Johanneson Lifts Central Area Title in Style. by Paul Concannon Sep 25th 2005

Leeds' Carl ‘Ingemar' Johanneson lifted the Central Area Super-Featherweight title in an impressive, one-sided display against late substitute Peter Allen of Birkenhead. The end came with just over one minute left on the clock in the eighth round. Allen had been a substitute for the former champion, Eddie Nevins, who's now vacant title was on the line today. Many were expecting a knockover job as Allen entered with unflattering statistics that read 4-25-1. None the less, he provided a reasonable test for Johanneson, doggedly sticking to the task, and digging to the body every chance he got. After dominating the first three rounds with blurring hand-speed, Carl finally hurt Allen with a combination on the ropes in the fourth, before ripping in uppercuts from both hands to seal his domination at the bell. The bout then followed a predictable pattern, as Johanneson hit the willing Allen with thudding jabs, whizzing right hands, double and treble hooks and whizzing uppercuts. It was an artful display from the talented and laser accurate local man, and the bout became increasingly one-sided as he counter-punched a clinic, round after round – with the highlights punches coming in far more rapid succession than my pen could keep up with - looking down to make a quick note, I could easily miss a blizzard from the Leeds man. Entering the eigth, Allen, whose nose appeared to be broken, or at best damaged, came out throwing glory-seeking hooks and had some success to the body. Almost as soon as he had found a small foothold, Johanneson got straight back down to blitzing him with combinations, and got him in trouble against the ropes near a neutral corner. With many in the crowd screaming for it to be stopped, Allen's corner wisely threw the towel in on the 1 minute 55 second mark. Referee Micky Vann accepted the retirement without pause. The win seals the local man's second title of sorts in a record now reading 21-2 (14), as Johanneson has previously held the WBF trinket prior to a shocking KO 1 defeated to Leva Kirakosyan last December. This bout was his third straight stoppage win and a British title crack against Edinburgh's Alex Arthur seems a realistic possibility sometime late in 2006. Pick of the undercard saw Leeds' Middleweight Darren Rhodes get back to winning ways in a lively six rounder against Warley super-veteran Howard Clarke. Howard supplied one of his lively showings to give Rhodes a decent test in front of his own fans, but Darren looked sharp and fresh after losing three on the bounce against top-level opposition. Rhodes took a 60-56 verdict in a sporting 6 rounder and showed he still had something to offer. Rhodes indicated to me afterwards he is no hurry to race straight back to top level, Darren refused to name names, and said he needed a couple more bouts of the Howard Clarke variety before thinking about titles, be that at Light-middle or Middle; sensible thinking from a man who has been matched in nothing but decent class in the last three years. Earlier in the evening, Leeds' Danny Thornton boxed a purposeful bout against Worksop's tricky and dangerous Simeon Cover, mixing in boxing with slugging, and taking a few tasty counters on the way in. Thornton came away with a well-received 58-56 win in a lively battle. A Welter six-rounder earlier in the evening saw Dewsbury's popular Steve Conway beat Worcester journeyman Leeroy Williamson over six. Conway mixed in neat boxing with one or two lively bursts per round, while Leeroy covered up well and fought back when he could. Conway took a 60-55 decision. Former ABA champion Gavin Smith, back after his first defeat in August, boxed beautifully against Ernie Smith in a Light Middleweight six-rounder. Gavin blazed away, throwing poison darts at the tough Midlands journeyman for six rounds, only to be rewarded with nothing more than a baffling draw that had the crowd and his corner in uproar. Ernie was brave, and hit back through all six, but seemed to have lost by a decent margin. Either way, it goes into the record books as a 58-58 draw. I felt sorry for referee Kevin Durrand who seemed genuinely surprised at the derision he received, but it did seem like a bad call. The positives for Gavin were, he got a decent workout, fought well despite getting stuck in more than he needed to (which may have cost him as he was nailed by the odd shot as he stood and fought) and at least he didn't come away with a second mark in the L column. As for Ernie, this is a guy who gets few breaks. While it's tough to begrudge him a share of the spoils, truthfully he was lucky. Heavyweights Lee Mountford of Leeds and Dave Clark of Blackpool closed the show. Mountford bagged a 39-37 verdict in a four rounder. All in all, it was an entertaining card from the Rick Manners who next promotes at the same venue on 25th October with Johanneson again to headline.

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