Leigh undercard review: Davies destroys Bell / Shinny struggles

In a battle of former British champions on this Frank Maloney show, the big hitting Gary Davies (8st 9 6oz) from nearby St. Helens trounced Doncaster’s Andy Bell (8st 12 12oz) at 2.39 of the opening round in this super-bantamweight match. Appearing in his first contest after losing his British bantamweight crown to Ian Napa in October, Davies got to work immediately and fired right hand bombs which whistled past Bell’s chin in the opening exchanges.

Former British super-flyweight champion Bell maintained his composure and looked relaxed but soon paid the penalty. Two right hooks from Davies to the side of Bell’s head disorientated the Yorkshireman, sending him to the canvas midway through the session.

Bell rose unsteadily at five and walked into a tidal wave of pressure from the eager Davies which sent both fighters tangling to the mat. There was simply no reprieve for the shell-shocked Bell and another booming right hand from Davies dropped the Doncaster man heavily.

Andy gamely tried to scramble to his feet and clambered up with the aid of the ropes at nine but referee Phil Edwards immediately waved things off. The impressive Davies improves to 10-3-1 and is a real handful for anyone at this level. Bell slips to 11-6 and has suffered back-to-back losses after returning from an 18 month hiatus after failing a drugs test following his British title loss to Lee Haskins.

British flyweight champion Shinny Bayaar was unimpressive and only narrowly managed to outpoint Najah Ali over six rounds. Referee Steve Gray, scoring for trailist official Mark Lyson, ruled Shinny to be a slender 58-57 points winner which tallied with my card.

The Oldham-based Mongolian started slowly and could only occasionally poke out a slow, southpaw jab as the nimble Ali countered from a crouched stance and then scurried out of harms way in the early stages.

Bayaar started to cut the ring off in the third and landed some decent shots to the body but the more relaxed Ali came back with a left hook and a body shot of his own in a tight session. Bayaar was struggling to put his shots together – by the time Shinny had loaded up Ali had already worked out what he was going to do and would counter with a sneaky jab and get on his bike. There were mostly single shots from Najah but he did enough to take the fourth for me and was probably in front with two rounds to go.

An upset seemed possible but Bayaar stepped on the gas in round five and had his best spell when drilling Ali with more body shots and a right cross to the head which stopped Ali in his tracks. It was Shinny’s most dominant period at a time when he most needed it.

The fight was still there to be won as we entered the final round and again it was Bayaar who produced the better work to the body as the now more static Ali stood in front of him which sealed the British champion victory.

Bayaar is now set to defend his British crown against English champion Ashley Sexton on May 14. Sexton was at ringside, just as he was for Commonwealth champion Chris Edwards’ title winning effort in Stoke last month, and will again have been encouraged by what he witnessed.

Olympic heavyweight bronze medallist David Price (17st 10) registered another quick-fire victory in his fifth pro outing, requiring just over a minute to stop blown-up cruiser Martyn Grainger (15st 5). Price is now fully fit after having surgery to repair his right hand but it was the Liverpool giant’s left hook which sent Grainger sprawling.

It looked only a glancing blow but the Heywood trier, who was giving over two stones away, was visibly stunned by the weight of Price’s blow. A follow-up attack, consisting of a right hand and a thudding left hook to the mid-section floored the overmatched Grainger after a delayed reaction and, thankfully, that was that. The official time was 1.03 of round one. After two very easy wins on the bounce promoter Frank Maloney is sure to step up Price’s competition next time out.

The well-supported John Watson (10 st) from Liverpool advanced to 12-0 with a six-round points win over Southern Area lightweight champion Ben Murphy (10st 1 10 oz) in a light-welterweight six-rounder.

Official Steve Gray’s scorecard tallied 59-56 for Watson which reflected the local favourite’s superiority in the second half of the contest. Murphy, who this week saw his Commonwealth lightweight title challenge to Lee McAllister on the undercard of David Haye vs John Ruiz fall through due to an injury to McAllister, utilised some roughhouse tactics in the early exchanges.

