Booth just falls short in world title challenge + undercard review

The fairytale just did not quite happen for Jason Booth on Saturday as despite a brave and spirited effort he failed to wrestle the IBF super-bantamweight strap from classy Canadian Steve Molitor.

After a fight which was interesting rather than a classic, the champion from Ontario triumphed by a majority decision on the scorecards, one judge scoring the fight a draw at 114-114, the other judges had it 116-113 and 116-112, which tallied more with my card also at 116-113 to the champion.

Against the backdrop of another cracking East Rainton atmosphere on the outskirts of Sunderland, Booth looked confident during his ring walk and roared on by brother Nicky amongst others made the better start. After a tentative opening round from both men Booth took the initiative in rounds two and three with better workrate, cute defensive work and sneak right hands to win both sessions. The champion looked rather sluggish and at times sported a look of anxiety on his face. Indeed talk at ringside was of a fighter dead at the weight.

Round four saw Molitor come into the fight after shipping a couple of straight rights from Booth, the champion had at last started to work and his cleaner, more effective punching as opposed to Booth's steady pressure ensured the first round in the bank for the Ontario man.

The fifth for me would be the last time Booth would win a round where again lovely defensive skills combined with right hands saw the challenger take the session.

From Round six onwards, Molitor found his stride and the fight from then on took a repititive scenario, Booth coming forward with some success but being picked off by sharp counters from the champion. It was also becoming noticeable that Booth was stung by left hands on a couple of occassions.

The eleventh saw a huge effort from the challenger as, roared on by the crowd, he again took the fight to Molitor, however credit must go to the champion as he again picked Booth off at times to at least earn a share of the round.

Going into the last, Booth needed a knockout on my card to win, and, for the first minute, sought to do just that and again had success with right hands. However, as had been the pattern for the second half of the fight the champion picked Booth off with some classy combinations and held on to secure a close, but deserved victory.

Credit to both men, Molitor for getting over a sticky start on foreign soil and combatting what could have been weight problems to eventually prevail. Booth, for putting up a cracking effort, he did himself proud and against the backdrop of his much publicised troubles that's all that could have been asked of him.

Chief support on the undercard saw Belfast's British featherweight champion Martin Lindsay given a good workout against game as they come Yauheni Kruhlik over six rounds. Lindsay systematically worked over the Belarussian round after round with a mix of clubbing right hands to the body and uppercuts through the middle. Credit has to be given to the visitor who refused to bail out or even go down and the workout will have done Lindsay the power of good in preparation for tougher tests down the line. Lindsay looked for the most part impressive and it will be interesting to see where the Irishman's story develops from here.

Speaking of impressive, Birtley light-heavyweight Travis Dickinson looked as good as he has done as a pro when outscoring teak-tough Shon Davies. Adopting a more measured approach than has sometimes been the case, Dickinson worked over Davies for six rounds with the jab being more prominent than in his previous contests.

For his part Davies never let Dickinson settle and a right to the body in round three seemed to momentarily hurt the Birtley man. Davies continued to plough forward and in the fifth was picked off by some lovely uppercuts from Dickinson. An impressive win and performance from Dickinson considering he is thought to have damaged his hand. Dickinson for me has been matched tough and with confidence. Again, like Lindsay it will be interesting to see how Dickinson goes from here on in.

Sadly, Travis's brother Jon-Lewis Dickinson could not make it a family double when again he suffered a loss in somewhat bizarre fashion. After controlling the first round-and-a-half against tough, come forward Richard Turba it became apparent that Dickinson was having mouth trouble. Indeed it became noticeable very quickly that his mouth was actually gaping open.

After a difficult third round Dickinson was pulled out of the fight with what looked like a suspected broken jaw. Terrible luck again for the Prizefighter champion who must be wondering what he has done to upset the boxing gods. It may sound strange to say that someone can come again after two consecutive stoppage defeats, but Dickinson can definitely come again, whether he will want to is a maybe a different and entirely understandable matter.

In what was evidently becoming on the whole a bad night for North East fighters, two other local prospects suffered crushing stoppage defeats. Newcastle feather Martin Ward had talked about British title fights in the build-up to Saturday. He may be re-assessing those thoughts after suffering a crushing second round KO defeat to Mickey Coveney.

In trouble from the outset against what has to be said a much bigger (indeed you may wonder why Ward took the fight) opponent, Ward was sickingly floored by a left hand to the temple area which ended the fight right there and then. Quite why the referee felt the need to count to six is another matter. After a few anxious moments with paramedics in the ring, Ward recovered and he will I am sure by ruing the decision to take the fight in the first place.

George Watson from Newcastle was systemically taken apart with big southpaw left hands from Liverpool's classy Steven Jennings and was finally taken out in round three after being floored heavily earlier in the session. Lack of defence on Watson's part was a big factor in his downfall here.

North East pride was restored by prospects Kirk Goodings and Glen Foot who both won via stoppage in the final two fights of the night. The former in an up-and -downer against Lee Jennings (brother of Steven) where after being floored heavily in the opener and being on the verge of being stopped, Goddings roared back bravely to halt Jennings in the final round, Jennings having been floored himself.

Foot looks one to watch. After intitially being a little wild (understandable on your debut) he found four crunching rights on the spin to deck and stop Vinny Woolford. Whilst the stoppage was a little ill timed the result was never in doubt once Foot found his range and he promises to be an exciting addition to the pro ranks.

A mixed night overall, complimented by a cracking effort from Jason Booth in the main event. Boxing continues to be a welcome addition to the North East sporting skyline.