As usual, Sports Network produced an elongated undercard, this time consisting of nine fights, the majority of which held the attention and at least two of which produced fireworks worthy of main event status.

Perhaps the performance of the undercard was that of Welterweight 'sleeper' Mike Jennings, of Chorley, Lancashire. He faced Barnsley veteran and huge puncher Chris Saunders (10st 6.5lbs), who was defending his English Welterweight Title. Saunders came out of his corner in a purposeful manner as the contest got underway, looking to fire his dangerous straight left, thrown from the southpaw stance. Jennings was obviously weary of the Yorkshire man’s power and prodded with 1-2 combinations from well outside range. Jennings appeared slightly open to Sanders left handed threat and was indeed caught and decked by one of these sledgehammer blows towards the round's end.

The Ingle fighter sports a statistically unimpressive record of 22-21-1 (11 KOs) but is as dangerous and cagey as they come and is the veteran of many wars at title level. He won the English title by catching the unprepared Marcus Portman knapping. Those who underestimate Saunders threat will quite often leave the ring the victim of a knockout defeat. Jennings was determined not to go he way of Portman and battled back well.

The second round was more circumspect from both men, as they fell short with their punches in the main. Saunders was loading up with his honey punch, trying to repeat the success of the opener, whilst the undefeated Chorley boxer attempted to box his way back into the fight, only opening up with a flurry of shots towards the bell to end the round.

The third saw a fully recovered Jennings begin to fight on the front foot with more purpose and confidence. Jennings had the majority of his success with the straight right hand, long considered by trainers as the perfect punch to catch a left handed foe with. Jennings advanced on his veteran foe but was reminded of how dangerous Saunders could be by a sharp left hook. Jennings ended the round looking to land left hooks of his own. He seemed to have shaken the shock of suffering an early knock down and was getting into his boxing groove.

The forth saw a similar pattern continue as Jennings advanced and managed to knock Saunders head back with a well timed straight right. Jennings moved well and placed his shots. Upon landing another right hand punch Jennings attacked with a sustained flurry. It was evident now that Saunders was doing less but the proud warrior, bleeding from the nose, was unbowed.

By the fifth Saunders was draping his lead arm in an effort to sucker the local man onto one of his howitzer blows but 'The Lurcher' was too cute. Saunders had picked up a cut to his right eye along the way and was now getting forced to the ropes by the fast-rising prospect. By the end of the fifth Jennings had now won his forth round in a row and was beginning to dominate. During the intermission, Saunders was wisely retired by his corner, due to the facial damage he had picked up. Saunders' best chance to win the contest had passed and he was getting caught with unnerving regularity. Jennings, now 24-0 (10 KOs), has well and truly left the nursery slopes behind. Early in his career the majority of his fights went the full route but he can now sit down on his punches well enough to command respect and should be moved on to significant fight in the domestic Welterweight mix up.

Manchester's answer to Jonny Tapia, Michael Gomez, defended his WBU Super Featherweight bauble in another excellent match on the card. He was facing mystery man Leva Kirakosyan of Russia. Whilst little was known about him before the bout, his early knock out of Italy's Giuseppe Lauri indicated that this was not another Justin Juuko mis-match in the making. Gomez, real name Armstrong, was decked out in knee length Green, White and Gold shorts in homage to his Irish routes. This Manchester-Irish man always comes to fight and is a ball of aggression, he is on a permanent seek and destroy mission.

This contest was to be no exception and the champion trundled forward from the off, hunched over, gloves held close to his chin, oozing menace. His foe was a far more mobile fighter, who took the first round to have a look at what Gomez had to offer, occasionally moving in close to test his strength. Kirakosyan had plenty of speed and held an edge over Gomez in this department, whilst Gomez appeared to have the superior jab. Gomez walked the Russian to the ropes in the second round, where they exchanged hooking shots to the body. The visitor looked happy to entertain Gomez, 31-5 (21 KOs), in close quarters work, but that was surely a mistake with this phone box warrior? The visitor sagged back onto the ropes whilst coming under sustained pressure and caught a clean left hook on the bell.

