Howe’s about that for a finish?

It’s quite rare these days for the final fight on a small hall promotion to give the best contest of the evening. It is even more unusual for this to happen under circumstances where the home fighter’s Dave Howe (17st 4lb), opponent is from the oft much maligned eastern block, 'have gloves will fight' camp. This was a welcome surprise however as the Sheffield heavyweight took on Bulgaria’s southpaw Dimitar Stoimenov (15st 2½lbs) at his home city's Don Valley Stadium on Friday night.

Early in round one Howe appeared to stun the Bulgarian with a right jab, and the follow up forced a grimace across the face of Stoimenov. The feeling this might be an early finish more than crossed my mind. This evaporated towards the end of the round, when what appeared to be a glancing right put an unsteady Howe on the seat of his pants. Both fighters (not to mention the fair-sized crowd) seemed surprised by this turn around but Stoimenov seized the opportunity with both swinging hands, and laid into Howe with gusto for the remainder of the round.

Howe appeared very unsettled throughout the second round, and his defence was way too open, with Stoimenov landing plenty of right hooks on the taller Howe. The fight became more absorbing through the middle of the round as Howe threw less and less shots. He did however find a short left that levelled the knock down scores. Unfortunately this was after the bell, and referee Howard Foster docked Howe a point at the start of the third. The Sheffield fighter was now in serious trouble, and at least two points behind, with two to go.

Howe started the third as the aggressor, but it became scrappy, as Stoimenov, sensing an upset held onto Howe to stifle his power. A right cross from Howe seemed to drain further energy from his opponent as the Bulgarians efforts appeared to drain him. A further right appeared to momentarily disengage Stoimenov’s senses but he fought back bravely.

His exhaustion looked more apparent going into the final round, Howe’s attacks appeared to be limited to two punches at a time.

Probably of greater concern to Howe’s camp would be the seeming lack of urgency. At best he needed to win this round to draw, I felt he needed a KO. It somehow came at 2mins 48sec. Howe launched his most aggressive assault of the fight as he finally demonstrated his power with successive rights forcing Stoimenov to the ropes and finishing with an uppercut. The brave Bulgarian landed heavily and Howard Foster correctly ended the fight immediately.

This Bulgarian certainly played his part in making this a good contest. For Howe who goes to 5(4)-1(1)-0, he left himself far to exposed to a game, awkward but limited opponent.

The first fight on Dennis Hobson’s Xmas Explosion bill was Lincoln's Steve Swinburn (10st 10lbs) against the ever present Daniel Thorpe (10st 10lbs), in a four-threes light-middle contest. The first was a typical blue print to a fight involving Daniel Thorpe, with “Swinny” stalking Thorpe to the ropes, where the journeyman circled the ring trying to avoid the searching jabs. Swinburn landed two left uppercuts but Thorpe has withstood much worse. The best assault from Swinburn saw him land two up, and three down, with the body shots having the most effect on Thorpe.

The second saw this left to the body make Thorpe wince again. Swinburn started to use his right jab softly to find range, before unleashing a powerful left. He started to land at will towards the end of the round, and let his guard down sufficiently to take a short straight right from Thorpe that lacked any real bite. Round three was more of the same as Swinburn used concentrated aggressive attacks, without over exerting himself. An overhand right seemed to rock Thorpe but the younger fighter failed to follow up.

A left hook to the body shook Thorpe in the final round, but he wisely got himself out of harm's way to prevent a follow up. Knowing that he is still scheduled to fight again before Christmas, Thorpe decided to stifle the attacks by engaging in awkward tussles to reduce Swinburn's effectiveness. Swinburn won the fight 40-36 and got some valuable rounds under his belt as he goes to 3(1)-0-1. For Thorpe, one hopes it’s some extra Christmas money. He is still scheduled to fight young brawler Gary Fox on Sunday, and received a special mention from the ring announcer for completing his 137th pro fight, and why not.

