Kelvin Hall undercard holds no real surprises, but does please the crowd

John Thain of Edinburgh made his second appearance as a professional against Paddy Pollock from Wishaw in an East/West split and took the decision on points over a four rounder.

Stephen’s brother Liam Smith aka “Beefy” kept his undefeated record with a hard fought draw against Terry Carruthers of Birmingham. Carruthers has five draws out of 16 bouts now on his slate, which must be something of a record in itself.

Paul Appleby from South Queensferry dropped his opponent twice as early as the first round with two left hooks to the body, and the same body shot forced the referee to intervene in round two to save Yordan Vasilev of Bulgaria from unnecessary punishment.

Steve Ormond of Dublin via New York gave Johnny Greaves (the very definition of a journeyman) from East Ham in London, a very hard night’s work, on his way to his seventh straight win over a four rounder.  Ormond is a busy wee fighter and one to watch in the future.

Alex Arthur earlier in the week had indicated to the chagrin of west coast boxing promoter Alex Morrison, that in his mind he (Arthur), was Scotland’s best boxer of today. After a laboured victory over Peter McDonagh which he did win (79-74), but not in the fashion he’d have wanted!

“Amazing” Alex would do well to cut down on the hyperbole. He did have the better work rate but it wasn’t too effective. He was lacking power even at this weight and got caught unnecessarily by McDonagh. The “Connemara Kid” is honest enough to not brag about his own ability, and it would appear the Alex Arthur will have to adjust his vision of his boxing future to a more realistic level, and that is not on a par with the Coatbridge kid who now sits on top of the world!

A big vote of thanks must go to Frank Warren for getting Ricky Burns a real world title shot in his own backyard. Whatever criticism is laid at him (Warren), he does produce the goods for his boxers and there is a young man from Coatbridge who has every reason to thank him this morning.

I wish I could extend that vote (of thanks) to those who work considerably lower down the “food-chain” of Frank Warren Promotions, but with their churlish attitude to this respected boxing website, I can’t. (Ho hum.)