Buckland edges Sykes in thriller
Super-featherweights Gary Sykes and Gary Buckland both said they were ready for twelve hard rounds if necessary. They weren’t wrong.
Buckland took Sykes’ British title by way of a narrow but unanimous points decision last night after a pulsating, high-octane clash at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge arena.
Judges Howard Foster, Mark Green and Dave Parris tallied 115-114, 115-113 and 116-113 respectively, all for the man from Cardiff.
Dewsbury’s Sykes (9st 3½lbs) has had to put up with endless repeats of his 45-second Prizefighter sparking at the hands of the Welshman and was determined that the outcome would be different this time. It was, but the same man still prevailed.
A self-confessed slow starter, Sykes began rather tentatively, completely in contrast to Buckland (same weight) who ‘put it on’ the champion from the start. In fact, Sykes looked more like the nervous challenger in the opening exchanges, his balance perhaps a little off. I gave Buckland the first three sessions. Sykes was starting to warm up but Buckland was winning the rounds, getting through with eye-catching rights to head and body.
In retrospect, perhaps this great start won the Welshman the title as it turned into a genuine give and take contest from then on in. Rounds went back and forth in a predictable but compelling pattern; the home stretch made for edge-of-the-seat viewing.
Sykes shook Buckland to his boots with a right hook in the eighth round but one just got the sense that the Welshman would not be denied whatever came his way.
The eleventh was as good a three minutes as anyone is likely to see all year – an even round shared between two of the fittest athletes in the sport today. If Sykes was going to lose, he was going to leave it all in the ring and he put in a fantastic effort in the last round, provoking a collective intake of breath from Buckland’s supporters as he slammed in a huge right hand over the top.
Sadly for British boxing’s newest ex-champ, his magnificent effort just wasn’t enough on the night.
As for Buckland, what a contrasting way to beat the same opponent for a second time.
Part Three? Yes, please.
“I'm happy. I've got this Lonsdale belt and it's just like winning a world title,"said Buckland.
"I want to move on and go for the European title then hopefully we can clean things up.
"It was a totally different fight to Prizefighter. I had some good success early on, but Gary Sykes, fair play to him, he's as fit as a fiddle. But I just think I had his number.”
If the travelling Welsh fans hoped Buckland would win, they fully expected Justyn Hugh to add to his 9-0 log. However, Sheffield scrapper Carl Wild (now 10-16-4) wasn’t in the mood to offer a welcome mat to the visitor.
After losing the first two sessions of the four scheduled, the boxing binman warmed to the task and gave the Newport man everything he could handle.
“I hit him with a body shot and I heard that it hurt him,” Wild said afterwards. This determined his mode of attack for rounds three and four, which he took against a tiring Hugh on referee Foster’s card.
Wild is rarely in a bad match, always gives his all, and the 38-38 draw was both fair and well earned. Hugh seemed to acknowledge this too and took the result well.
Britain’s more famous pugilistic refuse collector, Rendall Munroe (8st 10¾lbs) bashed out a predictable 98-92 win over Osaka, Japan’s Ryuti Miyagi (8st 10½lbs).
I don’t know what it is about the Leicester man but for a long time now he has almost seemed content with going through the motions. This makes for less than compelling viewing for the most part. He’s always fit and throws a fair amount of leather but there just seems something missing – for him and us.
A win’s a win but he seems stuck in a rut. Munroe moves to 23-2 whilst disturbingly hirsute Miyagi drops to 21-6-4.
Richard ‘The Inferno’ Towers (17st 10lbs) certainly did tower over previously unbeaten Yuri Bihoutseu (15st 5lbs). Fair play to the Belarussian – he came to fight, did his best and nobody could have asked for more from him. But he was just too small.
I thought the likeable Sheffield giant was in for a long night at the office when he was sticking to the jab and right cross whilst allowing Bihoutseu to come forward and get off with his own shots. But he picked up the pace in the third and began sitting down on his punches which meant immediate trouble for the brave visitor.
A right hook to the body made the Belarussian take a knee. He gamely rose but the end was in sight; after a few more punches, referee Michael Alexander rescued the overmatched Bihoutseu at exactly the right moment, which was 2:28 of the third.
I put it to the big man that I thought he was having a bit of an off-night after the first couple of rounds, making sure I was in a public place before doing so, of course.
“I just do as I’m told, as usual,” Towers replied with good cheer. “I was having a look at him, looking for his shots and sticking to my jab then banging them in to the body.
“Then I picked it up a bit in the third.” He certainly did. Now 12-0, he should be looking to challenge a top domestic rival by the end of this season.
Brave Bihoutseu would be welcomed back any time, though if his people throw him in with another genuine huge man, he ought not to bother. He deserves better.
Hatton Promotions must be hoping their Sheffield light-middleweight Adam Etches goes far because he’s already, at 5-0, got plenty of fans behind him. Another tough Belarussian, Yauheni Abdurazakau (now 8-7) gave Etches what was probably the hardest night of his pro career so far, despite the 40-36 tally from referee Foster. I had it 39-37 as I thought the visitor shaded the third.
It was a give and take affair but Etches had the better work. He’d previously stopped three of his four opponents inside two rounds but he’ll have learned from Abdurazakau that some men sometimes won’t be shifted, especially when they know a few tricks of the trade. Both men weighed 11st 4lbs.
Former Team GB amateur Tommy ‘2Slick’ Stubbs (8st 8lbs) had a helpful height advantage over Sheffield’s Anwar Alfadi (8st 5lbs) and boxed nicely to register a debut win, 40-36 on referee Alexander’s card.
Hands down, totally confident, Oldham’s Stubbs mostly had it his own way despite the Ingle boxer remaining competitive. A decline to 1-17-2 for Alfadi did seem inevitable from the off.
Sheffield’s Scott Jenkins (9st 9½lbs) impressed against Steve Gethin (same weight). The Walsall fighter retired on his stool after the second round, citing an injured left shoulder. Gethin, now 11-64-3, did try in the initial stages but Jenkins was too sharp, rattling in a few combinations though he took the odd one on his way in. His fans went home happy though, and he should have been too. Jenkins moves to 2-0.
The show closer featured dedicated Sheffield middleweight Jez Wilson (11st 7¼lbs) who took 110 seconds to dispatch late replacement Jay Morris (11st 5¼lbs). Both men were boxing out of a crouch, looking for openings and Wilson was successful with a right hook to the body which bowled over the ‘Isle of Wight Assassin’. He rose but sustained follow up pressure saw referee Alexander step in.
Wilson deserves a bit of luck. He’s had several opponents pull out in him, the latest being unbeaten Tom Doran, who should have filled Wilson’s opposite corner on this bill. Wilson, recently married, took his kit with him and trained all through his honeymoon to be ready for Doran and was in his usual great shape.
Maybe Doran doesn’t fancy it – and this quick blow out, albeit it of a 15-20-2 fighter, will hardly encourage him to face Wilson. Fireman Jez moves to 8-1-1.
Image courtesy Hatton Promotions/Mark Robinson
