Ringside Report: Scott Quigg Defeats Franklin Varela In Bury Clash

Saturday night, at the Castle View Leisure Centre, Bury, Hatton Promotions hosted a Fight-night which headlined Scott Quigg’s defence of the WBA Inter-Continental Super-Bantamweight Belt which would also be a WBA Title Eliminator.

Screened Live on Hatton TV to viewers around the world – there was a great atmosphere and many boxing notables were ringside.

Scott Quigg (Bury) v FranklinVarela (Venezuala)
12 x 3 WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title

Local man – Quigg faced slightly shorter and stockier – Varela of Caracus in this WBA Title Eliminator which saw both men get off to a busy start. Round three though sees Quigg start to ‘up the tempo’ and land some notable head-shots.

Varela slips on the canvas midway through the fourth then moments later – Quigg lands a right which cuts the Venezuelan’s left brow. The Bury man starts to land with more frequency during the fifth but tough man Varela keeps up the pace for now.

Quigg sinks in the body-shots in the seventh and Varela looks to become sapped of energy. In the last minute of the seventh frame – a left to the body takes everything out of Varela and he goes to his knee, briefly standing up for the count – only to have to drop to his knee again unable to continue.

Quigg retains his belt by seventh round TKO. He improves to 22 wins (15 by KO) no losses and now goes on to fight Jason Booth for the British Super Bantamweight Title in October.

Varela’s record now stands at 19 wins (10 by KO) 6 losses (2 by KO).

Sergey Rabchenko (Minsk, Belarus) v Kevin McCauley (Halesowen)
8 x 3 Light Middleweight Contest

Rabchenko made short work of his last minute opponent – Kevin McCauley. A left hook to the head sends McCauley to the canvas within seconds of the fight starting. And after just 1 minute 10 seconds, he goes down again – with Referee Steve Gray ending the contest.

Rabchenko improves to 18 wins (13 by KO) while McCauley drops to 9 wins 27 losses (5 by KO) and 3 draws.

Luca Messi (Bergamo, Italy) v Tony Randell (Birmingham)
6 x 3 Light Middleweight Contest

Messi has the better start to this contest, but Randell starts to settle in during the second frame. It’s a good round four for the Birmingham man who lands some notable head-shots, but Messi continues to keep the busier pace.

Randell stumbles backwards at the start of the fifth but doesn’t touch down and it’s a better round for him. A relaxed Messi drops his gloves in the sixth and Randell gets through with some head-shots.

Randell gets the points win 59-57. Team Messi don’t realise straight away that they have lost but when they do – Messi stands incredulously in the ring for a few minutes after the fight has finished, looking shocked at the decision.

‘Randazzler’ improves to 12 wins (4 by KO) 24 losses (7 by KO) and 2 draws, while Messi drops to 36 wins (12 by KO) 9 losses (5 by KO) and 1 draw.

Rhys Roberts (Manchester) v Kristian Laight (Nuneaton)
4 x 3 Super Bantamweight Contest

This was Roberts’s first fight since suffering a hand injury in March and it was a cautious start to the contest from both men with Roberts ‘eyeing up’ his opponent – the experienced, taller, Laight.

Roberts dips low to target the mid-torso but it’s a slow contest. There’s a bit more action in the fourth with ‘Pure Silk’ wanting to give a good finish and Laight teasing his opponent.

Roberts gets the points win 40-36 and improves to 13 wins (2 by KO) 1 loss (retired with hand injury), while Laight’s record now stands at 6 wins 99 losses (4 by KO) and 6 draws.

Kieran Farrell (Heywood) v Sid Razak (Birmingham)
4 x 3 Super Featherweight Contest

‘Viscous’ Kieran Farrell – as the name suggests – starts off aggressively against experienced Razak. Farrell taps away with the jab then slams a punch in to the body. Farrell sustains a nick under the right eye in the second round, but he’s all over Razak ‘like a rash’ in the fourth to get the points win 40-36.

Farrell improves to 10 wins (2 by KO) while Razak drops to 6 wins (2 by KO) 67 losses (4 by KO)

Tom Shaw (Burton-on-Trent) v Jason Carr (Sheffield)
4 x 3 Light Welterweight Contest

This was a messy fight from the start with lots of grabbing between these two, but ‘Shaw Thing’ finds success with head-shots. Shaw’s corner urges him to ‘mix it up’ with some body-shots and in the closing seconds of the fourth and final round Carr has to take a knee from a shot to the body.

Shaw wins on points 40-35 to notch up his third pro-win, while Carr’s record is now 1 win 12 losses and 2 draws.