Truscott bounces back from disaster as Jones & Ward get back to winning ways. by Paul Concannon Oct 1st 2006

Darlington-based light-middleweight ‘Fearless' Frannie Jones, showed no ill-effects from a stoppage defeat last time out in winning a decision over six-twos against old opponent Ben Hudson at the Eston Sports Academy on Saturday night. As expected, Hudson came with his usual solid effort, which by turns is stern, stubborn, good natured and durable. He whaled away early in the first, bulldozing Jones into the ropes, landing one decent left hook before looking for the body with another barrage moments later. Jones remained calm under the onslaught and quickly set about controlling the pace, moving the action into ring centre and working his jab followed by a stiff right hand. Hudson began his usual antics, smiling, talking to Jones and mixing in a little showboating, perhaps earning the session with another body attack. Hudson's antics earned him a polite ticking-off in between rounds from the referee, to which the sporting battler responded with an agreeable nod of the head. Jones came out for the second behind the jab and after absorbing one of Hudson's left hooks, stood his ground and pumped in a nice barrage culminating with a stiff right cross to the head. Jones skilfully bossed the remainder of the round with stinging left jabs and eye-catching single shots, including one notable left uppercut followed by a right-cross, left hook combination to secure a good round two. Jones continued to gain in confidence as the fight progressed, gradually picking apart the dead-game visitor, turning his attack downstairs and visibly hurting Hudson to the body on a few occasions. On my card, his greater industry earned him the next three rounds, but Hudson was always dangerous with hooks and the odd flurry to keep things interesting. Jones boxed smartly in the final round, using his jab and whipping in more lefts and rights to the body, as Hudson tucked up and hit back at every opportunity, at one stage, even advising the Darlington fighter, “Throw the uppercut!” Referee Andrew Wright scored the entertaining bout 59-57 to Jones, and Hudson, one of the true characters of the UK circuit was quick to add, “You have improved a lot, just remember to keep your chin down!” Darlington bantamweight Isaac ‘Argie' Ward, back from a brave British title defeat to Martin Power in May, looked strong, accurate and at times powerful in taking a six twos decisions victory over Shrewsbury southpaw Neil Marston. Not known as a banger, the local fighter fought with urgency and aggression against the flighty Marston, who for the most part skimmed the ring perimeter, working his right jab, while looking to counter with his nagging southpaw left. Ward did the cleaner, heavier work in all of the rounds, and finished strongly, flooring Marston with a thumping right in the fourth and rattling him with big combinations in each of the last two rounds. It was a satisfactory night's work for Ward, who looked sharp and hungry. He collected a 59-54 decision. Reportedly, featherweight prospect Paul Truscott had, personally, sold somewhere in the region of 300 tickets for his second paid outing on Saturday's PJ Promotion card in Middlesbrough. It was easy to believe; Truscott, who as an amateur had fought at international level, raised the Eston Sports Academy roof with a rousing four round decision victory over Walsall's useful Steve Gethin. This was no redundant prospect versus journeyman affair, in fact, Truscott and Gethin put on fight of the night. After a deafening welcome into the ring, the local quickly made it clear he was in no mood to disappoint his raucous hometown faithful, setting about the experienced Midland fighter from the off. Displaying quick hands and vicious body punching, the North East prospect whipped in rapid, accurate, perfectly placed combinations to the visitor's head and body. Gethin is a durable and sometimes dangerous performer. It's taken the likes of Steve Foster Jr, Amir Khan & Derry Matthews to put him away inside the distance, yet the Walsall battler, having his 35th outing, was already looking fraught by the ferocity of the onslaught. Midway through the opener Gethin emerged with a cut under his right eye and found his misery further compounded when being forced to eat a cluster of jarring uppercuts later in the round. I made a note, ‘G (Gethin) taking a beating' just prior to the bell. With the all the leather coming his way, and the partisan intensity of the crowd, it was difficult not to feel more than a little sorry for the brave visitor. The second began in a similar fashion, with Truscott unleashing eye-catching, hurtful-looking artillery up and down, while Gethin battled back as best he could. It seemed just matter of time before Gethin would wilt, when suddenly he countered a combination with a perfectly-placed left hook, buckling the local prospect in ring centre, duly sending a collective shudder through Truscott's bloodthirsty supporters. Paul's knee had only narrowly missed connecting with the canvas; he had been perilously close to suffering his first pro knockdown. Relying on quick hands and feet, the youngster quickly regained his composure and to the delirium of his followers, continued his stylish onslaught, pouring on more combinations before backing Gethin up against the ropes with another big attack. Gethin remained composed then quickly countered Truscott with a pair of sweet left hooks, the first one hurt, but the second was almost disastrous, heavily flooring Truscott for referee Andrew Wright's mandatory count. This time he had tasted the canvas for real, and this was no flash knockdown either, he had been hit and hurt, and did well to see out the remainder of the round without further incident. The third was another exciting round, which saw Truscott back on the attack, and the composed Gethin blasting back with the odd counter and occasional flurry. Truscott's greater accuracy and workrate won him this round and the next. He finally appeared to have the brave visitor wilting with uppercuts towards the end of the final round. Gethin had provided demanding resistance; his heart and courage under fire had been exceptional. Referee Wright's scorecard of 38-37 for Truscott appeared spot-on, but he won't want too many wars like this so early in his career. Other results: Jonjo Finnegan W PTS 6 Dave Pearson. Army man Pearson from Middlesbrough seemed a touch unfortunate to drop a close verdict to old foe Finnegan. Finnegan had twice bested him in close encounters in the Midlands, but a good start and decent finish seemed to have given Pearson a slight edge on my card. Referee Mark Curry thought otherwise, and awarded the 59-57 victory to the Burton fighter, presumably rewarding the visitor's cleaner, if less frequent, work. Chris Burton W RSF 5 István Kecskés. Darlington heavyweight Burton scores the night's only inside the distance victory, albeit on a cut eye, over Wolverhampton based Hungarian Kecskés. Burton boxed well enough behind a heavy jab and high guard, while Kecskés enthusiastically punched back with wide hooks. Burton was just about in charge when a nasty cut over the visitor's right eye forced the stoppage. Kecskés provided a reasonable test. Ringside notes. Michael Hunter on his November world title bout with Steve Molitor: “Molitor's world class and has been for a while, but I have arrived up in world class now too. “People have been saying it's a boxer versus slugger fight, but forget I boxed a very high standard as an amateur and that's because wearing people down and stopping them has proved effective so far in the pro game, but you can expect to see a lot of skilful boxing from me in future – trust me, people haven't seen the best of me yet!” His prediction? “A good tear-up!” Frannie Jones on Hudson, Elwell and the future: “I want to be a British champion; okay so I had that setback last time out to Elwell, but I still have the burning desire to be champion – and you only have to look at Matthew Macklin's inspirational effort last night to see how far desire can take you. “Right now, I would love to fight Matthew Hatton, Elwell and Ali Nuumbembe to avenge my career losses – I'm not one for excuses, but I dropped a stone in weight for Nuumbembe and wasn't at my best, and then fought Hatton straight afterwards which with hindsight I shouldn't have done. “As for Elwell (who shockingly stopped Jones in a round last time out), he's a great guy, he even texted me today to wish me all the best, and does hit hard, he left me with a right headache last time! “Don't get me wrong, I think Nuumembe, Elwell and Hatton are excellent boxers and I wish them all success, but, want to box them again because I feel I didn't do myself justice.” Photos by Paul Knox - www.om-shantiphotography.co.uk/

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