Woodhouse v Morris - All The Undercard Action

Kicking off the afternoon's entertainment was popular local lad Navid ‘Nav’ Mansouri (11st 1¼lb) in his second pro outing, against Scunthorpe’s Steve Spence (11st 4 1/4 lbs). Scheduled for six two-minute rounds, the action lasted 35 seconds, as Nav stormed out of the blocks landing body shots and uppercuts with gusto. Spence gave nothing back whilst he was nailed to the ropes, for the intense, but mercilessly brief onslaught. Referee Mike Alexander rightly called a halt to proceedings with Spence in no condition to continue, as Nav goes to 2-0 both in the distance.

 

Nav (if he ever gets dropped, I bagsy 'Sat Nav' as the headline, by the way - Ed.) is trained by West Yorkshire's Chris Aston who was well happy with his man's progress.

 

"We're trying to get him to box a bit, but you can see there, he's a handful.  He only had nine amateur fights but he looks like a 50-bouter.  He can box when he wants to."

 

Rotherham's Mansouri moves to 2-0.

 

Sheffield debutant Jerome Wilson didn't have it all his own way in beating game journeyman Johnny Greaves writes Ian McNeilly.  I had Wilson ahead 58-57 at the end though Mike Alexander, scoring for triallist referee John Latham, had them a lump apart at 59-55.  This was harsh on the East Ham man's efforts.  The southpaw now drops to 2-45.  He'll return to South Yorkshire on Friday to feature on a bill in Doncaster.

 

The first was shared for me, Wilson pawing away with a range-finding jab, Greaves throwing the occasional shot - your typical 'feeling out' opener.  Wilson took rounds two, three and four though Greaves was successful in little spurts; nowhere near enough to pinch the points though.

 

However, things changed in the fifth when Greaves, marked under the right eye, got through with a hard left hook, right cross combination.  Perhaps the success pleasantly surprised him.  Either way, he started to fancy it a bit and took this session and the last for me.  The pro-Wilson crowd warmed to Greaves who was partial to a bit of chat and messing around.  Another loss, another pay day.

 

Third fight of the day, writes Steve Walsh was another six-twos light middle contest between Barnsley novice Neil Beevers (10st 12¾lb), against Lincolnshire’s durable Ryan Clark (11st 4½lb). Beevers showed early aggression and forced Clark to the ropes almost immediately where most of the contest was fought. Beevers threw combos upstairs and downstairs as Clarke was forced to tuck up, until he lost his gum shield for the first of three times throughout the fight. All the pressure came from Beevers scoring more uppercuts as the round went on, and you could not have argued had the round been scored 10-8.

 

The second was almost a carbon copy of the first round, right down to the section of ropes Clark tucked up against, and the loss of his gum shield. Clark’s durability became more evident in the third, as a big left rocked his head back. More shots upstairs and down by Beevers caused Clark to venture from the ropes to the centre for what seemed the first time in the fight. Disorientation must have set in for both fighters as they quickly took the contest back to the ropes.

 

The fourth was arguably Clark’s best round, and I scored it in his favour, as he met Beevers constant pressure with some good exchanges. Clark landed some good lefts to counteract Beevers' uppercuts, at the end of the round Beevers seemed to breathing that bit heavier. Clark may have sensed he was starting to turn the fight as he was in the centre of the ring 10 seconds before the bell for the fifth. The break seemed to recharge Beevers and any optimism from Clark was quickly extinguished as he was forced back to the ropes. The round was full of short leverage shots form both fighters, but some good counter punches where throwing form Clark.

 

The last round was phone box time in a fight that never used three-quarters of the space available. Some good exchanges saw Clark seemingly stagger Beevers, but he was unable to capitalise as he lost his gum shield again. Toward the end Clark finally sagged into the ropes. But saw the fight out to the bell as he will do many others. Clarke now stands at 1-6-2, and will prove a good test for many up coming fighters. Beevers scored his first win as he went to 1-0-1.

 

Grimsby's Kevin Hooper (10st 1lb) took on Sheffield Daniel Thorpe (9st 9¾lb) in the next contest, a six,  two-minute rounds light-welter match up. 25-year-old Hooper was in his third pro fight having won his first two, and was up against journey man Thorpe who had lost his last 23. A cautious opener saw Hooper keeping Thorpe at distance with a constant defensive jab. The caution first approach stuck throughout the fight, as Hooper waited his opportunity to launch attacks. Thorpe’s experience often reduced these to a couple of shots before he held on in a messy tangle.

 

Hoope'rs in and out boxing style was winning the fight clearly by the third round, as Thorpe was clearly there to survive although some strange show boating by Thorpe lightened the entertainment. The fifth round saw a bit more adventure from Thorpe even if this was only in the form of wild haymakers none of which landed. A good right left combo by Hooper rocked Thorpe but the best attack of the fight was quickly ended in a clinch.

 

More haymakers from Thorpe in the final gave Hooper chance to shift to another post code. It was difficult to judge how good Hooper was on this performance, but he showed throughout good composure, and a good defensive jab. He got the decision 60-54, having never been in trouble.

 

Light-welter entertainment continued with Chad Gaynor (9st 12¾lbs) taken on Middlesbrough's Phil Boyle (10st 1¼lb). Some good early exchanges saw both fighters scoring punches, but Gaynor quickly pulled away and good footwork saw him avoid a lot of shots whilst landing solid jabs on the counter.

 

The second saw the 19-year-old Gaynor from Rotherham stagger Boyle with a strong left forcing the visitor to hold on. An attack from Boyle was met with more venom from Gaynor, as each missed shot was punished.

 

The third was to be the last round of the scheduled four. A good early exchange saw Boyle land some good shots but this further seemed to spur on Gaynor to finish proceedings, as his superior speed started to become even more apparent. A right hand staggered Boyle half way through the round, and he never really recovered as Gaynor sensed a finish and launched an onslaught of a dozen or so punches without reply. The referee correctly stood in and stopped the contest 1 minute 31 seconds in to the third round. Gaynor goes to three wins in three with two inside the distance.

 

The final undercard fight always looked good on paper. A light-middleweight contest between Barnsley’s Jon Musgrave (11st 3½lbs), and Kevin McCauley (11st). McCauley was coming off a defeat last weekend to Sheffield prospect Liam Cameron, but was not looking jaded in the slightest. The first and second where even enough rounds with Musgrave been the aggressor but McCauley not taken a backward step appeared to give as much as he took.

 

The intriguing contest entered the third round with McCauley landing some good early lefts, before for the first time Musgrave seemed to take charge, by landing more leather and the bulk of the scoring shots. Musgraves right staggered McCauley and he followed up with a body shot. This was the first round that was clearly Musgraves. The fourth was another tricky to score affair with both fighters’ styles meshing well and scoring off each other. By the fifth separating the two physically was as difficult as separating their scores. It seemed for every shot one fighter landed the other would throw another two. The six was another close round perhaps edged by Musgrave who appeared to land a few more, with McCauley appearing to sag onto the ropes.

 

At the final bell trialist referee John Latham had to check with Michael Alexander before raising Musgrave's hand. McCauley was not to happy with the decision and truth be told the 59 -56 score flattered Musgrave who goes to 7-7 in what was a truly entertaining and difficult fight to score, with no more than two points in it. McCauley, whose record now stands at 4-15-3, will probably fight worse and win.