Limond's return marred by numpties
Willie Limond (9st 12lbs 14ozs) returned to Glasgow's boxing scene with a comprehensive points victory over Polish teacherc um boxer Arek Malek (10st 1lb 8ozs). The only blight on the landscape was the unseemly brawl in the upper regions of the cheap seats which had the bystanders pouring down on to the arena floor to avoid the stramash.
The perpetrators were obviously fuelled by excess beer allied to a liberal dose of stupidity. The only mitigation might have been the need for beer to cool them down from the unseasonal sunshine which had obviously seared their brains(?)
Despite this interruption, Limond showed all his skill and tactical nous to maintain his focus on the job in hand, and Team Limond, with Peter Harrison in a leading role, will be very happy with their man's application to the task.
Malek was a good choice for an opponent for this bout as he always comes to work and never gives a slipshod performance. Limond showed crispness with his work and a complete lack of rust in a well oiled machine and eased to a 60-54 points win.
The show had opened with sparkle in the outfit of Crawley's Robin Deakin (9st 11lbs) and Milngavie's Richard Barclay (9st 10lbs), that said Deakin's outfit may have had colour and sparkle (and it did), but not so his boxing. The more soberly attired Barclay had his number from the first bell to the last.
Deakin's corner were imploring him to take Barclay 'into the trenches'; well guys, I venture to suggest the suntanned, blonde haired boxer wouldn't ever have seen a trench, much less fought in one! He was outgunned in simplistic terms by young Barclay with a shut out of 60-54.
The multi-tattoo'd southpaw Stevie Weir (11st) took the centre of the ring from the first bell against Andrew "Paddy" Patterson (11st 12ozs) and frankly never looked into his rear view mirror as Patterson didn't have anything to make the Paisley man go into reverse. The Brummie only sporadically took an interest in attacking the mobile art gallery in the other corner, but when he did, Weir fended it off with aplomb.
Motherwell's Steven Sharoudi (10st 5lbs) had a large fan club with him as usual when he took on tough "Smoggie" Phil Boyle (10st 1lb) of Middlesbrough. They both started at pace and intent on dominating the other! Sharoudi doing the slightly more effective work in the early stages, but Boyle is as tough as they come and isn't fazed in the slightest. This bout lost some of its early lustre in the final three rounds, but the Motherwell mob don't care as their man gets the nod 59-55. For me, the Smoggie could have been a round closer.
David Savage (9st 2lbs) of Scotstoun had a distinct height advantage over Barking's Marc Callaghan (9st 3lbs 4ozs) in their eight rounder. However, he was unable to capitalise on it as the diminutive Callaghan is a real live-wire and isn't static for even a nanosecond. This was a bout for the purist as it was boxing as it should be with a contrast in stylish attack and obdurate defence. The scoreline was a wee bit unfair on the East ender, but he wouldn't have cried over the loss. Savage won 80-72.
Eddie Doyle of Glenboig (10st 6ozs) had a very large and vocal support in his bout against Nuneaton's Kristian Laight (9st 13lbs 12ozs), this can help but Doyle is up for this bout with or without their noise. Laight seems at ease with his role of bit part player in this production! Doyle went to the canvas in round three, but only through his own exuberance. For me the weight of expectation of his fans slightly stifled his ability as he was trying too hard to please and Laight is anything but a sucker for a punch. Doyle got the nod by 80-72 in this eight rounder of twos.
You have to hand it to Central Belt boxers, they bring out their fans in droves. None more so than Robert "Rocky" Wright (9st 1lb 8ozs) of Yoker when he was matched against Pavel Senkovs (9st 1lb 12ozs) a Latvian based in Mansfield. Senkovs may only have two wins on his slate but they're both by KO and has been in the ring an awful lot more than Wright with a 38 bout slate. Wright is one of those exciting young boxers who are heavy handed and likes to unload his exocets. He didn't have the range spot on at the outset but then homed in on his target to floor the Latvian twice in the opener, leaving those of ringside in expectation of an early finish. Senkovs though, only got angry and dished out his own weapons. This was rivetting stuff as either could have stopped the other, such was the venom with which they were firing off at each other! You just couldn't take your eyes off of it with the potential explosion. In the end it went to points and Victor Loughlin gave it to Wright by a 60-53.
Overall, then a good night's work by Chris Gilmour Promotions, marred only by the antics of the mental dwarves who indulged themselves in their own bouts up in the cheap seats for no apparent reason!
