Another Solid Sunday at the York Hall
Cruiserweight Leon 'Solid' Williams kept himself busy with a Sunday afternoon 5th round stoppage of Nick ‘The Ox’ Okoth at the York Hall. Williams (8-3) is now looking towards a fight for the English title against Romford's Tony Conquest.
Since June 2008, Miranda Carter's Left Jab promotions has staged over 400 rounds of boxing at the York Hall. The latest Sunday afternoon instalment 'Great Expectations' was co-promoted with Bruce Baker, and kicked off with a middleweight four threes between Diego Burton (1-0-1) from Peckham and Wickford's Danny Brown (2-1).
Brown (11st 10lbs) looked handy in his first two professional outings. Today, for reasons best known to himself, he didn't, coming out of the blocks far too slowly and being put straight on the back foot by Burton (11st 10 1/4lbs), who looked the sharper boxer throughout.
Brown's corner, and fans, kept urging him to get behind his jab - advice that he didn't take as he was beaten to the punch consistently. His defensive movement is good, but this wont win fights if you're not prepared to show any ambition going forward. He did unload at the start of the third round, but Burton, now full of confidence, controlled the fight thereafter.
Referee Ken Curtis scored 40-36 for Burton, who gets his first pro win. Based on this display, Brown doesn't like boxing on Sunday afternoons.
Next up was a Welterweight four threes between Nigerian-born Ideh Ockuko (3-2) from London, and Gosport's Sean Tribble, making his pro debut. From the start, Ockuko (9st 11lbs) was sticking it on Tribble (9st 10 3/4lbs), and causing damage with hard uppercuts and solid body shots. He threw much more on the back foot, while Tribble was instead looking to place his punches without much success.
Tribble did find his way back in the last two rounds to make a fight of it, and nicked the last with some good inside work, but he was out of the blocks far too slowly and paid the price against a lively Ockuko, who now has more wins than losses, moving to 3-2. Referee Jeff Hinds scored the bout 39-37 for Ockuko.
Since his debut back in 2006, Thamesmead's Nathan Weise (7-1-1) hasn't been especially busy. On today's bill, he dominated Essex journeyman Duncan Cottier (2-66-3) over four threes at light middle. Compared to the previous two fights, this one got off to a cagey start, with Weise (11st 1/2lb) landing the eye-catching shots in the opening round.
Cottier (11st 21/2lbs) was coming forward and moving into shooting position nicely, but seemed a bit clueless as to what to do once he was there. He was waiting far too long to throw, and got caught with a crisp right to put him on the canvas for an eight count. Weise's reaction speed and punch accuracy was far greater. Cottier did at least start to throw some meaningful leather in the closing round, but nowhere near enough to nick it. Referee Ken Curtis scored the fight 40-35 for Weise.
There was a lot of support at the York Hall for Jamaican-born Dalton Miller (3-2) from Chiswick, who was in against Swansea journeyman Chris Brophy (3-48-3).
After an explosive start from both fighters, Miller (11st 3lbs) quickly found his range and looked in a different class, marching towards Brophy (11st 6lbs) to deliver his work. Roles reversed in the second as Brophy went on the attack, only to be repelled by intelligent shots from Miller. The Swansea man started to have a bit more success in the third when he upped his work rate and had Miller on the ropes for a brief spell, but in the main found his movement difficult to fathom.
The pair boxed at close range for the final 30 seconds of the bout which was dominated by Miller, who ended a two fight losing streak. Referee Jeff Hinds scored the fight 40-36 for Miller.
Another fighter with a fair amount of support at the York Hall was Billericay's Luke Fowler, making his debut against Swansea's Craig Dyer, who has yet to witness the sweet smell of success despite 17 professional outings.
Fowler (10st 6lbs) started aggressively, and with encouragement from his fans, he moved forward. Dyer (10st 4 1/2 lbs) threw massive right handers at him as he did, but good head movement made him miss, and Fowler threw back with greater accuracy and a lot of snap. Halfway through the second, he launched a fierce assault to pin Dyer on the ropes, putting him on the canvas seconds later, but from a rabbit punch, with no knockdown given.
Although he hasn't managed a win yet, Dyer is a game chap, and has only been stopped twice, and so proved a fair test for Fowler on his debut, especially during the third round, which he edged, before Fowler came out best in the final round. Referee Ken Curtis scored the bout 40-37 for Fowler.
Fowler looked impressive, but hasn't earned his 'Lights Out' nicked-nickname just yet (Lee 'Lights Out' Purdy, on the other hand, has. He does it on a pretty regular basis these days, especially if your name happens to be Craig Watson).
Next up were the big boys. Leon 'Solid' Williams (8-3) is rumoured to be spoiling for a fight with Romford's Tony Conquest for the English cruiserweight strap to add to his Southern Area title. Today he was in against Battersea’s fighting fireman Nick ‘The Ox’ Okoth (10-34-5) over six threes.
Williams (13st 11/2lbs) is a fair bit bigger than Okoth (13st 5 1/2lbs) and went looking for a knockout early on, unleashing some heavy shots to the crust of Okoth, who spent a while on the ropes during the first two rounds, but managed to remain upright.
Both fighters didn't mind mixing it close in, and Okoth had some limited success here. He was waving Williams on towards the end of the third and had his best moments early in the fourth, but Williams went on to deliver some fierce body shots. After being warned by referee Jeff Hines to keep his punches up, Williams had Okoth in trouble on the ropes in round five, when Jeff hinds stepped in to end it just over a minute into the round.
Leon 'Solid' Williams against Tony Conquest is a good match up in a sparse cruiserweight division. Let's hope their respective promoters can get it on.
Francis Maina from Limehouse was another debutant on tonights bill. The former MMA fighter was matched against Nottingham's Barrington Brown (5-5-3), and both boxers were very mobile from the start, displaying tidy footwork and moving around the ring well. When they engaged, Maina (9st 8 1/2 lbs) showed more much more aggression, and looked more likely to land something hurtful. Brown (9st 8 1/2 lbs), however, coped with Maina's ferocity, and had his best moments in the fourth and final round when it looked as if Maina was buzzed by an overhead right, and was on the ropes when the bell went.
Referee Ken Curtis scored the bout a 39-39 draw, which was the only surprise of the night for me. I had it 40-37 for Maina, giving him every round but the last, which i scored 10 each. I think.
The last fight on the Sunday afternoon card was a welterweight scrap between Danny 'Cassius' Connor (3-4-1) and Sean Gorman (1-6-0) from Aberystwyth, Wales.
Gorman (10st 4lbs) was out of the blocks quickly, planting solid shots to Connor's unprotected body. This sparked him into life, and as Connor (10st 3 1/2 lbs) came off the ropes he halted Gorman's progress with some stiff jabs and a snappy right hand.
Gorman came out purposefully in the second but Connor was boxing with patience, and took over from behind his jab. The man from Aberystwyth was turning it into a great fight by starting the rounds strongly, and had his best round in the third, managing to get past Connor's jab.
Understandably, the final round of this great little scrap wasn't quite as pacey and was fairly even, with Gorman the aggressor and Connor again using his jab to best advantage. Referee Jeff Hines scored the fight 39-38 for Connor. A very close scrap that could have gone either way.
Personally, I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than at the York Hall watching boxing. Even if the Dundee Arms is closed, which it was, for some reason.
Like true Brits, we gritted our teeth and went elsewhere.
Pictures by Bernard Miller for BoxRec News
