Hughes The Victim As Acosta Claims Belfast Stoppage

Alan and Jane Wilton’s show at the Holiday Inn on Friday 20^th November was well received by a healthy crowd and contained an eclectic mix of talent from local areas and further afield. A link-up with Cork manager/promoter Gary Hyde provided a Latino feel to the main event as 24-year-old hot prospect Alexei Acosta headlined this card.

After two prospective title fights fell through, the aforementioned Cuban bantamweight Acosta was left with Pontefract’s Sean Hughes over eight rounds and, on paper, a stern test of his growing credentials. The stoppage, which came at 1.33 of the second round, was possibly on the early side given Hughes’ championship experience - not that Acosta (8st 9llb), or manager Gary Hyde, were complaining too much. “He’s going to relax now until after Christmas,” said Hyde, whilst simultaneously translating Acosta’s Spanish, “and yes I thought it was a fair stoppage, no problems there.” Acosta had been sparring Bernard Dunne in the lead-up to Dunne’s world title defence and is now based full-time in Belfast’s Kronk gym under Tony Dunlop.

The Cuban, who improves to 9-0 (9 KO’s), had looked smooth in the early running, backing Hughes up and punching in combinations of 8-10 punches at a time. Not all landed of course but you could see the raw talent was evident, even if Alexei was, at times, wilder than I had expected. This was not discounting Hughes’ contribution, as the slick southpaw had some success of his own, turning Acosta with his corkscrew jab and slipping off the ropes at times to avoid the artillery. By the second round Acosta was starting to unload and Hughes (8st 10llb) dangerously lay covered up to withstand the barrage, which was a worrying sign as referee David Irving (who took charge of all six contests’) does have a habit of jumping in when he sees a fighter pinned to the ropes.

Not all of the Havana man’s blows were registering but some did sneak through and Sean’s head snapped back, prompting Irving to dive-in after a final flurry. Hughes’ trainer Michael Marsden entered the ring, towel in hand, remonstrating with the official, who remained unaffected. “The kid [Hughes] was fine,” said Marsden on the way out of the ring, “he was taking them on the gloves no bother; he has loads of experience of this sort of thing.” A dejected Hughes has hinted he may now hang up the gloves after this setback and also added that Jason Booth would beat Acosta if the two were ever to meet.

Hyde meanwhile was beaming from ear to ear: “I’m taking all three Cubans’ to America for fights on the East and West Coast next February,” he added. “Remember they’re still Cork boys’ though and we’ll fight there too very soon.”

Prior to the main event there was a ringing of the ten-bells in memory of popular Belfast referee Barney Wilson who had passed away the previous morning, aged 67, after a battle with illness. The silence was impeccably recognised for the no-nonsense official who oversaw the likes of Barry McGuigan and Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley during a lengthy ring career that also saw him box successfully as an amateur, and later professionally.

In chief support, popular local Luke Wilton recorded a first round stoppage over Muharem Osmanov but was feeling a little short-changed by his opponent’s lack of resilience. “I was a little annoyed by the ending because I wanted more action for the fans,” said a pensive Luke post-fight. Indeed, Osmanov didn’t appear to be a fighter of great substance when he entered the ring and so it proved, going down meekly from body shots just 40 seconds into the opener. Dressed in long white trunks and navy blue socks, pulled up to the knees, Osmanov (7st 11llb) resembled a youngster who had forgotten his P.E. kit and had been forced to rummage through the lost property box.

Wilton (8st 1llb) made it his business to hammer the torso with his left hook and the visitor, now 1-3, found himself down on the floor and counted out. After a win in the Odyssey Arena recently, Luke is still on track for a British title shot and if he keeps winning, stiffer tests than Latvia’s Osmanov are certainly waiting around the corner.

Back In June, debutants’ Michael Devine and Michael Harvey had put it all on the line before Harvey was stopped in the third round of a brawl, in Luton’s Liquid Envy nightclub. They met in a 4x3’s super-featherweight rematch here and winless Harvey was once again left crushed after Devine stopped him at 0.58 of the second stanza. It’s hard not to feel for the likeable 24-year-old who drew great support and was inconsolable at the final bell, receiving oxygen after some heavy falls. In the first round Harvey had used a solid jab and taken advantage of his height and reach advantages. Devine rushed in and gave plenty back, interestingly finding a home for the right hand through Harvey’s upright stance.

That was the punch that did all the damage in the second, but not before Devine had taken a deserved rest following a low blow. The straight hand landed flush shortly after and Harvey fell heavily, eyes in orbit, struggling on to jelly legs before taking the count on one knee in accordance with corner man Alan Wilton’s advice. Shaken and with a bloody nose, Harvey tried to fight fire with fire and was soon deposited to the canvas for a second time from a carbon copy right hand. Referee Irving stopped it immediately as Harvey, close to tears, walked back to his stool.

“I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t win for all these fans, I really wanted to do it,” he explained bravely, later in the evening. He agreed that he had maybe let his left hand drop too low and paid tribute to the now 2-0 Michael Devine. Both (pictured below) weighed in at 9st 8llb.

Looking impressive on his first professional bow, JJ McDonagh pounded Latvia’s Jevgenis Kiselevs to the canvas twice in the opening round before the away man was stopped at 1.56. Southpaw McDonagh (12st 6llb) used a spiteful left hook and spearing jab to measure his foe, before putting together his punches with intent. Kiselevs (12st) was way out his depth and sunk to the canvas, dejected and wanting no more. He rose and briefly gave it a go before returning to his haunches and declining David Irving’s invitation to continue. On this night, JJ looked the better of the two McDonagh’s and could be one to watch.

Local hope Niall Diamond (from Ballymena) and Luton’s Gavin Putney were both making their debuts and from as early as the second round it was a case of two tired men swinging wildly for an explosive finish. Putney (10st 12llb) had Diamond (10st 11llb) in trouble in the first round with Niall’s habit of dropping the hands and lying on the ropes proving to be his undoing. Fatigued, cut over the left eye and with a bleeding nostril, Diamond landed a good left hook that suddenly had Putney sagging in the neutral corner, only for Gavin to come roaring back to such an extent that ref David Irving appeared to be hovering.

Putney received a harsh slap across the face from trainer Graham Earl between rounds, with the former lightweight urging his man to “give yourself room, suck it up and work”. This was a pure slugfest with no sweet science involved yet it kept the crowd entertained, offering the alluring question of who would implode first. It turned out to be Diamond (below), who, with hands held low, crumpled to the canvas from a mix of Putney’s hooks and pure exhaustion. Mr. Irving rightly called a halt at 2.30 of the fourth round.

Debutant Paddy McDonagh opened proceedings with a 39-37 points win over rugged Bulgarian Grigor Sarohanian. Cuts man Mick Williamson worked all home corners on the night but was rarely called into action, although Sarohanian (12st 8llb) was quite liberal with the head at times, while giving a good account of himself in the opening round. Southpaw McDonagh (12st 11llb), from Mullingar in the Republic of Ireland, was strong and game, forcing his 1-0 opponent back with a steady jab.

Grigor was again warned for use of the head in the third and as McDonagh began to work him over, the podgy visitor looked for respite in the corner. Pushing hard for a stoppage in the final session, Paddy landed some meaty straight lefts’ as Sarohanian covered his reddened torso. A double right hook followed by some rabbit punching threatened to end the night for the plucky Sofia native, but he held on with dignity intact. McDonagh (below) lacked technical refinement, which was understandable given his novice status, and could possibly slim down a little in weight.