Friday's York Hall undercard report
Most of the undercard boxers had brought their fan club in full voice and full force which spiced up routine matters a little.
Wood Green based light-welterweight Chris Evangelou and West Ham welterweight debutant Luke Freddie Turner both had points victories 40-37 and 40-36 respectively over long time journeymen Johnny Greaves and Jason Nesbitt in four rounders.
They are both well supported men and will no doubt have few problems in selling tickets which is a doorway to many promotional opportunities.
Evangelou (10st 2 lbs 8 oz) in only his second contest started off flashy bending forward and hands held low in the opening two rounds against Greaves and it was obvious the East Ham man wouldn’t be having victory number three at his expense.
In the third Greaves (10st 3lbs) started to play Evangelou at his own game of flash by displaying some fancy footwork much to the disgust of Chris’s huge following who responded with heavy booing.
Greaves even had the cheek to hold his ear in their direction and was enjoying himself without throwing too much in the way of Evangelou.
This was a contest of little ring action but large on the crowd involvement.
Evangelou ran out a 40-37 winner.
Turner (10st 7lbs) came out like lightning in the first and second rounds to the delight of his following dressed in their Freddie’s going to get you t-shirts.
Freddie was accurate with a series of jabs and left hands. The shrewd Nesbitt (10st 8lbs) in his 112th contest used all his fighting experience and quickly got his hands up high.
The fight showed a hot prospect against a struggling but surviving seasoned campaigner. Throughout the contest Nesbitt shook his head and didn’t look a happy man.
A four punch combination in the fourth and final round from Turner kept his fans happy and sealed a 40-36 victory.
The returning West Ham man Paul Bowen (12st) having his first fight since 2005 scored a four round 39-38, super-middleweight win over Doncaster’s James Tucker (12st 8lbs).
Bowen looked lively early on showing no signs of ring rust and in good physical condition. Like the former mentioned two fighters he is also a well supported puncher.
A lot of holding shaped the final two rounds, but Bowen got a winning return and improves to 14-1-1 while Tucker continues his down-ward slide at 2-23-2.
A name worth remembering is that of 21-year-old from Newcastle, Martin Ward (8st 13 ¾lbs) who finished Csaba Toth (9st) at 1:22 of the second round without any sense of adversity in a four round super-bantamweight bout albeit aided by referee Ken Curtis seeing a bloodied nose as enough evidence to stop this one sided beating after Ward backed him onto the ropes throwing hurtful shots.
Ward showed good movement powerful punching and great accuracy moving to 5-0.
He will add to an already exciting domestic division.
A six-round super-bantamweight contest between Darlington’s Stuart Hall, 6-0-1 and Hungary’s Richard Szebeledi, 4-7 saw a 59-57 win for Hall.
He looks like a crowd pleaser with an all action style, but fights with his heart more than his head while Szebeledi (8st 13lbs 11oz) was tough with a big heart.
Hall brought a loud following which rose to their feet at any sign of their man throwing punches.
The Darlington fighter had good moments with his jab and the volume served notice on Szebeledi’s nose which opened up at the top and close to his head in the fourth.
Despite this the fifth represented his best and only winning round for me, which set up a sixth and final round slug fest.
Hall (8st 11 lbs 4oz) could well be involved in many great domestic battles.
A six round featherweight contest ended abruptly in the second round after a quiet and scrappy opener.
Crawley’s Ben Jones (9st 4lbs 8oz) now 9-1-1 was handed victory at 1.46 after a nasty cut on opponent James Ancliff’s left eye with no sign of a punch connecting.
Referee Mark Green waved it off which was shame for Ancliff 9st 3lbs because he looked ready for the task in hand.
