Burkinshaw back with a bang as Boyle loses again

A Sunday afternoon promotion by Glyn Rhodes attracted a couple of hundred of the good people of Sheffield to Don Valley. This despite the withdrawal earlier in the week of Lee Noble for his much anticipated fight middleweight derby against Jez Wilson.

Headliner Ross “The Boss” Burkinshaw (6-2-2) was in action for the first time since losing to Lee Haskins in July in their British super-flyweight championship bout. The army-based fighter from the Rifles regiment's, opponent in this four rounder was the much smaller but very game Kuwait-born Anwar Alfadi (0-4-2). On paper this looked a one-sided affair and in truth it was. Burkinshaw started with some solid lefts as Alfadi kept pushing forward.

The second round saw Alfadi pushing forward still, but Burkinshaw clearly dominating, and although Alfadi scored some good shots he never seemed to have the power to trouble the bigger man, Burkinshaw, who still seemed to be in second gear. The third saw 'The Boss' unloading with big shots, but making it difficult for himself by allowing Alfadi to counter with left and right hooks. The smaller man's heart perhaps won him a share of the round.

Burkinshaw's class finally came through in the fourth and last round with a short left hook sending his opponent to the canvas. Alfadi continued to show heart by getting back up before eight. Sensing a finish was now in sight, Burkinshaw went for the kill landing another big left before the referee deemed he had seen enough with 56 seconds of the round gone. Perhaps a little early as some at ringside thought the little man should have been able to go out on his shield, and was looking fine after what was the to be the final onslaught.

Burkinshaw looks a good fighter, and his fight against Haskins was really far too early in his career, but his supporters from the Rifles who were ringside go back to their German base tomorrow after a redeeming win.

The show opener was a four round middleweight tear up between Wayne Reed (2-1-0) of Rhodes' Sheffield Boxing Centre and Hamed Jamali (9-8-0) the Iranian-born, Birmingham-based boxer.

Reed scored an early knock down in the first and jabbed well throughout the round whilst mixing it up with some big body shots and the odd left cross. Jamali was not too perturbed by the knock down and managed to exchange some leather at the end of the round.

The good work by Reed continued in the next session as he unloaded with good scoring combos, although looking susceptible to left hook with his sometimes low hands. Round three was pretty much the same with Jamali starting to breathe heavier, but constantly coming forward.

The final round was Jamali’s best as he took Reed to the ropes and worked his body. Reed covered up well for the best part before firing his way out. Overall, a comfortable win for Reed in a good opening bout in which Jamali showed a lot of heart, but the classy southpaw Reed goes to (3-1-0), after the referee scored it 39-36.

Reed went on to dedicate the victory to the late Kola Lucas a founder member of Sheffield's Football Unites Racism Divides who died tragically in his sleep at the age of 25 earlier this week.

Up next was six, two-minute rounds at light-heavy, involving Welsh brawler Adam Wilcox (1-9-1) and Sheffield's Carl “Born 2 B” Wild (8-11-2). Wild sought early on to use his clear height advantage, and catching Wilcox with a sweet left sent him across this notably small ring. Wilcox's tactics became quickly apparent as he threw hooks to the ribs in an attempt to nullify the height disadvantage. All the clean shots came from Wild.

The second continued much in the same vein, with Wilcox wanting the fight in the phone box - seriously I can’t believe how small this ring looks. Wild counteracts the body shots by snapping solid jabs, but Wilcox continues to push inside. The third is pretty much the same with Wilcox still blowing heavy and forcing Wild to the ropes. He breaks away with solid jabs, and catches Wilcox with a good left hook.

The fourth comes and Wilcox continues to bundle Wild around, and for the first time Wild seems hesitant, and Wilcox's aggression wins him the round. The fifth carries on in similar style with Wild seeming to have lost focus, and breathing a bit heavier, limiting his shots to bursts due to Wilcox continued pressure and body work.

At the final round Wilcox wished Wild good luck perhaps feeling he could snatch a draw or a surprise win. Wilcox went for bust and threw everything, Wild seemed happy to cover up, but was still landing the cleaner shots when he wanted. This culminated in a late right hook whilst Wilcox was off balance sending him to the canvas, and clearing up any uncertainty as to the winner. This one was scored 58-56.

'People's Poet' Billy Boyle (12-3-0) was back in the ring after back to back losses including a two round pummeling by Commonwealth brainbox Nathan Cleverly. This was a six, two-minute round light-heavy test against Zimbabwe-born journeyman Hastings Rasani (20-43-4). Boyle took Rasani to the corner early and a big right snapped his opponent's head back, the pressure by Boyle was sufficient to make the ref have a close look as Boyle went on to pretty much dominate the round.

The second round was all BB again with Rasani on the ropes for the best part of two minutes; the grappling was close enough for the referee to voice his concerns on watching heads without stopping the fight. Boyle finished the round with an uppercut and probably won it.

The third and fourth were much more open rounds as Rasani got off the ropes and started to show some boxing skills so far missing from his performance. By the fifth Boyle was looking tired and the 33-year-old's shots where increasingly wild, in what was the poorest round of the afternoon. The final round saw the visitor switch it and force Boyle onto the ropes whilst he unloaded on his body. Rasani finished much stronger as Boyle continued to breathe heavily. A tricky couple of rounds to score but Rasani's boxing skills caught the referee's eye as he scored it 59-56 in favour of the Birmingham-based journeyman.

The last fight featured Sheffield giant Dave Howe (1-1-0) whose imposing 6'8" frame is capable of stepping over the top rope. His size and style are bound to bring comparisons to Tyson Fury (so I might as well start here) and this ring entrance will only fan the flames. His opponent in this scheduled for six, two-minute rounder was Lincolnshire man Chris Woollas (17-45-8), who according to the MC was 8 stone.

Howe's rangy jab kept Woollas at bay throughout a dull first round. The second round saw a left right to the body and head drop Woollas, who was back on his feet at eight and preparing to go into survival mode. This was short-lived as the next engagement saw a right to the head send Woollas back to the canvas. The referee gave the count but it was clear the journeyman had had enough and never made it back up, officially stopping the contest at 1:33 of the second round. As with Fury’s early fights its difficult to gage anything on Howe's ability, with this level of opposition, but boxing skills are certainly in place.

Overall a decent enough afternoon's boxing, for the cost of championship football ticket.

Another option was, of course, Bolton v Blackburn. I know what I’d rather do.