Ringside Boxing Report: John Kays vs. Dai Davies

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Friday night, at The Velodrome (National Cycling Centre) Manchester, England, Steve Wood (VIP Promotions) hosted a fightnight which would see a ten-card bill culminating in the vacant Masters Super-Featherweight Title between local Boxer – Jon Kays and Welshman – Dai Davies.

Martyn Grainger (Heywood) v John Anthony (Doncaster)
4 x 3 Cruiserweight Contest

Grainger gets off to a good start – rounds one and two, using lefts and rights to the head of his opponent. Anthony has a better first half of the third frame, digging in a couple of decent body-shots, but Grainger puts the Doncaster man under pressure again in the second half of the third.

‘Grid’ Grainger gets the points win 40-37 and improves to 4 wins (1 by KO) 3 losses (2 by KO), while Anthony drops to 7 wins (5 by KO) 15 losses (2 by KO).

Austen Hornsby (Manchester) v Carl Allen (Wolverhampton)
4 x 3 Welterweight Contest

Hornsby bullies Allen against the ropes as they start this four rounder. The fight starts off messy as they grapple with each other, but veteran Allen has ‘seen it all before’ and ‘shrugs it off’.

Allen settles in to round two and it’s clear that Hornsby is going to have a hard contest against the tough Wolverhampton man. Round four, Hornsby is caught with some decent head-shots and it looked to be a lot closer than the 60-55 decision given to the Mancunian. Allen looks disgusted on hearing the verdict.

Hornsby gets the points win 60-55 and improves to 3 wins no losses, while Allen drops to 18 wins (5 by KO) 92 losses (15 by KO) and 7 draws.

Warren Tansey (Middleton) v James Tucker (Doncaster)
6 x 2 Super-Middleweight Contest

There was big support for Tansey in the Velodrome. Tucker put up a good contest against the popular Middleton man and – in my opinion – the points didn’t reflect his performance.

Tansey has a good round two and three but Tucker has a better round four and didn’t give Tansey an easy ride throughout.

Tansey wins on points 60-54 and improves to 4 wins (3 by KO) 1 loss, while Tucker drops to 3 wins (1 by KO) 28 losses (1 by KO) 3 draws.

Nick Quigley (Liverpool) v Kevin McCauley (Halesowen)
4 x 3 Light-Middleweight Contest

Closely watched by big Brother – Tony, Quigley had a slow start to this four rounder. McCauley had a great first round – managing to ‘wobble’ the Liverpool man inside the first minute. McCauley then landed a decent left hook with success.

Quigley came out better for the second – landing a left to the body. His best round was probably the third when he landed a big right hook inside the closing ten seconds of the third frame and McCauley ‘felt it’.

Quigley notches up his sixth win on points 40-37 (no losses) while McCauley drops to 6 wins 19 losses (3 by KO) and 3 draws.

Blain Younis (Ashton-under-Lyne) v Jason Thomas (Merthy Tydfil, Wales)
6 x 2 Featherweight Contest

Thomas had a good round two in this six-rounder, but Younis targets the head of his opponent, who suffers a bloody nose as a result.

Younis wins on points 40-37 and improves to 3 wins no losses, while Thomas drops to 7 wins (2 by KO) 28 losses (9 by KO) and 3 draws.

Brian Rose (Blackpool) v Terry Carruthers (Birmingham)
6 x 3 Light-Middleweight Contest

Brian ‘The Lion’ suffered a knockdown in his last contest and was keen to get back to winning ways when he faced ‘come for it’ Carruthers. The Birmingham man gave Rose a hard contest which looked ‘closely matched’ from my ringside position.

Rose wins on points 59-57 and improves to 15 wins (4 by KO) 1 loss (1 by KO) and 1 draw, while Carruthers drops to 6 wins (1 by KO) 6 losses (3 by KO) and 5 draws.

Karl Place (Manchester) v Michael Frontin (Edmonton)
6 x 3 Light-Welterweight Contest

It was a very cautious start from these two men with neither wanting to make the first move in the opening round. Round two is better but both fighters are ‘twitchy’.

The third round sees ‘Bulbhead’ go for it and Frontin’s legs are wobbling as he tries to keep upright but he isn’t stopped. He survives the round, but goes down in the fifth.

Place wins by fifth round TKO and improves to 9 wins (6 by KO) no losses, while Frontin drops to 2 wins 8 losses (1 by KO) and 1 draw.

Kieran Farrell (Heywood) v Jason Carr (Sheffield)
4 x 3 Lightweight Contest

‘Vicious’ Farrell may have looked mean and ready to explode when he started this fight, but the knockout he so desired never came.

He did however keep Carr on the back foot – dominating from centre of ring, but the fight at times was messy and despite the short, clubbing right-hands – the Heywood man had to be satisfied with a points win.

Farrell wins on points 60-54 and improves to 5 wins (1 by KO) no losses, while Carr drops to 1 win 5 losses and 2 draws.

Terry Flanagan (Manchester) v Ignac Kassai (Hungary)
4 x 3 Super-Featherweight Contest

Flanagan had an army of fans awaiting him in the Velodrome who were forced to wait till the penultimate slot of the night – just before the Kays contest – to see their man fight.

In,fact they waited nearly all night for just a few minutes of action (!) because Hungarian – Kassai was on the canvas almost immediately they started the second frame. He went down again and was stopped by the Referee.

Flanagan wins by TKO round 2 and improves to 7 wins (3 by KO) no losses, while Kassai drops to 2 wins (1 by KO) 11 losses (4 by KO) and 2 draws.

Jon Kays (Ashton-under-Lyne) v Dai Davies (Merthyr Tydfil)
10 x 3 Vacant Masters Super-Featherweight Contest

“2Smokes” looked confident and ‘ready for it’ as he faced Welshman Davies for this long awaited Title-shot. But Davies got off to a decent start against the Ashton Boxer and Kays supporters shouted out to their man to give him support.

He settled in to the mid-rounds and in the seventh – unceremoniously floored his opponent who, quite dramatically, fell across the canvas with head through the ropes.

It was a worrying time – as is always – when a boxer falls heavily, but Davies recovered to see Kays lift the Super-Featherweight Belt.

Kays wins the Title and improves to 13 wins (4 by KO) 1 loss. Davies drops to 6 wins (1 by KO) 13 losses (8 by KO) 1 draw.