Vassell wins but Doran's fans lose

He certainly does it the hard way doesn’t he? On Saturday night, Wigan's Robin Park played host to Denton Vassell’s first defence of his Commonwealth welterweight title. Over twelve competitive rounds, he retained his title with a unanimous points decision over unbeaten Namibian contender Bethuel Ushona (a man who had once beaten Ali Nuumbembe).

The fight gave a great indication of what Denton is doing right, and what he is doing wrong so far in his career. Vassell (10st 6lb 12oz) began the fight attempting to use the jab more than in previous fights and trying to back up his skilful opponent. Ushona (10st 5lb 8oz) seemed happy to circle the ring, attempting to pick off his opponent. Still, the first stanza belonged to Denton, but we knew the African wasn’t just here for the pay day.

The second saw Vassell continue to bob and move, but it all seemed a bit forced. Ushona began to pick him off, and although more work was being done by the champ, the cleaner, more eye-catching shots were coming from the challenger. The third saw Vassell catch his opponent with a lovely right hand, his best shot of the fight so far. This didn’t seem to deter Ushona who continued to circle and couldn’t really miss with the right hand. The fourth round began with a nice left to the body by Vassell. It was however, looking all a bit pedestrian, and Ushona swept the round with some lovely skills. It was apparent though, that Vassell was always pushing the action, and with all the grappling that was taking place, Ushona would struggle to keep this tempo up against the naturally stronger man.

The fifth began and Vassell continued to rough up his opponent and get inside. When there it, would become messy and strenuous, seemingly what he wanted. Gone was the jab or any pretence of lateral movement, this was now a wrestling match. Ushona continued to land from the outside, but to Denton’s credit, he was catching more on his gloves. Still, a close round that could have gone either way.

The sixth round was where I believed the fight turned around. Vassell landed with a good left hand on the inside and Ushona, though still competitive was reducing the number of shots he was throwing. It was like he was becoming drained. This was Denton’s best round so far. The seventh continued the theme of the previous round. Vassell was pushing his opponent to the ropes and working on him there. Ushona still threw some nice shots; there just weren’t enough of them. I would like to say there were some quality shots thrown by Vassell as he began to dominate the fight, but that would be untrue. This was ugly, yet effective boxing.

The eighth saw something of a last hurrah by Ushona. He was now, once again giving as good as he got. The flurries, including a nice barrage off the ropes seemed to counter-act Vassell’s charging aggression. It is debateable whether the challenger did enough to win the round, but on my card at least, he got a share. That was pretty much it for Ushona in an attacking sense. Vassell did some of his best work in the ninth. A good left hand to the body hurt Ushona for the first time. The African seemed to be tiring and there really was only one way this fight was going from now on in.

The tenth was also a comfortable Vassell round, yet it all continued to be a little bit basic. Ushona would always make the fight competitive; there just wasn’t enough work anymore on his behalf. The eleventh saw Vassell land probably his best shot of the fight, a left hand that seemed to dip the knees of the challenger. Denton was now completely in charge, yet the atmosphere in the arena indicated what we all knew. What we were watching wasn’t great. The twelfth began with Ushona trying to up his work rate once again. Those right hands were once again finding their target with consummate ease. It really was a good job that Bethuel couldn’t punch. Still more work was done by Vassell and he took the stanza.

The bell sounded and both men claimed victory. It was however Denton Vassell who was declared the winner by scores of 118-111, 117-113 and 117-112. I had it 117-112, in the end a comfortable win for Vassell.

Some may read my report and think ‘God, is Martin suffering from losing an hours sleep with the clocks going forward? That’s a bit harsh.’ I would reply with the fact that if Denton Vassell was a decent level British pro who blagged a title and was now doing what he needed to keep it, I would give him all the credit in the world. But I know that Denton Vassell is better than that. I know that they have been working on movement and the jab in the gym. For some reason, he went back to basics, and although successful, he won’t have gained many new fans. One suspects that Vassell will be itching to get back in the ring, the class will hopefully begin shine through. Vassell rises to 17-0 (9 KOs) Ushona falls to 23-1 (8 KOs).