Next up was a return to the ring for Andy Roberts (8st8lbs), and the first Bulgarian from the Lovski Atlas gym, the debutant Filkret Kurdon (9st 1lb). It was a scrappy affair as former titlist Roberts tried to shake off seven years of ring rust. His opponent barely landed a shot throughout the first. The livelier start to the second was quickly halted by the Bulgarian needing his boot laces tied, ref Michael Alexander losing his patience with the hapless cornerman and doing the job himself. Roberts landed a good left and shook Kurdon. He then needed his own laces tying bringing some level of action to proceedings.

The third saw Kurdon start to show more heart (perhaps a little harsh of me, considering it was his debut and in a different land), and he threw more back. Roberts landed with a good overhand right, whilst Kurdon shots appeared to be throwing from to far away, and he seemed a little too ungainly, as the better shots continuously came from Roberts.

Roberts started the fourth with visible damage below his left eye, I could only assume it was from Kurdon leading in with his shoulder, or elbow. Both fighter sseemed to be struggling to get going throughout, with vastly more shots hitting thin air rather any part of the opponent. Roberts brought a lot of fans with him, as he coasted to a 40-37 win. I am not sure of the purpose of this comeback, time will tell if it wise or not. Kurdon done enough on his debut in a poor contest.

The third bout of the evening saw a ring legend walk to the ring, as Tim Witherspoon (approx 20st), escorted the fighter and his son, Tim Witherspoon Junior (9st11lbs), for his lightweight four-threes contest with Tottenham’s Mark McKray (9st11½lbs). Within seconds, TWJ landed a large right over the top that seemed a key shot throughout the round. McKray's stance showed a low left glove meaning this was a ideal shot for the taller Witherspoon. Witherspoons footwork was good throughout, the fight and his superior boxing skills were apparent early on.

A touch of impatience raised its head in the second as Witherspoon threw massive shots trying to take out McKray early but missed with most of them. He looks much better when boxing at range. McKray to his credit kept coming forward and held a higher guard to protect from the chopping rights. McKray carried this on into the third and landed some good shots. Witherspoon showed good defence also as Mckray tried to march him down and take him to the ropes.

The final round saw McKray work get more desperate as midway through he seemed to just drain of all energy. Witherspoon, who also looked a little jaded, threw digging lefts to his ribs. McKray was not giving anything back during the dying stages, and the corner threw the towel in at an eyebrow raising time of 2min 59 seconds.

Former amateur star Liam “Cannonball” Cameron (11st 5lb) took on the second Bulgarian of the evening in late stand in Zahari Mutafchiev (11st 6lb) in a six-threes middleweight contest. Cameron found his range quickly with the right but the more damaging shots where from his left. Mutafchiev landed nothing in the first. The second round saw Cameron's left jab go straight through the Bulgarian defence. He finished the round throwing a flurry of eight shots, hooks and uppercuts mainly that rocked his inoffensive opponent.

The third saw Cameron step up a gear, and landing most shots at will including an impressive stiff right jab. He switched in the fourth and found his range with the left and banged with the right. Cameron at this point barely broke a sweat and had certainly not been troubled. Mutafchiev was earning his purse albeit as a punchbag.

The shots from Cameron in the fifth seemed to carry that bit more menace as he threw spiralling uppercuts at will. It had become so one-sided he dropped his gloves and fought with no defence for a period. The final round could have probably been stopped at any point by Cameron, or his opponent's corner. Cameron seemed happy enough to be getting the rounds under his belt, as he closed the fight with four clean shots with no reply. A 60-54 shut out was the only possible score, as Cameron continues his impressive start to the pros and goes to 7(1)-0-0.

After seeing Doncaster's James Tucker (12st11lb) in a great tear up 12 months ago at the Octagon against Jamie Ward, a fight he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a stunning KO, I was looking forward to his fight with Sheffields' Kyle Whitham (12st12lb) in a South Yorkshire derby. It was however poor. Whitham was the aggressor, as he backed Tucker onto the ropes, but Tucker's high defensive guard was more than effective, despite leaving his ribs exposed to hooks. Tucker appeared subdued throughout the fight, and barely threw a shot until the second. Whitham however dominated this round without causing too much damage.

The third was also a scrappy affair with Tucker starting to march down Whitham more and landing with moderate success. Going into the final round one got the impression that there was a tear up here waiting to happen as Tucker had a sense of urgency to his work, but Whitham still landed the cleaner shots and took the decision 39-37.