Kirakosyan, 13-3 (6 KOs) began to back off more by the third round and ripped in quick flurries before retreating. Gomez undoubtedly had the heavier hands, but Kirakosyan caught him with a good right as the round came to an end. Gomez stared hard at his foe as the round ended but the Russian was not going to be intimidated. The local started to use his very good jab to better effect by the forth. The visitor was open mouthed and appeared to be blowing hard, but this could well have been a tactic, because when he let his punches go, he looked to have plenty left in the tank.

Gomez looked to trap his prey on the ropes once again in the fifth, landing a strong right cross to good effect. Kirakosyan was still a quick handed, dangerous foe and caught the Mancunian with a hard right hand, which momentarily froze the champion. Gomez retreated to the ropes and ignored pleads from the crowd to hold on, its just not his style. Kirakosyan went on the offensive and looked to take his opportunity but Gomez battled back. The round ended with both men throwing punches, but the import had certainly made his mark.

Gomez responded in the style of a champion in the sixth round and scored cleanly with a classy left uppercut, which snapped the Eastern block fighter's head back. Gomez's jab, his best weapon when used correctly, forced the Russian into retreat but the visitor was clever and Gomez had to eat a left hook for his efforts. Gomez's greater strength was beginning to tell and Kirakosyan slipped to the mat whilst attempting to throw a combination. The champion had re-established his control of the contest but it still came as a surprise when the Russian corner retired their charge at the end of the session. Gomez celebrated with his corner, relieved to have come through a surprisingly tough test.

Gomez is at his physical peak and has been calling out for a challenge with the elite of the division for some time. Now would be an ideal time to make such a match as he is unlikely to improve much technically at this stage, but with his fighting spirit and skill set, he has enough to give most a real fight.

Come-backing Scouse veteran Gary Thornhill, faced off against English Featherweight Champion Stephen Foster Jnr in the other title fight on the card. Thornhill, old for the weight at 36, looked in excellent shape as the introductions took place. He had obviously trained diligently for this opportunity to re-invigorate his championship career, but he was facing one of the division's rising stars in Steve Foster Jnr, 16-0 (10 KOs). Foster opened with hands held high, looking to avoid an early rush from the hard punching Liverpudlian. Thornhill attacked the body in the early going and neither wasted any time getting down to business. The opener was close, with Foster doing a little more but both looked fast and sharp. As the round ended they squared up and the crowd knew they were in for a good match.

The second saw some good exchanges, and Foster got Thornhill's attention with a left hook that appeared to momentarily shake his rival. There were hard exchanges and neither man appeared willing to give ground. Thornhill did appear to be tiring from the hectic pace set. The third round saw both men boxing from close range and utilising tight guards in order to avoid damage. The forth saw the combatants continue to exchange shots in close. This was a punishing fight punctuated by hard, brutal exchanges. Both winner and loser would know they had been in a fight the following morning.

In the fifth round Foster landed his left hook to Thornhill's head twice, sending spray flying. Thornhill (8st 13lbs) was still throwing plenty, however, in this war of attrition. Foster was carrying damage under his right eye and landed a clean left hook to his foe's chin, but, ominously, it had no discernable effect. Foster was pressing the action by the sixth and landed with a right hand-left hook combination, whilst the challenger is doing less. A left hook from Foster steadied Thornhill and the Salford native followed up. A jab/uppercut from the local man landed cleanly twice and there is needle between the two at the round's close.

Thornhill, 24-4-1 (11 KOs) coming in, attacked in the seventh and looked to bully Foster but the champion responded. Foster (8st 13lbs) looked to move in-between combinations and landed a solid left hook to the body. The Tornado was not blown out yet, however, and he fought back with a three-punch combination followed by body shots. Foster retaliated in kind with hooks from both hands to the head. It was a great ending to a round. Foster took over in the eighth and was repeatedly finding a home for his lead left hook. It was in fact one of these punches to the head that dropped his Lancastrian rival for a count, from which Thornhill rose on unsteady feet.

