Report from fridays boxing at Don Valley, Sheffield

Taken from http://www.thecornerstool.co.uk

Wild takes title in Sheffield showdown

Written by Ed Devanney

Photos by Danny Hill (link to all photos coming soon)

Friday Night saw a good showcase of local talent in this Glyn Rhodes promotion at the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield.

The main event saw Carl ‘Born 2 B’ Wild and James Tucker compete for the vacant Central Area Light Heavyweight title. Sheffield fighter Wild, 10(1) – 16(5) -5, came into the bout off of the back of two consecutive draws against Elvis Dube and the unbeaten Justyn Hugh. He looked in impressive shape, weighing in at 12st 6lbs. Tucker, 6(2) – 45(2) – 3, weighed in at 12st 2lbs and was coming to the ring having won three of his last five outings.

The first round was intriguing, with both fighters looking to stamp their authority on the fight and force the other to fight at their pace. Wild was trying to box behind a fast, snapping jab, whilst Tucker was trying to get in close and let go with solid looking hooks to the body of his taller opponent. The first minute and a half was evenly matched, however, the longer the round went on the more effective the work from Wild became. His jab was landing with more accuracy, regularly snapping Tuckers head back as he advanced. The second round began in pretty much the same manner with Wild snapping out the jab and trying to walk Tucker onto his right hand. Tucker began to use a little more head movement though and was soon backing Wild up and doing some good, eye catching work, with his opponent backed on to the ropes or in the corners. Tucker was cutting the ring off well. The third and fourth rounds continued in a very similar pattern to the first and second, Wild boxing well off of a stiff jab with Tucker having spells of good work. It was, however, beginning to look as though Tucker was losing confidence, the more he got caught with the jab, the less he was willing to push Wild back.

The middle rounds of the bout saw Wild begin to take control and dictate the pace at which the contest was fought. Tucker was still trying to push forward, but now with a lot less conviction and regularity than in the early rounds of the contest, a result of the jabs and straight right hands being landing by Wild. Having said this, when Tucker did manage to get through, his work was eye catching and made you wonder what would happen if he could keep that level of intensity up for the full three minutes of a round. The final stages of the eighth round saw Tucker have his best success of the night, he walked Wild back into a neutral corner and, with his head on his opponents chest, let everything go. Wild covered his head well but shipped some solid looking hooks to the body, I think he was relieved to hear the bell to end the round, much more of that punishment to the body would have surely brought his hands down and exposing his head to the strong hooks Tucker was throwing. This was really the last success Tucker had. The ninth and tenth rounds were dominated by the Wild jab and straight right hand, landing some good combinations and leaving Tucker looking frustrated by his unwillingness to stand and trade. Both fighter embraced at the final bell, however, both men seemed to know the result of the contest, Wild celebrated whilst Tucker simply walked back to his corner. Referee Michael Alexander scored this entertaining bout 99 – 92 in favour of the new Central Area Light Heavyweight Champion, Carl ‘Born 2 B’ Wild.

The undercard saw a number of young prospects continue their development in the professional ranks with some testing bouts. Daniel Slaney, making his third outing as a professional was facing the tough and strong Elvis Dube, 4(3)-11(2)-1, in a Light Heavyweight bout over six, two minute rounds. Slaney began the bout against the short, stocky Dube seemingly lacking the confidence of an unbeaten fighter. For the first two rounds he was trying to keep Dube off with a weak, unconvincing southpaw jab. Dube was simply walking through this and landing some solid looking right hands and left hooks. Midway through the second round Slaney suffered a nasty looking cut over his right eye. This seemed to spur Slaney on for the rest of the bout. He came out for the third round with a renewed confidence, throwing the jab with a lot more authority and, when Dube was managing to slip inside, throwing good solid straight lefts to discourage the advance. This pattern was continued throughout the fourth and fifth rounds, Dube was still having some success but it was becoming far less frequent than in the first two rounds. The sixth, and final round saw Dube come out intent on having a big round. He was walking forward and throwing lots of shots, however, the majority of which were being blocked by Slaney, who was also beginning to counter Dube’s shots with some nice straight lefts and right hooks. At the end of a very entertaining bout, referee Howard Foster scored it 58-57 in favour of Daniel Slaney.

Another unbeaten fighter on show was middleweight Dave Fidler, 2(2)-0, who was up against the more experienced and tricky Rick Boulter, 1-17(2)-3. Fidler, weighing 11st 4lbs, came out for the opening round full of confidence and looking for his third straight knockout victory. Boulter, 11st 3lbs, however, had other ideas. Fidler was pushing forward throughout the full six rounds, trying to pin Boulter on the ropes and catch him with strong combinations, Boulter showed all of his experience and ring craft to keep Fidler frustrated for the duration of the bout by suffocating the younger man’s work when up close and consistently spinning or rolling Fidler just as he thought he had his man cornered. After an exciting six rounds, referee Michael Alexander scored the bout 60-55 in favour of Fidler.

Also on the undercard was the fifth professional appearance of the exciting Middleweight Sam ‘Speedy’ Sheedy, 4(1)-0, against Ian Turnbull, 3(1)-3(1)-2 from Ashington, Northumberland. Sheedy, weighing in at 11st 3lbs, used his fast hands and very accurate southpaw jab to pick off Turnbull throughout the bout. Turnbull did have some success, noticeably on the second round when a straight right drew blood from the nose of Sheedy. This was the most success Turnbull was to have as Sheedy dominated pretty much throughout, landing some eye catching, fast, combinations whilst moving and keeping Turnbull guessing as to where the next shots were coming from. At the end of the four rounds, referee Howard Foster had the bout 40-37 to Sheedy.

The fourth bout of the undercard was a Light Middleweight contest between local favourite Mansoor Wali, 3(2)-3-0, who took on Steve Spence, 2(1)–16(3)-3, in a good six round contest. Neither fighter landing with anything substantial but still standing and trading when the opportunity was there. Michael Alexander scored the bout 57-57.

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