Granite flattens Steel - McAllister KO's King
During the media hype of the weigh-in on Friday night, Charlie King advised the television crews that "Steel would crush Granite" in his forthcoming match with the "Aberdeen Assassin" Lee McAllister for his recently won Commonwealth lightweight title belt. However, this physics defying prediction came unstuck in the packed to capacity Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen when the colourful McAllister, sporting his by now obligatory red and white hairstyle, dismantled the Motherwell man in a fashion which would have pleased his legion of fans with it's devastating finish after 1:23 of the seventh round.
It came via a straight jab which catapulted King backwards by about two yards before bouncing off the ropes and down to the canvas; referee Victor Loughlin didn't even bother to count, waving the fight off there and then.
The opening round was fairly even with King taking the centre of the ring and spearing out his jab. McAllister's chin was an inviting target but alas for King he couldn't get near it without taking something in return from the Aberdonian and there is no doubt that since McAllister came under the tutelage of Dave Coldwell, he's punching infinitely harder than before.
The second saw McAllister take a more measured approach, but King was still in there jabbing and trying to get through with a second and third shot, but McAllister is a slick mover and much of the follow up work from the Motherwell man was hitting fresh air.
From the third round on, McAllister was beginning to dominate proceedings and his right was drawn magnetically to King's exposed left flank, rattling King from head to toe. King is a good boxer but really had no answer to the most effective weapon McAllister used, his right hand. It continually connected with a force which gradually ebbed the effectiveness of King to such an extent that he began the fifth looking a bit demoralised and rather less regal than a King.
McAllister's right hooks are draining King's punch resistance and by round six it looked as though the end was nigh. This was most assuredly the case as King was despatched in the next round quicker than an executed monarch on the chopping block facing the axe-man.
Fortunately, King was up on his feet after attention from the doctors at ringside and with no real damage done to anything other than his own pride. Given that the French European champion's manager was ostensibly somewhere in the packed arena, he'll have been impressed with McAllister, but not too much as to turn down a match with the Aberdeen Assassin for his man. The portents are good then for another big night of championship boxing in the Granite City should Tommy Gilmour come up with a European shot for the local man.
On the undercard the show opened with Jamie Ambler stopping Quinton Hillocks under the rsc rule in round five. In fairness to him (Hillocks) though he'd had the better of proceedings up until then and was probably leading by a couple of points until he would appear to have run out of steam. Ambler is the more experienced boxer and he stuck to his game plan which ultimately paid dividends with the stoppage. Hillocks will need to do some more road work to overcome the loss of stamina which led to his downfall tonight.
Fettercairn boxer James Ancliff had more than a few fans with him as he sought some form of redemption from his recent performances, however undefeated Paul McElhinney boxed cleverly for a relative novice (albeit undefeated), using his jab and slicker boxing skills to nullify Ancliff over the six rounds. Ancliff only comes to fight and he does that with heart and soul. However, when faced with an opponent who uses the jab so effectively, Ancliff seems to have no plan B. This is his undoing, and was again the case tonight.The final score of 77-75 in favour of McElhinney is probably a bit mean for the kid as I thought he'd won all but two rounds. The expression on Ancliff's face when the Glasgow boy's hand was raised let you know that he wasn't best pleased with it. However, if truth be known he was on the end of a jab which he couldn't get past and started to lose the plot a bit as the rounds progressed which in itself rendered victory even more unlikely.
Two Chrises made up the third bout on the undercard, Brophy from Swansea and Thompson from Leeds. The Yorkshireman took the fight to Brophy from the first bell and had only Brophy's occasional counters to deal with, and he did so with some aplomb. Brophy does have some meat in his shots but the very stylish Thompson was never in any real danger and looks to be a very good boxer in the making. Everything in his boxing is correct both offensively and defensively and this would have been enjoyed by the purists and those who weren't looking through beer glass binoculars. The score of 60-55 was right and even Brophy acknowledged this at the end in a show of even handed sportsmanship.
This was the first time in Scotland that a boxing show was relayed through the world wide web and could be regarded as a technological first up here, apart that is for someone who's very dear to me not being able to view it on the laptop. Is it the harbinger of things to come? At only £3.99 a pop, then the answer must a resounding yes. Welcome to the digital age!
