Etches notches
Sheffield middleweight Adam Etches notched up a third quick win from four unbeaten starts at his home city’s Park Hotel last night. 20 year-old Etches (11st 11lbs 2oz) did as he liked for the 127 seconds the contest lasted.
A left hook to the body dropped Walsall’s poor Bobby Wood (12st 4lbs 2oz, now 5-8). The visitor was hurt and took a knee. It was one of those situations in which it looked like Wood could undoubtedly continue but thought better of it and was expertly counted out in the act of rising a millisecond before the count of ten. Referee Michael Alexander, who officiated throughout, did the honours.
Etches, who has a promotional deal with Hatton, sold quite a few tickets for this small dinner show, which was promoted by Hatton Promotions’ Director of Boxing, Richard Poxon, in aid of Sheffield’s Weston Park Hospital.
Hard to tell anything from such a one-sided showing but he’s a big, marauding chap who looks like he carries a dig. One to keep an eye on.
Steel City binman Carl Wild is rarely in a dull fight. This is because when he’s facing a better boxer he gives it his all; when he faces an inferior opponent, he has a tear up anyway. The latter was the case in point last night as Wild (12st 12lbs 2oz) took on Derby tough man Elvis Dube (12st 10lbs 4oz).
I gave Dube the first round. Wild had advantages in reach and height but was too close to his opponent, who profited from this by hooking to the body and doing just that little bit more. Wild switched on and listened to his trainer Glyn Rhodes for much of rounds two and three and, seeing as he boxed off his jab for big spells, he took these two sessions quite comfortably.
‘Comfortably’ is not a word which sits, erm, comfortably with Wild though so he unnecessarily revisited the trenches in the fourth and final session, which I had even. 39-38 to Wild for me but the man who mattered, Mr Alexander, had it wider at 40-37.
Some men just like a fight and ‘Born 2 B’ Wild is one of them. He deserved the win and this was his first W in six fights as he moves to 10-15-3. Dube drops to 3-10.
Brimington lightweight Scott Jenkins made a successful debut by way of a four-round points victory over Trowbridge hard man Dan Carr. 23 year-old Carr (9st 12lbs 8oz) drops to 1-16 but has only been stopped in one of those. It looked, especially early on, as if this might be his second early reverse but he weathered the storm against a good-looking debutant.
20 year-old Jenkins (9st 9lbs 6oz) was understandably fired up and showed an impressive variety of punches, as well as using his forearm to create room when inside – a little habit which he’ll get pulled up for but one which showed he felt he was the boss.
Carr, known with some justification as ‘Dirty Dan’, was warned a few times, mostly for hitting on the break, and ended the second round with a cut forehead as a result of a clash seen as accidental by referee Alexander. Jenkins was not without his indiscretions too, as the contest descended into a bit of a mess.
Carr dug in, but purely to survive, as Jenkins turned up the heat. The debutant got a little ragged towards the end of the fourth and final session, perhaps from frustration, and ended up taking a couple of unnecessary shots. Mainly one way traffic and certainly difficult to argue with the 40-36 shut out tally.