The main support saw Blackpool’s Matty Askin claim the vacant Central area cruiserweight crown. Askin (13st 13lb 8oz), faced off against Rotherham’s unbeaten Neil Dawson (13st 10lb) in a match scheduled to last ten rounds. Six years ago Dawson was seen as a huge prospect, after having won a barn burner against lanky Liverpudlian Tony Moran. Since then he has been off the radar, bar a routine victory over Mark Lewis in February. For a while however, this didn’t seem to matter as we were reminded of just how good Dawson actually was.

The opening round was very cautions, neither man looking to leave themselves open. Askin landed a good left hand, whilst Dawson was trying to use the right. The second round saw battle really commence. Dawson was using the jab to great effect. In a real back and forth round, both fighters had success, Askin landing the right, Dawson throwing flurries off the jab. When it came to scoring it was a real ‘pick em’ round.

By the third round you could really tell that Dawson was fancying the job. The jab seemed to be really putting Askin off. Matt could be accused of looking for the single shot, but very few people thought Dawson would look this good after the lay off. Dawson continued his skilful work in the next round. The right hand was now beginning to make a big impact. After such a lay off, could the title dream for Dawson really come true?

The fifth round began to answer that question, as Askin really began to dominate the fight. Matty had begun to find his range and was tagging his opponent with big right and left hands. This was the first time Dawson had looked uncomfortable and it wasn’t going to get much better for him. A huge right hand form Askin had Dawson looking all set to go as the bell sounded. I suspected this wouldn’t last much longer. I wasn’t to be proven wrong. The sixth round saw the conclusion of the fight.

Askin continued his good work from the previous round, as Dawson continued to tire. The left hands from Askin were having a significant effect on his opponent, and the end looked near. It came with a booming right hand from the Blackpool man to his opponent’s temple. Dawson’s legs turned to jelly, and as Askin threw a left hand to finish the job, the referee jumped in to save the Rotherham fighter. Time was called at 2:48 of the sixth round and Askin claimed the title. Matty Askin now holds a belt, but one suspects he won’t be rushed towards British title level just yet. He is still 22 and has much to learn. He does however look a top notch prospect and is certainly one to watch. I have no idea where Neil Dawson has been but if he continues to fight like that, I would love for him to stay around. Askin rises to 10-0 (6 KOs); Dawson falls to 9-1 (3 KOs).

Shock of the night saw Rhys Roberts (8st 12lb) lose his unbeaten record in his unlucky 13th fight. His ‘conqueror’ was Daniel Kodjo Sassou (9st 1lb) of France who is becoming a regular on these shores, having taken Scott Quigg and Joe Murray the distance in his previous two fights. This one was scheduled to go eight-threes. The night started so well for Roberts. Lightning quick as ever, with skills to burn, he moved around the ring catching Sassou with all manner of shots. This was going to be an easy night's work for Roberts. Wasn’t it? It seems not.

As the bell went for the start of the second round Sassou was declared the winner and Roberts stormed out the ring. It transpired that Roberts had injured his right hand and the corner saw no point in continuing, and risking injuring it still further. The correct decision, but gutting for Roberts. Roberts falls to 12-1 (2 KOs) whilst Sassou rises to 30-16-4 (8 KOs). Completely unsatisfactory, but these things happen in boxing, sadly.

Adam Little of Kirkham (10st 10lb) made an impressive debut as he stopped Matt Seawright (10st 10lb) at the end of the second round of a match that was scheduled to go four-threes. Seawright began by giving it a really good go. He bullied the 20 year-old debutant around the ring, though the sharper work came from Shaw. He seemed very measured in his approach and didn’t appear to be having those first fight nerves. The second round saw Little begin to punch harder and make life more uncomfortable for Seawright. Adam was throwing some nice uppercuts that were catching Seawright cleanly and then BANG. A booming right uppercut saw Seawright almost go on all fours. As he struggled to stay on his feet in this stationary position, Little showed a good killer instinct and landed a few more uppercuts. Matt finally went down and it was lucky for him that the bell went as the count concluded.

As the third was scheduled to begin, Seawright was pulled out, having suffered a cut over the left eye. Little rises to 1-0 (1KO) and looks one to watch. Seawright falls to 3-43-2 but remains one of my favourite journeymen.

