Teague Tops Wallace in Title Cracker by Paul Concannon Dec 6th 2005

Grimsby's Matthew Teague survived some early fireworks from local man, Danny Wallace, to lift the vacant Central Area and British Master's featherweight titles in Leeds last night. In the early going, it appeared Wallace, now 7-4-1, looked primed to overwhelm the neat-boxing visitor. Danny, who weighed 8 stone 13 and a half pounds, launched himself at Teague and appeared to hurt him with a combination before following up with a blistering attack, finding the Grimsby man's head time and time again as he applied pressure on the ropes near a neutral corner. It briefly appeared as though Teague, now 9-2-1 and weighing in at 8 stone 12 and a half pounds, would be overwhelmed from the ferocity of the onslaught. Instead, Matthew remained composed, eventually jabbing his way off the ropes and steadily firing back. Teague, claiming ring centre, landed a nice left hook to the body. After a brief skirmish, he landed another neat left hook to the body only to absorb a combination downstairs himself moments later. Teague ended an excellent round on top, scoring with a neat flurry. On my card, Teague had done enough to pull the round level, just, after a rocky start. Teague, a stylish boxer, seems to lack power, but he more than makes up for it with accuracy and a steady workrate. He started off the second in an aggressive manner, moving his head skilfully and clipping Wallace with neat combinations and stiff rights over the top for the majority of the round. Danny fought back bravely; attacking the body late in the round, but for the most part was outworked. He already appeared to be looking for a big punch as Teague's light but flashy combinations went in. Teague eyeballed Danny after the bell, as if to say, “I'm still here” after his opponent's explosive start to the bout. The pattern continued through the next two rounds, with most of the action taking place in ring centre, and Teague, boxing beautifully, outworking Wallace for the most part. Danny, a stylish boxer in his own right, would occasionally break up Teague's streams of combinations with a thumping right cross, and some nasty looking left hooks to the body, but for the most part appeared to be waiting that bit too long. Wallace, half-brother of super-featherweight contender Carl Johanneson, fought a more purposeful fifth round, landing three very decent rights during Teague's busy spells, and he certainly did enough to gain a share of the round on my card. The problem for Danny was that Teague was showing a capacity to take his best punches and keep coming, all the while throwing and landing more leather. Teague had another good round in the sixth, looking in the driving seat as he powered in behind his stiff left jab, with the harder-hitting Wallace now in the roll of counter-puncher, hitting back as best he could. I had Teague taking the next two rounds also, and he was now in a healthy lead on mine, and as it turned out, Micky Vann's official cards. I made notes in both of these rounds, ‘Danny waiting too long' and to add to his woes, the talented local found his mouthpiece knocked out towards the end of the latter round. Knowing he needed to make something happen, Wallace really proved his mettle in round nine, going toe to toe with Teague in the early going and at one point catching him with his head in the air, landing several jarring shots to the delight of his fans, then ending the round with several thumping right crosses to give local fans hope that he could yet turn things back in his favour. Teague came back strongly in the final round, and the two little warriors delighted the house by going punch for punch in a thrilling finale to an excellent battle. The referee scored 97-93 for the visitor. Wallace was philosophical after the defeat, accepting that his strong start may have hurt him, as he then spent too much time looking for the one big punch. It would make a great return some time in 2006. The first bout of the evening was an entertaining 6 x 2's at Light-Middle featuring the debut of Scarborough's former amateur standout, Ryan Ashworth, who weighed in at eleven stones 2 and a half pounds, against Nottingham's useful Omar Gumati, who weighted 11 stone three pounds. The bout would prove to be a tough baptism for the well-supported Ashworth, as Gumati, back after a two-year lay-off, battled back from a slow start to take him down to the wire. The first belonged to Ashworth, who worked steadily the whole round, keeping Gumati on the defence, setting a high tempo, landing combinations as his opponent used the ring, looking for room to work his neat counters. The second was a back and forth round, with each swapping the upper hand and one very good left uppercut connecting for the Nottingham man late in the round. I couldn't separate them. The skilful Gumati, a boxer with a touch of the Brendan Ingle about his work, edged a quieter third, making Ashworth miss frequently, and jabs and a neat looking uppercut before the bell. It was from that point that the bout, for me at least, seemed to slip from Ashworth a touch. His bustling aggression was no longer having the same effect on Gumati who stood his ground and hit back well. Ashworth was sent reeling backwards in the fifth from a combination, and Gumati seemed to do the cleaner work as the Scarborough man tired in the last. I had Gumati a 58-57 winner, Mickey Vann, who officiated throughout scored for the Yorkshireman by the same margin. Either way, it was an excellent test for the Scarborough battler, and like the main event would make a good return. The second of three bouts on Keith Walker's packed out dinner show would prove to be the slugfest of the night. Wakefield's popular and energetic Mark ‘Mad' Franks overcame a demanding test from Nottingham based Rwandan Simone ‘Lucky' Lucas. In a light-middleweight bout scheduled over 6 x 2's, Franks survived some rocky moments in the early going to pull out a dramatic final round stoppage. Franks, in trademark fashion, started quickly looking for a thumping right hand to the body, but found himself clipped with one fast right as he banged away enthusiastically. Lucas did an excellent job of keeping his distance, making Franks miss with some whizzing left hooks and edging a tense opener. Lucas worked his jab well in the second, and it was clear the well-schooled African was showing Mark, an explosive slugger with no amateur experience, a few things he hadn't seen before in a 3-1-1 (2) career. As if sensing that he had a hazardous puzzle in front of him, Franks was more thoughtful in his approach in round two, but after absorbing some stinging uppercuts, reverted to form and went straight back on the attack. Lucas countered with a combination that knocked Franks backwards and seemed briefly to trouble him, and then seemed to get the better on an exciting exchange before the bell to go 2-0 up on my card. The Wakefield man showed courage and greater industry to take the third, despite shipping some solid rights in the early going, he boxed with a greater regard for the hectic leather coming his way. He capped his best round with a thumping right over the top before the bell. The fourth was another exciting round. Franks, who weighed 11-3, blasting away with combinations as Lucas, who weighed 11-1 and 4 oz, countered effectively off the ropes, landing one excellent flurry. Marked picked a peach of a right hand at the end of the round and his greater workrate seemed to earn him a share of the session. After a cagier fifth, I had it all to play for coming out for the last, and the local man responded in style, trading combinations early before forcing Lucas to the ropes and blazing away. After the referee separated them from a clinch, Lucas unravelled suddenly and dramatically. He simply dropped his arms and sagged, much to the bemusement of Franks. At this point it was unclear if the Nottingham man was simply employing a little kidology to sucker his opponent on to a big punch. Mark, clearly perplexed, motioned to the referee to rescue Lucas, but was quickly waved back in to put a formal finish to proceedings. Vann waved off the brawl at 56 seconds with Lucas defenceless next to his own corner. Apparently, this is not the first time he has capitulated in such dramatic fashion, and his team will need to look at whether these late fades stem from physical or perhaps a mental crisis during moments of high drama – Lucas had fought well but seemed sold-out at the finish. For the likeable Franks, originally from Cheltenham, the bout should prove an excellent learning experience, “It wasn't pretty,” the bruised winner told me seconds after leaving the ring. True but it was exciting. All in all, it had been an excellent night's boxing, featuring three evenly matched and competitive bouts. Keith Walker promoted and the guest of honour was former WBO Middle and Super –Middleweight champion Steve Collins.

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

Friend name: Friend email: Your name: Your email:   Privacy Statement

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.