Symonds claims Masters Title

Sep 27th 2004 by

Even meeting for a quick Friday evening pre show drink, turned out to be even more interesting than normal, (come on I was meeting our very own Statto - Sorry Kev just joking!!!). While waiting at the bar I managed to grab a couple of words with newly crowned British light-middleweight champ, Wayne Alexander, who generally seemed pleased as punch (excuse the pun) and plans to be back in the ring prior to Christmas, hoping to win the Lonsdale outright in the immediate future and then possibly looking at a crack at Daniel Santos late next year.

On taking our seats who should be five yards away but British and Commonwealth Heavyweight champ Matt Skelton. More schmoozing and Matt is looking forward to getting back into action with his match up with Keith Long confirmed as the 19th November at the York hall.

We wish both fighters well and what nice blokes both! We hope to bring you some in depth articles on two of our domestic fistic front runners in the very near future.

Onto the action:

First up was a light-welterweight bout between Nathan Ward (6-2-0) from Reading and James Paisley (5-9-0) hailing from Belfast. Ward looked the much bigger man and the first round bore this out, Ward being the aggressor and pushing the pace, particularly targeting the body of the Irishman.

The second round saw Paisley cut over the left eye but undeterred he tried to box off the back foot and had a modicum of success, I had Ward up by both rounds though through his more effective mixing of shots to the body and head. The third stanza saw a change of tactics from Paisley as he stood his ground and mixed it somewhat more, doing just enough to nick the round. All down to the last then, Ward seemingly galvanised by the firmer resistance from his foe in the previous round came out banging, a decent right hook sending spray over us at ringside. Pressure was beginning to tell from Ward and the better and more consistent work. Referee Williams agreed raising Ward’s hand victorious by a margin of 39-37.

Next up was a middleweight clash over six two-minute rounds, between big ticket seller Jake Guntert of Oxford (2-0-0) and Neil Addis (0-6-0) from South Wales both weighing in at 11 stone 8 pounds. Guntert built like a pit-bull had the better of the opening round, the Welshman being forced back by his tormentor’s higher work rate and body punching. Gamely Addis fought back in the second enjoying more success, Guntert, I thought seemed to be so left hand happy I wondered if he is a natural Southpaw boxing orthodox. Problem with this is he is vulnerable to a counter right hook.

The third saw Jake go back to a bit more of a in and out boxing style, slowly working his man over and gaining the upper hand. The fourth was in a similar vein though Guntert started to wind up the uppercut as the openings began to present themselves. I feel that the rounds only being two minutes long did nothing to assist Jake as he did much of his best work in the latter part of the round, one feels over three minutes he could have forced a stoppage.

The fourth saw more of the same with Guntert mixing it up nicely though still showing vulnerability to the right cross and hook, by the fifth there was still some sporadic success for the South Wales man but much the better work coming from Guntert. It was during this round that a ramrod jab from the Oxford man connected flush on Aldiss’ nose and the crack was audible all the way round the venue. Obviously hindered and in some discomfort Adiss survived despite Guntert pressing hard through the final stanza to claim a 60—55 points victory.

A welterweight contest between Welling prospect Gary Woolcombe (8-0-0) and Geraint Harvey (2-6-0) of Pontypridd saw a shock start to the bout when the South Wales journeyman dropped Woolcombe in the first round.

Gary showed a great deal of composure to box his way back into the round and it was apparent that he was just caught cold, though over four rounds this could have proved a problem. Harvey came out looking to press home his shock first round advantage but the better work and slipping of punches came from the Welling lad, the third saw Woolcombe start to dominate a right to the ribs had the Welshman holding on and particularly impressive was the movement by Gary when pulling out of the clinch, he really upped his work rate and refused to fight Harvey’s fight. The final round and all to play for, Woolcombe was aware that he didn’t want the first indiscretion on his record looked to cement his victory and this he did using the same tactics of better hand speed movement and composure. 38-37 was a fair reflection of the fight and credit to both men.

Lee Cook of Morden had an interesting debut against Sri Lankan (now out of Balham) Jus Wallie (3-8-1). Cook fired fast hands in the first round and Wallie showing his usual agility to slip most of the shots, Cook doing just enough to take the opening round. As it turned out all of this would be immaterial as Wallie flexed his ankle in between rounds and visibly hopped whenever he had to move, the Sri Lankan forced to pull out due to an ankle injury midway through the second. A good scalp for Cook but it was difficult to appraise his performance under such circumstances but he certainly looked solid enough.

At this juncture the Master of Ceremonies took time out to introduce the attending British fighters including Ross Minter, former heavyweight champ Derek Williams, Elvis M (who was due to have fought on the card but his opponent dropped out) and of course Wayne and Matt, needless to say a rousing reception was given by the knowledgeable York Hall crowd.