Foster was landing more freely on his depleted foe in the ninth and final stanza, with a two-punch combination landing cleanly to the head. Foster was swinging for the fences by this point, looking for a commendable stoppage victory, which he eventually attained. A right hand to the head dropped Thornhill, from which he bravely rose. As Foster followed up he sunk in a left hook to Thornhill's side, which saw the Liverpudlian drop to his knees. It was at this point that trainer Colin Moorcroft had seen enough and threw in the towel to save Gary from his own bravery. Youth had been served and Foster emerged victorious and with his title intact. He will not forget in a hurry, however, the brave challenge put forth by a proud former champion in ‘The Tornado’ Thornhill.

Ricky Hatton’s younger brother was in action early in the evening and emerged victorious from his 8 round bout with Chris Aston’s charge, Lee Armstrong, by a score of 78-75 pts on the referee’s card. Hatton landed the majority of the significant blows in this low-key affair but Armstrong made him work hard for the victory with his aggressive, if predictable attacks. Hatton looks good in these area level encounters but will be put to the test when he eventually steps up to tackle the best Welterweights domestically.

Paul Smith picked up an impressive win with his summary dismissal of Walsall’s Jason Collins. Collins, recently adjudged a controversial points winner over prospect Matthew Thirwall, was never at the races. Collins usually relies on great reserves of strength rather then technical ability and on this occasion Smith found his chin all too readily. After initial feeling-out exchanges Smith caught Collins with his chin too high and laid him out with a combination to the head. It shows the potential of the former Commonwealth medalist and demonstrated clearly that he is ready to be stepped up in his competition level.

Andy Morris, from Bob Shannon’s Gym in Manchester is another fighter on the rise. He once again show cased his blistering speed, movement and boxing skills, against Scarborough’s Chris Hooper ( both 9st 2lbs). Hooper came forward throughout the time which the contest lasted but was unable to catch the Wythenshawe speedster consistently. In the first two rounds it was all Morris and whilst he landed cleanly his lack of power was demonstrated by his inability to budge Hooper.

This was to change in the third round, when Morris teed off on Hooper and wobbled him with a straight right hand to the head. Several follow up right hand leads also found their mark and Hooper’s corner saw fit to throw the towel in, to the protestations of Hooper, at the 2min 14 second mark of the third round of this contest. Morris was boxing expertly, but will his lack of dig haunt him when he enters the championship fray?

Steve Bell (9st 4 ¾ lbs) had the unenviable task of following the main event, against Sheffield’s nimble and infuriating Daniel Thorpe, (9st 5lbs). Thorpe cornered by Brendan and Dominic Ingle, is a versatile fighter who is well schooled in the Ingle fighting system, but he appeared disinterested and without ambition for the majority of this six round run out.

Bell, a far more orthodox practitioner, had difficulty getting to grips with his foe’s unpredictable ring style and appeared to get frustrated as the rounds passed. Thorpe found himself on the deck a number of times from a variety of pushes, stumbles, low blows and other infractions. The referee instructed both men to clean it up on several occasions, but in the large part Thorpe was responsible for the stilted nature of the contest. Ingle did a wonderful job on trying to motivate a complaining Thorpe prior to the final round. He repeatedly pushed him in the chest to stay in his corner and Thorpe had to eventually propel himself centre ring to see out this messy affair. Bell won just about everything in registering a 59-54 pts win and will be glad to see the back of Thorpe.

The show closer showcased Liverpool prospect Tony Quigley (12st 4lbs) against Leigh Wicks of Brighton. (12st 5lbs). The near empty arena was subjected to four rounds devoid of highlights, with young Quigley pursuing the back pedaling Wicks but without the necessary vigor and intensity to land much of consequence. Quigley won everything whilst remaining patient and attempting to work behind a jab. It was a learning experience this early in his career and he ran out a 40-36 pts victor.

The show got under way with a commendable stoppage victory for Middleweight prospect Matthew Hall, who stopped Warley warhorse Howard Clarke in the fifth round. Due to the early show start time and heavy traffic I unfortunately missed this clash but it certainly bodes well for the local fighter’s prospects that he was able to finish off an experienced campaigner like Clarke before the final bell.