O'Loughlin gets back on the winning track by Mike Pendegast Jun 23rd 2008

Although Hull has enjoyed recent success in football, last night was the turn of top class professional boxing. Carl Greaves, and The Wilberforce Sporting Club, presented an excellent dinner show and evenings entertainment in the Kingston Suite, at the magnificent K.C. Stadium. Barnsley's middle weight, Jason Smith, challenged Hull debutant Harry Mathews, in what was to become a very impressive first bout for the local fighter. Smith almost ran into the centre of the ring at the sound of the first bell, creating an explosive opening session. With the more superior head movement, Mathews managed to avoid most of the barrage and regain composure, stepping off and taking a precious moment to think boxing. With Jason remaining quite rigid and Harry relaxing and settling into the contest, it didn't take a genius to realise which of the two was more at ease with the occasion. The straight, solid jab of Smith began to make a mark on the score card, but the weaving motion of Mathews gave chance for a crack in his opponents guard to deliver a very accurate over hand right, which seemed fool proof. The local pugilist began to work downstairs as he ducked the Barnsley brawler's effective lead shot, forcing the pair to smother each others progress and tangle up in the neutral corner. Appearing the heavier boxer, Jason had Harry in trouble from time to time with his come forward attitude and determination, but Mathews' ghost like trickery frustrated Smith, causing him to lock out his reach and hit thin air. The display of fitness was incredible as the bout entered the latter stage and Smith's durability became very apparent as an all out war was declared. Mathews took control and remained focused to put his first opportunity, as a pro, deservedly in the bag. 60-55 Popular Hull light heavy, Phil Goodwin, met the experienced Dave Pearson who is a serving soldier. Pearson towered over Goodwin and had a far more lengthy reach, which in amateur may be of an advantage, but not in the pro game, as Phil went on to prove. After a recent visit to Gleason's Gym in New York, Phil has been training with world class operators, and it has paid dividends. With Dave not using height and reach to his advantage and Phil progressively closing the Middlesbrough fighter down, the contest was almost one sided. Goodwin was caught by a nice, clean jab every so often which was to be expected owing to the biomechanics of the event, but his movement led the opposition a merry dance. Michael Alexander stopped the fight in 1 minute and 39 seconds of the second round, after the home boxer crippled Pearson with a peach of a body shot and then unleashed in the corner with no reply. Hull heavyweight, Dean O'Loughlin showcased the bill against Preston's Howard Daley. With Daley holding a cut eye win over Hull's very own Tony Booth, coach, Jimmy Phelan was as eager as the crowd for revenge. When Jimmy was in the peak of his career, he lived with Junior Witter and Esham Pickering, and cooked for everyone in the house. Holding catering and nutrition qualifications, he has guided O'Loughlin through to decent physique, dropping from 19st to 16st 10lb. The opening round saw Daley holding Dean's left arm on the blind side of the ref, restricting the flow of the local man. O'Loughlin bent his knees and delivered some powerful uppercuts as Howard kept looking towards the canvas. Dean moved quickly for his weight and Howard came forward and occasionally broke through with a blistering over hand right. The Hull man's footwork was outstanding for this division and provided space for a nice left, right rhythm for the Preston fighter to, unfortunately, keep walking onto. Why Daley's corner was shouting, “Hit him in the chest”, is still a mystery. As both contestants tired in the later stages, O'Loughlin used his natural ability and instinct to avoid haymakers from every angle. A stoppage was eminent when the third man in the ring was ordering Howard to do some work in the sixth. A points win was declared in favour of Dean O'Loughlin, after a hard nights graft and display of bravery.

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Hit him in the chest? Jul 4th 2008, 07:42:26 by demolitiondaley@aol. My corner were shouting stick to his chest, meaning stay inside thereby negating the distinct reach advantage that Dean had on me.