Referee Gray warned the Hove slugger on three separate occasions for careless use of his head but Murphy continued to pile forward with only an occasional flicking jab from Watson to deter him. The pendulum swung significantly in round four though as Watson, having found half a yard, peppered Murphy with straight rights and uppercuts through the middle which drew blood from Ben’s nose.

The rangy Watson looks a very classy operator when he lets his hands go and his excellent burst of punches had Murphy thinking about defence for the first time in the contest. Having now settled into a rhythm, Watson’s edge in class was obvious in the fifth as more right hands and uppercuts breached Murphy’s defence as claret dripped more freely from his nostrils.

Ben continued to give it everything but was one step behind Watson. A body assault briefly had Watson pinned in a neutral corner in the sixth and final session but John kept his elbows well tucked in and easily slid away along the ropes to thwart Murphy’s attack. In the end the David Coldwell trained Watson’s greater skills saw him coast to what amounted to a comfortable win.

Inaugural Prizefighter The Heavyweiights contestant Dave Ferguson earned a four-round points verdict over Preston’s Paul Morris. Newcastle’s Ferguson looked fleshy at 16st 5 6oz but was able to dominate the much smaller Morris (14st 6) with right hands in the main.

The plucky Morris kept on coming though and finished the more sprightly of the two, doing enough to take the fourth as Ferguson seemed to be feeling the pace. It would be interesting to see Ferguson in with David Price which seems a logical match to make for later this year. Steve Gray’s 39-37 scorecard in Ferguson’s favour seemed fair.

Karl Place’s all-action slugfest against the free swinging Steve Saville (10st 1 6oz) was fun while it lasted. The only disappointment was that it was all over in two rounds. The light-welterweight match, scheduled optimistically for six rounds, produced a frantic opening from both men.

The taller Place (10st 1 2oz) attacked the squat Saville from the off, drilling the Wolverhampton journeyman with right hands and solid body shots but almost paid a price for his recklessness. A retaliatory right from Saville nailed the advancing Place flush which stiffened the Manchester prospect’s legs momentarily.

The eager Place, backed by a vocal army of followers, didn’t learn his lesson and another right hand followed by an uppercut busted open Karl’s nose in a cracking first round.

Undeterred, Place came out just as purposefully at the start of the second but his boxing was now more controlled. Saville was noticeably more restrained, possibly feeling the effects of Karl’s earlier body attacks, and was suddenly decked by a right hand to the temple which effectively knocked the stuffing out of him.

Steve dusted himself down but had nothing left and another body shot from Place dropped him for the full count after 58 seconds of the round. Place is one to keep an eye on and is going to be in some lively encounters going forward. He moves to 8-0 (5) whilst the always watchable Saville slips to 19-8.

Two local fighters easily maintained their unbeaten records. Bolton’s well-supported Rick Godding (10st 5 8oz) warmed-up for his April clash with Curtis Woodhouse with a shut-out points victory over journeyman William Warburton (10st 8 8oz). Goddings, now 11-0 (1) earned a 60-54 verdict from referee Gray over Warburton who has won only one of his eleven fights (1-9-2).

Goddings, searching for only his second stoppage win, did knock Warburton off-balance with an overhand right in round five but the trailhorse fiddled his way across the finishing line in typically evasive fashion. This six-three’s contest was made at welterweight.

In the show-opener, Kirk Goodings (surname spelt differently and no relation to the above) made it 2-0 in the pro ranks after clinching a 39-37 points win over Mansfield-based Latvian Pavels Serikovs (9st 6 12oz) in this super-featherweight four-rounder. Serikovs made a bright start and took the opener by catching Goodings (9st 4 4oz) with some left hooks that bypassed his low held right hand.

Kirk tightened up from round two onwards though and scored with some impressive one-two combinations off the jab and moved well from side-to-side which pleased promoter Frank Maloney who was stood at ringside.