York Hall undercard round-up - 'The Eagle' remains unbeaten
Romford’s Tony “The Conqueror” Conquest (13st 13lb) scored a shutout victory over six rounds against tough journeyman Hastings Rasani (14st 8lb). After a tentative start Conquest found his range and started to land some decent right hands. As the fight went on Tony’s left jab was the lethal weapon. Rasani just couldn’t avoid this perfectly timed blow. Over the years Rasani (25-53-4) has caused a few problems for some of the British cruiserweights but Conquest made it look easy. I’m sure Tony (5-0) will be looking forward to his next fight which I hope will be another step up in class.
Erick “The Eagle” Ochieng (11st 4lb) did a good job on Alex Spitko (11st 3lb), stopping him in the final round of their four rounder. Ochieng started the contest working behind an educated jab. The fight changed when saw the effect of one of his uppercuts landing on Spitko’s jaw. Spitko’s legs buckled twice in the second round from Erick’s signature punch.
As the fight went on Ochieng (5-0) was throwing the uppercut at every opportunity and finally he got the desired effect when his opponent went down in the fourth round. He rose after a count and after another attack from Erick, referee Ken Curtis decided he had seen enough and waved off the bout.
In an entertaining four rounder, Woodford Green’s Michael Norgrove ( 11st 2lb) won a 40-36 decision over Iain Eldridge(11st 1lb). Norgrove’s greater power and determination was the deciding factor in the bout. Some well timed left jabs and a few solid right hooks sent Eldridge back to the corner with a bloodied nose after the first round. Norgrove’s fast combination’s proved too much for Eldridge (4-10-1) who was forced to fight in spurts trying to counter Norgrove on the way in. Norgrove improves to 3-0 with the win.
Cheshunt’s unbeaten welterweight Phil Gill moved to (6-0-1) with a shutout points victory over Damien Turner (0-8). Gill started the bout intending to do some damage with his body shots which were hitting the target frequently. Turner did land a couple of hooks but it was never enough to trouble the relentless Gill. It was looking like Gill (10st) was not going crack Turner (10st 1lb) but he proved the crowd wrong when a huge overhand right landed high on Turner’s head and he went down in the final few seconds of the fight. He survived the count and returned to his corner in tandem with the time keeper ringing the final bell.
Well supported local fighter Jamie Arlain (10st 3lb) wasn’t handed his debut win on a plate. He was made to work very hard for his 39-37 victory. Danny Dontchev (10st 3lb) made the fight messy and stopped Arlain getting into any kind of rhythm. Arlain landed the cleaner shots and did just enough to squeeze past Dontchev. He will be pleased that he overcame a tricky debut and started his career with a victory.
George Jupp (9st 2lb) scored his second pro win with a tidy display against Pavels Senkovs (9st 2lb). George took his time and picked off his opponent on his way to a 40-36 win. Jupp grew in confidence as the fight progressed and landed some nice combinations on Senkovs who has never been stopped in his 21 previous loses.
Eder Kurti (12st 3lb) continued his six fight winning streak with a third round stoppage over Danny Goode (12st 6lb). After a competitive first round Kurti (11-4) started to dominate Goode (12-7) and knocked him down in the second round with a right hook to the head. Goode survived the round but the third round bought more punishment to him. A beautifully timed left hook to the body put Goode down for the second time and there was no way he was beating the count and the fight was stopped.
In the night's opening bout Daryl Setterfield (11st) scored a comfortable 60-55 over Nottingham’s Matt Scriven (11st 1lb). Setterfield (4-4-1) set the pace for the contest and clearly landed the better shots throughout, though Scriven was more than capable of lasting the pace and was always willing to engage his opponent to make it an interesting scrap. On a side note, hats off to Matt Scriven (14-72), who as well as taking part in his own bout also worked the corner for Senkovs and Spitko on the bill.
