Terry Holmes impresses on Graham Earl's home town show
All the talk of a muted return to the ring for Graham Earl was put on the backburner on Sunday afternoon as 'The Duke' put on his promoter's hat by staging a seven-fight card in his home town of Luton.
This was a good chance for Graham to showcase some of his up and coming youngsters at the Liquid night club which is a great little venue for a boxing show.
The show was started with Luton’s James Smith being handed his pro debut against Ryan Clark. Smith (11st 8lbs) immediately commanded centre of the ring pushing out his left jab albeit it slightly out of range. As the round went on, Smith did start to land with his jab against a sluggish looking Clark compared to previous bouts where he has been very aggressive. As the bout progressed Clark (11st 10lbs) did try and open up and managed to bloody Smith’s nose in the third round even though this was mostly against the flow of this fight. Smith was able to control the fight at his own pace landing enough shots to keep Clark at bay. The fourth and final round was by far the most competitive round with both fighters throwing leather for the full three minutes. It all started when Smith landed a sweet left-right combination which prompted Clark to fight back with wild swings, some getting through to Smith’s chin. At the final bell Smith's hand was raised by referee Geoff Hines and was awarded a 40-36 points win.
Next up was Belfast’s Joe Hillerby (12st) taking on Iain Jackson (11st 10lbs) in a four round contest. Hillerby made his intentions clear from the opening bell starting aggressively and landing at will with head and body shots. A great opening round for Hillerby. After a torrid first round Jackson realised he had to do more to be competitive in the fight and started the second on a much more positive note. Jackson landed a good right hand to the head and started to take the fight to Hillerby. The fight ended with both guys pushing for the victory which was given to Hillerby 39-38 on Ken Curtis’s scorecard. Hillerby improves to 4-0 with this latest triumph.
Stevenage fighter Terry Holmes (10st 10lbs) put on a punch perfect display on his way to a fourth round stoppage victory over Aaron Fox (11st 2lbs). Holmes (pictured) started very quickly, punishing Fox with flush head shots then four unanswered body shots. The way Holmes was whipping in the body shots had his army of fans on their feet screaming for more as they sensed Fox wouldn’t be able to withstand too many more. During the second round Holmes kept up his relentless punch output landing a big right hand while Fox was pinned to the ropes. As the fight progressed Fox knew he had to fight back to try and stop Holmes bullying him which he did manage to do for a section of the third round. The end came in the fourth round when the referee decided Fox had taken too much punishment and rightly called a halt to the bout. Holmes moves on to 4-0 with the win.
Leicester’s former Prizefighter semi-finalist Jahmaine Smyle (12st 9lbs) improved his record to 5-2-1 with a 40-36 win over Jamie Ambler (13st 1lb). Smyle didn’t need to extend himself and was never troubled by the infrequent attacks coming back from Ambler. Smyle showed a good array of punches through out the bout and did have Ambler in trouble with a right hook to the jaw in the final round.
Birmingham welterweight Nasser Al Harbi (11st) scored a dominant 60-53 win over Duncan Cottier (11st 7lbs) in a six-rounder. Well supported Al Harbi controlled the fight from start to finish using his superior height and reach advantage. Cottier was deducted one point by referee Ken Curtis in the fifth round for his use of rough house tactics.
Not so ‘little’ heavyweight Tom Little got his pro career off to a winning start with a shutout victory over Lithuanian Rolandas Cesna over four rounds. Little (17st 8lbs) started the fight on the front foot looking to stamp his authority on his imported opponent. He landed a couple of solid head shots early which sent Cesna (15st 1lb) into his shell. Little continued to fight patiently throughout and did wobble Cesna in the third round with a couple of well timed right hooks to the head.
The last fight of the afternoon saw local fighter Danny Mulherne (10st) make his pro debut versus late replacement Sid Razak (10st 3lbs). Danny controlled most of the bout with his far superior work rate but did let his defences down a couple of times which saw Razak land a couple of meaty head shots. Mulherne will be happy that he has successfully negotiated his debut and was given the win by way of a 40-37 points verdict.