Next up was the main event, for the British Masters Welterweight title, old campaigner Keith Jones of Cefn Hengoed, (trying saying that after a couple) 9-86-7 and young tearaway upstart Chas Symonds (10-0-0) of Croydon. Keith who has seen it all before was unfazed by the rapturous reception that Symonds enjoyed, obviously bringing a great deal of support from the southern suburbs! Symonds is a crowd pleaser all right, cheers and jeers rose as he eyeballed the Welshman during the introductions. Something tells me you need to do more than this to faze a wily old pro like Jones though.

The first round started off at a cracking pace, Jones as is his style covering up well while Symonds initially working off the jab looked to get his combinations off. Wheeling away to the body and head in typical “bomber” fashion, Jones slipped many of the headshots and showed a decent amount of ambition of his own. Undeniably though the early rounds belonged to the Croydon man.

During the second, Symonds had established his dominance and was really starting to unleash some stinging blows, mixing it up nicely to body and head a right cross particularly grabbing the eye. Jones, clever old campaigner that he is, covered up well and knew there was no way that Chas could keep up this pace for ten rounds. The third saw more of the same with Symonds working the angles slightly better, at one point pinning Jones in Chas’s corner as he welted away with a variety of decent shots, at one point playing to the crowd waving his right in the air before launching into another foray of pain for his opponent.

It was during the fourth round that the fight changed, Jones showing more ambition managed to cut Symonds over the left eye, he also belted him low and this seemed to throw the Southern area champ of his stride somewhat. A crashing right sent Symonds reeling towards the end of the round and this was the start of a very sticky period for the Croydon fighter.

Symonds looked increasingly ragged in the fifth and Jones had more and more success with the right over the top, another right hook from Keith smashed into Symonds jaw and this spurred the Croydon battler to fire back in the latter part of the round, nothing between the fighters in these middle rounds, if anything Jones just did the better work.

Jones scenting blood came out purposefully but Symonds boxed off the back foot and actually looked much better for giving some thought to his work. Looking unsuccessfully to catch Jones coming in with the uppercut, a huge left hook from Jones rocked Chas again and this time it was Jones’ turn to try and follow it up with an uppercut. Jones’ round.

Having weathered the storm Chas went even further back to his boxing, to have a breather and control the pace, Jones realising this didn’t let Symonds settle but a decent one-two from the Englishman kept the Welshman honest. In truth both men were starting to feel the pace. The eighth was in a similar style, Symonds now picking his man off but Jones firing the right hook time and again and seemed to catch the Croydon man at will, the crisper sharper wok was coming from Chas now though, and you got the feeling he had come through his rough patch and was improving all the time.

Jones knew in the ninth that he needed a KO and came out swinging but the Croydon fighter was using his boxing nouse now and utilised his better hand speed and technique to keep the pressure on Keith. The final stanza of a decent contest and both men threw whatever they had left into the round, latter on Symonds started to feint and showboat but in reality it had been a much harder fight than he was making out.

Final score was a deserved 98-94 points victory to Symonds but he must learn to pace himself much better, one gets the impression he hears the roar of crowd and thinks he is Jake La Motta. However, another win can’t be criticised too heavily but if he runs out of gas in the middle rounds again against someone with a punch he could be in big trouble.

Having said all of that, he brought a decent crowd with him, is a showman with decent skills when he puts his mind to it. A deserved victory but there is much to work on to fulfil that potential. Kudos to Keith Jones, a game opponent no matter where he plies his trade, a great servant to the game and I hope he enjoyed his evenings work and a decent payday.

Speaking of which……………

Next up was a real big-ticket seller, Gerard “the Dream” London of Gospel Oak in London funnily enough, against Paddy Ryan of Nottingham at light heavyweight. The crowd went crazy and bayed as London entered the ring complete with Union Jack and “pom pom gals” up in the balcony. This made me chuckle as I have seen world champs enter the ring with less fuss and bravado than Gerard, this in his second pro fight. Ryan was making his debut and a decent debut it turned out to be.

The contest in truth as a boxing match was fairly one sided, Gerard may sell tickets but without being rude, he can't box, he has a decent punch when thrown properly (he slaps a lot and throws punches with the heel part of the hand), decent heart and is a trier, but technically is totally inept. No defence doesn’t punch properly and gets hit too easily. Apart from that he is fine!

The Nottingham lad outboxed and picked London off almost at will, I gave all but the second to Ryan the referee agreeing and giving a very brave verdict in the face of some cat calls and boos 40-37 to Ryan.

In the last bout of the night and another well supported Maloney fighter Rob Jeffries, conceded a lot of weight to Chris McDonagh, but that didn't prove to be a factor in the fight at all as Jeffries led from start to finish and thoroughly deserved the 40-36 score at the end of the four rounds.

A decent night's boxing and the York Hall never fails to deliver a good atmosphere at decent ticket prices and close to the action. We hope to bring you more from the Bethnal Green venue in the very near future.