The Eagle's not soaring just yet

The Brentwood show closer saw Stoke Newington middleweight Eric 'The Eagle' Ochieng comfortably outpoint Barnsley’s Lee Noble. Despite having a 5lb weight advantage Dominic Ingle-trained Noble didn’t make the best use of his pounds and look disinterested throughout despite Ingle’s animated instructions.

Ochieng made a habit of throwing single jabs and body shots while Noble covered up without ever posing any threat. Although Eric was clearly in control he was one paced and fought with a sense of caution, mindful of how Noble knocked out his gym mate Pat McAleese last year despite trailing on the judges' scorecards.

Ochieng’s fans had waited patiently to see their man and made sure Eric knew they were present.  It was, however, a dreadfully disappointing fight between two evenly matched pugilists. Ken Curtis marked it 60-54.

Yesterday Ingle revealed to me that Noble took the fight at short notice and hadn't trained since he boxed for the English title last November and admitted, "When he's on it he's good and when he isn't he's bad."

Eric goes by the name of ‘Eagle.’ Sadly the truth is he wasn’t quite flying while Noble failed to even take off. Booth and Arthur aside, that last sentence best sums up the night as a whole.