Woodhouse masters late replacement

Curtis ‘The Driffield Destroyer’ Woodhouse retained his light-welterweight International Masters bauble at Rotherham’s Magna Centre this afternoon by stopping imported late replacement opponent Maurycy Gojko in the fourth round.

Gojko was the fourth man slated to fill the opposite corner after Rick Godding, Sam Amoako and Steve Saville all slipped through this David Coldwell promotion for one reason or another.

The Pole (previously stopped by Mark Thompson and Ted Bami) agreed to the match on Friday and earned his money, putting up some stubborn resistance before Woodhouse (9st 13lbs 4oz) finally broke him down after 2:01 of the fourth session.

The first round was shared on my card as Woodhouse tentatively tried to work out the southpaw, which he began to do as round two closed. Gojko (who fortuitously just happened to weigh 10st dead) looked to be blowing a bit at the start of the third. A sharp one-two to the head followed by a meaty left-right hook combination to the body dropped Gojko. He rose and lasted to the bell but it was obvious the end was nigh.

As aforementioned, he earned his corn though as he battled on in the fourth round, he soaked up some more punishment as betrayed by an increasingly bloody nose. He’d clearly had enough by the time he took a knee, after which Woodhouse needlessly tagged him (albeit on the arm). Gojko rose at nine but referee Steve Gray rightly waved the one-sided action off.

A strange ending marred the opening welterweight contest between Sheffield’s Jerome Wilson (10st 8lbs 14oz) and Tooting’s favourite Bulgarian Danny Dontchev (10st 6lbs 4oz). This was Wilson’s second outing and his second win; he won’t forget it in a hurry and neither will Liverpool’s triallist referee Mark Lyson.

Wilson won an uneventful and rather scrappy opening session. The pair were grappling at ring centre in the second session and the wrestling was broken up by Lyson. Dontchev immediately gestured with his left hand towards his lower back, as if he was complaining about receiving an illegal punch. Matters resumed but soon, for no discernable reason Dontchev took a knee and Wilson just about stopped himself from decapitating his opponent, such was his confusion.

Dontchev tried to fight on but soon repeated the knee in a neutral corner. He tried to explain to referee Lyson what the matter was but his English was only slightly better than the arbiter’s Bulgarian. The official waved off the contest, much to Dontchev’s dismay but it’s difficult to see how he could complain about the outcome.

Before Dontchev took his second knee, I suspected he had some kind of back injury and the Bulgarian gestured as if he was getting a shooting pain down his leg – the doctor later said it was possibly a tweak of his sciatic nerve. I have no doubt it was genuine; a bit on the bizarre side to invent.

Rotherham’s Martin Shaw (10st 2lbs) made a successful debut, stopping Westbury’s Aaron Fox (10st 5lbs 12oz) at 1:46 of the third round.

If I said I’ve got older things in my fridge than baby-faced Shaw looks, I’d only be slightly exaggerating. He shouldn’t have any problems having the pub as a distraction – I doubt very much he’d get beyond the doorstep, with or without ID.

The 18-year-old showed quick hands at the start of the opener and a very good left hook bloodied Fox’s nose. Fox marauded forward though and played his fair share in a good scrap. Shaw took Fox’s lead and boxed nicely off the back foot and although the visitor got through with shots of his own, the Yorkshireman definitely had the edge.

Shaw turned up the heat in the third and another mini-barrage put Fox down. He looked a bit dispirited on rising. Mike Alexander issued a standing eight and then rightly saved Fox (now 0-2-1) for another day.

Grimsby’s Kevin Hooper kept his unbeaten record intact, moving to 4-0, but had to came through some deep water against Middlesbrough’s Phil Boyle. Referee Gray had it 58-57 for ‘Super’ Hooper who was shaken to his boots on more than one occasion by Boyle’s right hook over the top.

When it first happened in the third round, Hooper was clever enough to follow the wise, urgent advice issued by Coldwell to “Hold on! Grab him!” Boyle (now 1-4) seemed a bit surprised by his success and failed to throw the kitchen sink which might have seen Gray intervene.

Hooper was hurt again in the next and ended up being bundled over (no knockdown). His head started to clear towards the end of the session though and his better boxing skills saw him home. Both weighed a few ounces over 10st (Hooper six, Boyle four).

Madcap Blackburn welter Ali Shah (10st 9lbs) could be a decent addition to the domestic rankings. Thing is, this is his first fight for more than a year and one gets the sense that he might not be the most stable individual. I believe he’s currently acting independently. I’ve seen him down at Wincobank once or twice and he immediately invoked the old post-Naseem stereotype of hands low, swaying impressively out of the way of shots and crowd-friendly clowning.

Birmingham’s Andrew Patterson (10st 9lbs 8oz) was on the receiving end of Shah’s act and less temperate individuals might have been tempted into indiscretion. Switch-hitting Shah won as he liked, hitting his opponent at will and he opened up a very nasty looking cut along the upper eyelid of Patterson’s left eye in the second round. It was rightly waved off in the interval and a very disappointed Shah rose from his stool saying, “I was only just getting warmed up.”

He leaned over the top rope and said, “You know I’m great, I know I’m great.” Quite.

Rotherham’s Navid ‘Nav’ Mansouri (11st 0lbs 12oz) moved to three unbeaten with a 60-55 win over Lincoln tough man Ryan Clark (11st 1lb 14oz). Mansouri’s two previous wins had come early and apparently Clark had vowed beforehand that he wouldn’t be the third. He was right though had to ship some shots which would have caused lesser men to wilt.

Clark seems to be one of those chaps who loves to fight and eats up pain; he met someone both willing and capable of dishing it out. Clark earned a share of the second though it was in this round he shipped a bust nose which patterned his shorts throughout the bout.

Mansouri was quicker and looked good when throwing several series of crisp, accurate jabs. He seems a decent kid and is certainly moving in the right direction.