A look back at the Magnificent Seven

Well, did it live up to the hype? From fighters making a statement and moving up to world level to fighters suffering crushing defeats and ending their careers, this card had it all.

The televised portion of the bill kicked off with James DeGale’s one-round blowout of Carl Dilks. DeGale lived up to his Chunky nickname pre-fight by needing two attempts to make the weight, amid rumours he was 6lb over the day before. With Ricky Hatton announcing his retirement, maybe James has spotted a niche in the market?

DeGale showed why he is rated so highly with a superb display of boxing and moving which left Dilks looking out of his depth. Sure, the stoppage may have been a tad premature but let's not forget that this was supposed to be a real test for DeGale, who looked a class apart. If a proposed December 11th bout between DeGale and George Groves gets made, it could be the British fight of the year. Let's wait and see what the “Ginger Kid” has to say.

After Ryan Rhodes late pull-out, Matthew Hall got an unexpected shot at the European light middleweight title against Lukas Konecny. The Czech fighter looked like Hall’s older brother as the two bald headed compact fighters went at it in the centre of the ring. Unfortunately for Hall, in a fight between two brothers, the older won always wins. Hall stuck to his task and hung with Konecny reasonably well until he was sent to the canvas twice in the sixth before the referee waved it off. Hall announced his retirement immediately afterwards and leaves the sport an ex-Commonwealth champion with an impressive 23-3 record. Boxing fans must have watched the bout however and thought what if? Konecny would have been a real test for Ryan Rhodes and it could have been a cracker.

Then the show-stealer Nathan Cleverly excited fans with a slugfest stoppage victory over the previously unbeaten Karo Murat, who is Iraqi-born but boxes out of Germany. After recently graduating with a Maths degree, Cleverly stepped into the squared circle, and added to his impressive unbeaten record. Fans may have previously been divided about his ability to go on to fight for world levels pre-fight but after that display Cleverly has surely silenced his subtractors. Being a Welshman, Cleverly has often been in the shadow of his former training partner Joe Calzaghe but Saturday night proved he is a star in his own right.

Kell Brook, was proclaimed the second-coming of Naz by what looked like the guy who runs my local take-away. How he got a ringside seat I don’t know. Whilst Kell didn’t look as exciting as Naz in his prime, he boxed well and was beginning to take charge of his fight with Michael Jennings before an unfortunate cut to the eye in the fifth forced Jennings to retire.

Despite not looking sensational, Brook did look in control of the fight and showed flashes of his lightning-quick reactions and handspeed while it lasted. Post-fight, Brook said he would rather have seen Jennings end the fight unconscious, which seemed a bit strange given that he also thought Jennings was “one of the nicest guys in the sport”. Although nowhere near the level of the current WBO champion, Manny Pacquiao, “Special Kell” has all the tools required to become a world champion in the near future.

The big heavyweight clash of the night, saw British champion Derek Chisora halt the much improved Commonwealth champion Sam Sexton, who was coming into the ring after back to back victories over Martin Rogan. Speaking of coming into the ring, Chisora looked like he had raided Frank Maloney’s wardrobe for his patriotic ensemble. Chisora boxed more like a middleweight than a heavyweight, with plenty of nifty footwork and an impressive fast jab. Sexton gave his all and made it a real fight, catching Chisora with several big combinations. Chisora however stepped it up in the ninth for an impressive finish, with what seemed like 100 unanswered heavy right hooks. I would really like to see him in the ring with Tyson Fury in what would be a fantastic domestic dust up.

The co-main event saw a sickening knockout of Enzo Maccarinelli by unbeaten German crusierweight Alexander Frenkel, who lifted the European title. It would take a heartless person not to feel sorry for Enzo after he battled back from three heavy stoppage defeats to unexpectedly win the European title with a first round KO of Russian Alexander Kotlobay in his backyard. Enzo was boxing well against Frenkel and clearly winning the fight but come the seventh round, Frenkel landed his first big shot on Enzo’s chin to send him crashing to the deck. The fight was all over, well it should have been anyway – clearly unstable and disorientated Enzo was allowed to carry on, only to walk straight into another huge punch that knocked him out cold. It’s always easy to say in hindsight but both the referee and Enzo’s corner must have seen that he was in no state to continue and we are only lucky that the punch never resulted in more serious damage. Enzo hasn’t yet decided whether or not he wants to retire from the sport but as a fan of his, I think it would be a right time for the popular Welshman to bow out.

Matthew Macklin v Darren Barker, a clash everyone in the trade has been talking about, was supposed to headline this epic card. After Barker’s late pull-out due to injury, Matthew Macklin was left with the task of motivating himself to face decent Georgian Shalva Jomardsashvlli. Macklin boxed decently and looked the better boxer against the game Jomardashvili, who withdrew in his corner after the fifth. To be honest, it was a bit of an anti-climax for the fans after the Macklin-Barker clash fell through and credit must go to Macklin who must have felt the same but remained professional and got the job done. We can only hope that the Macklin-Barker clash does eventually come off but unfortunately for the fans, Macklin may look instead towards a potential world title shot for the end of the year.

In a minor gripe, ring announcer Mark Burdiss is simply terrible and it was made even more obvious when directly compared to the fantastic Jimmy Lennon Jr. He unfortunately seems to be unable to look at the audience and speak, preferring to keep his head down and read directly off his cards. He also looks nervous and his hands shake visibly. Sorry, it may sound harsh, but he has to go.

There were several reports of trouble from the crowd in Birmingham. It’s a sad state of affairs when fans feel too scared to take their kids or partners to boxing for fear of their safety. Note to any of the “fans” reading this who like getting tanked up and starting trouble - you are not wanted at boxing.