 decision over Mark McCullough, who had come in with three straight wins. Saheed deserved the victory if for no other reason than he dictated the terms of the fight--which was a brawling, no-defence-on-the-agenda affair with heavy punches on both sides launched from unlikely angles and distances. Saheed got the better of that, by a narrow margin, and looked much more comfortable doing it than did McCullough. An entertaining contest it was, with spectators wondering who would walk into the other's fist first. Fortunately for both, neither was terribly accurate or the fight would have needed far less than the four rounds it consumed. Pat McAleese recovered from a stunning second-round knockdown to stop Steve Cooper in his debut. McAleese dominated the first round behind stinging left jabs early, and a series of overhand rights to head and hooks to the body later. McAleese began the second round in like fashion, scorching Cooper repeatedly with hard combinations. But around 40 seconds in, Cooper drilled McAleese with a clubbing right to the forehead that sent him tumbling arse over teakettle into the ropes. McAleese popped up quickly, however, and proceeded to batter Cooper for the rest of the second, and for most of the round and a half that remained after that. Cooper's corner called a halt to it at 1:10 of the fourth, throwing in the towel after seeing him take a stunning left and then an eye-crossing right immediately in front of his own corner. A couple of other fighters were given a chance to get a bit of pro experience, making their debuts against a pair of long-time opponents. Featherweight Ian Bailey beat Delroy Spencer, winless now in his last 35 pro fights, 59-55 over six two-minute rounds. And Danny Chamberlain used his significant height advantage to frustrate Karl Taylor, who is working on a 45-fight losing streak, over six rounds of a light-welter contest. The afternoon's fifth debut winner was Mark Douglas in an altogether more interesting affair. He was paired up with unusually tall welterweight Nathan Weise of Thamesmead, owner of a win and a draw in his first two fights. The tone of the fight was set before the bell. Douglas waited for Weise in the ring during introductions, and when he entered, Douglas got in his face immediately. The two fighters staged a head-on-head pushing contest that lasted for several seconds before referee Marcus McDonald could separate them. Douglas was all up in Weise's grill just as quickly after the opening bell. The first round resembled an odd, slow-motion race. It consisted of Douglas spending nearly the entire round backing Weise around the ring, landing blows all the while. The fighters completed at least five full clockwise circuits over the three minutes, Douglas constantly advancing and Weise retreating. Douglas nailed Weise with a hard body shot in the corner midway in the round that caused Weise to momentarily stop fighting and appeal for an eight-count or some other respite. But Douglas was having none of it, chasing immediately after Weise once again. A bludgeoning left-right combo had Weise nearly horizontal over the ropes late in the round. Twice later in the fight Weise again dropped his guard and indicated he was in pain, both times grabbing his left shoulder after hard shots from Douglas. It was primarily Weise's pride that was hurt during the fourth and last round, when Douglas nailed him once again, knocking him down for a real eight-count for the only time in the fight. That may have woken up Weise, whose corner had been imploring him throughout the fight to throw more punches. He landed several attention-getting lefts after the knockdown, but it was far too little, too late. Douglas explained his single-minded pursuit tactics afterwards. "(Weise) had longer arms and all that," he said. "So I had to get close. I knew I had to close him down, so that's what I wanted to do." And that he indeed did, to secure a 40-35 win.

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