Tom Shaw (10st 4lb) of Burton on Trent was also making his pro debut as he faced off against Danny Dontchev (10st 8lb) over four-threes. Shaw began the first working the jab. Obviously a bit of a stylist he was always first to the punch. The second saw Shaw attempting to throw harder shots and make life a bit tougher for Dontchev. Tom threw a good right uppercut which knocked the head back of his opponent. Dontchev threw some lunging shots but these were mere glancing blows.

The third began as a continuation of the second, with Shaw throwing a nice left hand, followed by a right uppercut. Donny threw a big overhand right and although it missed, was warned for being dangerous, maybe due to the head that was following the initial shot. The fourth started a little bit better for Dontchev, who now landed a couple of fight hands. That was as good as it got for the away man however, as at first he was punched in the back (which sent him down temporarily) and then almost immediately punched low (which sent him down for an extended period). Shaw was warned and was maybe lucky not to be deducted a point. Were these infringements deliberate? I don’t know. Maybe it was down to the fact that Shaw was beginning to tire down the stretch. Danny, as ever, never stopped trying but Shaw comfortably won the final round and his hand was raised. He was declared the winner by a score of 40-36. Shaw rises to 1-0 and will have much easier nights' work than this. Dontchev falls to 4-31 (1 KO) and will move on to give someone else a tough night.

In a light-middleweight contest Jez Wilson of Sheffield notched up a victory over Rocky Chakir in a highly competitive contest over four-threes. Wilson, fresh off getting knocked out by Farai Musiyiwa and drawing against Max Maxwell, started well using the right hand to great effect. Chakir was remaining well in the fight, although he didn’t do enough to win the round. The second round was much better for Chakir. He was continually quicker to the punch that Wilson, including one lovely left hand. Wilson got better as the round went on but was far too easy to hit. I gave this round to Chakir.

The third saw another reversal of fortune. Chakir was now beginning to be pushed on the back foot. Though Wilson was getting the better over a visibly tiring Chakir, he was getting caught down the centre far too much and was actually stung by one right hand. Still, these moments of success were not enough for Chakir and Wilson took the round. A big right hand at the start of the fourth hurt Chakir for the first time. Chakir certainly landed his fair share of shots but as the round wore on, Wilson became more dominant. It was no surprise that as the bell went Jez Wilson had his hand raised by a score of 39-37. Jez Wilson rises to 7-1-1 (4 KOs) but will seriously need to work on his defence if he wants to go further. Rocky Chakir falls to 5-11 (2 KOs) and could become really dangerous, if he can just keep his work rate up.

OK, now time for the whinge. This show was scheduled to start at 7pm with the doors opening at 6.30pm. Being a professional sort I turned up at 6.25 to pick up my pass. When I entered the arena I was greeted with the sight of Tom Doran leaving it, having dispatched his opponent inside a round. The show had been moved forward an hour and I had missed two fights. It transpired that this was down to SKY. OK, I do realise that SKY, these days only seem interested in the two main fights. Yet I know many Tom Doran fans that had turned up to the arena ‘early’ only to have missed their man in action. The same went for some of Jez Wilson’s fans; they got to the arena to find the ring card girl displaying the third round placard.

Let’s get this straight; there is more to a show than the main fights. Most people who go to see the fighters on the undercard are going to see their man. They are paying good money and are unlikely to want to shell out for the show otherwise. Yet in the decision making process this seems to have been completely missed, or disregarded. I have never witnessed such shoddy treatment of the paying public in a long time. Someone needs to hang their head in shame, or at least have the guts to apologise.

It transpired that Tom Doran (11st 7lb) had knocked out previously unbeaten Jamie Boness (11st 12lb), flooring him twice with left hands to the body. Time was called at 1:27 of the first round. Doran rises to 9-0 (2 KOs) and can’t be far away from a step up. Boness falls to 4-1-1 The show opener saw James ‘Jazza’ Dickens record his first stoppage win in his second fight when he stopped Sali Mustafov after 1:23 of the first round, having floored him three times. Dickens rises to 2-0 (1KO) and is making good progress. Mustafov falls to 1-6.

So bar the fiasco at the start it was another enjoyable night courtesy of Hatton Promotions. Maybe not as enjoyable one for Denton Vassell, but he won. And those who know him are more than confident that better performances are just around the corner.