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Light middleweight prospect Gary “Hot Stuff” Woolcombe suffered his first loss as a professional last night at the hands of the awkward and deceptively good Andrew ‘Smiley’ Facey.
Woolcombe, who fell to 22-1 (7), attempted to press the action throughout but was rendered more or less ineffective by his crafty opponent, who made full use of his height and reach advantages and refused to let the up and comer off the hook once he had him hurt.
Fighting at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, Woolcombe was taking yet another step up in class following a highly impressive 2006 in which he overcame the likes of Eugenio Monteiro and Glibert Eastman (brother of Howard). Facey, despite being in his mid-thirties, is as awkward as they come. He has in recent years given top domestic operators Jamie Moore and Bradley Price all they could handle, and also holds an excellent win over Mathew Macklin.
Standing straight up as though trying to peer over a crowd, Facey is a sharp if not concussive puncher who strikes from obscure and unexpected angles. Although his chin is left high and exposed, he is very adept at making his opponents miss by leaning or taking a step back at just the right moment.
He then uncoils his long, gangly arms and counters beautifully. Woolcombe, the archetypal hands up-chin down boxer, was perplexed. He was always in range to be tagged but never quite close enough to return fire.
It is clear that Facey, who has held the English light middleweight title for over three years now, has benefited enormously from his time spent sparring with WBC light welterweight champion Junior Witter. He may never have fought better than he did last night.
As Woolcombe’s frustration mounted, a look of dejection slowly replaced his earlier expression of dogged determination. Facey was a puzzle that he just could not solve.
By the fifth round, Woolcombe was well behind on the scorecards and appeared to be looking for one big punch to reverse the tide. That big punch, however, was landed by Facey, who dropped Woolcomb with a head-swivelling right hand as he advanced. Although he rose immediately, his eyes had glazed over and he could not defend himself against the follow-up barrage, prompting the referee to step in.
Woolcombe, at 24, is young enough to regroup from this loss and can still have a big future in boxing. He was beaten by a very awkward, deceptively strong fighter in Facey. It is a loss that he will hopefully learn from.
Courtesy www.frankmaloney.com
