Boxing News Boxing News
Saturday Night, Steve Wood of VIP Boxing Promotions hosted a show which featured eight contests and headlined an eight round Lightweight contest between Joe Murray of Manchester and Henry Janes of Cardiff in which Murray secured a 78-74 points victory.
Full results of the show at the Victoria Warehouse, Manchester are as follows:
Joe Murray (Manchester) v Henry Janes (Cardiff)
8 x 3 Lightweight Contest
This was a messy fight with lots of holding by Murray. Janes gets a small cut to the cheekbone in the opening round. He caught Murray with a couple of good rights to the head in the fourth and Murray looked stunned momentarily but it gets messy and Referee Mark Lyson pulls them together to tell them to ‘tidy it up’. Murray returned the favour in round five and sent the Cardiff man to the canvas with a left uppercut. Their heads were going in all the time so it was no surprise that Murray got a nasty cut above the left eyelid in the sixth.
Murray was deducted a point for holding in the eighth round but secured the points win 78-74 to retain the International Belt.
Mark Heffron (Oldham) v Bartlomiej Grafka (Katonice, Poland)
6 x 3 Super-Middleweight Contest
Ricky Hatton trained-Heffron showed Grafka the power of his punches in the opening round, with Grafka almost stumbling back from the shots. Heffron used a variety of punches to head and body.
Grafka was under a barrage of shots in round three and backed in to the neutral corner where he ended on his backside following a right uppercut, his right eye bleeding. What followed was uncomfortable viewing, as Grafka was subjected to a lot of punishment and his right eye continued to bleed. But the Polish man was tough! And he continued to stand-up to Heffron’s advances. Referee Sarginson called time at the start of the fourth to check with Grafka that he was ok with the damaged eye and fighting continued. Heffron landed some sickening body shots this round and Grafka did well to take them.
Heffron wins on points 60-53 with applause from the crowd in support of Grafka for a great effort.
Ben Sheedy (Sale) v Jacob Lucas (Trowbridge)
6 x 3 Super-Middleweight Contest
Sheedy dominated from centre of ring with Lucas skirting round the perimeter. A big swinging left hook landed in round 5 and Lucas was full length on the canvas. He stayed on his stool while the decision was announced.
Sheedy wins by TKO 1 minute of round 5
Charlie Schofield (Manchester) v Curtis Gargano (Middleton)
6 x 3 Cruiserweight Contest
Slow starting Gargano was encouraged to throw punches by Referee Darren Sarginson In round 1. Schofield was relentless with the long reaching left and scored a dominant points victory 60-54
Macauley McGowan (Wythenshawe) v Zaurs Sadihovs (Latvia)
6 x 3 Super-Welterweight Contest
McGowan stalked his Latvian opponent around the ring, then slammed in the body-shots in round 2 and Sadihovs goes down for the first time. Moments later he is down on one knee from a shot to the head (which followed a number of body-shots), then a third time from a right to the body, finished with a head-shot. He appeared to be turning his back away as Referee Lyson counted him, so it was waved off.
McGowan wins by TKO in 1 minute 33 of round 2
Luke Evans (Salford) v Ibrar Riyaz (Reading)
4 x 3 Welterweight Contest
Experienced Riyaz was on the canvas in round 1 then was dealt a low blow. Fighting resumed and
Evans gets the win on points 40-35
John Telford (Flixton) v Lewis van Poetsch (Lydney)
4 x 3 Light-Heavyweight Contest
Tidy boxing from Telford gets him the points’ win 40-36
Lee Oldham (Ashton-under-Lyne) v Zygimantas Butkevicius (Newark via Lithuania)
4 x 3 Super-Welterweight Contest
Both men were on the canvas in round 2, although Oldham’s wasn’t counted. He also sustained a cut to the right brow during this round but it wasn’t enough to deter the Ashton man aka ‘Sharpy’ who gets the knockout win in 1 minute 22 of round 3
