Ringside Boxing Report: Rob Norton vs. Mickey Steeds
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
On Friday night, Mickey Steeds and Rob Norton fought it out for the vacant British Cruiserweight title at the Meadowside Leisure Centre in Burton-on-Trent, England.
Former heavyweight Steeds didn’t look the same man who stepped in to the ring against Scott Gammer two years ago for the British title. Having adopted a different training regime – a trimmer, clean-shaven Steeds – entered the venue ahead of Norton.
Stourbridge boxer Norton, entered the ring to the sounds of Queen’s ‘We Will We Will Rock You!’ Norton’s experience, knockout percentage and reach far outweighs the Londoner, but Steeds isn’t phased by his older opponent.
A bit of a messy first round unfolds with some holding on, Norton with the very open-arms southpaw style against the orthodox Steeds. In the last minute, Steeds goes in with a left followed by a big right, but Norton releases a sweet left uppercut a split second before. Steeds is on his knees in the closing seconds of the first frame, but it’s just a slip.
Mid-way through round two, Norton is warned by referee Howard Foster for holding Steeds’ head down. With half a minute to go, Steeds comes in with a right hook as Norton lands a left, but Steeds’ punch is the more notable and as Norton is forced to step back on the ropes, he laughs with arms open-wide as if to say ‘is that all you’ve got?’ Foster warns Norton to ‘watch the head’.
As the third round begins, Steeds throws a right hook which glances off Norton’s arm and the Stourbridge man shakes his head – frowning that ‘it was nothing’. Norton lands a straight right and Steeds immediately returns with a straight left. Both men grapple together and Norton sustains a low blow. Foster reprimands both men – Steeds for the low blow and Norton for pulling his man down.
As round four starts, Norton flicks his long-reaching right jab in the direction of Steeds’ face but Steeds release a big swinging left that lands to the face of Norton. Norton shakes his head to signal it didn’t bother him. Steeds does some holding on and the two men tangle on the ropes. Steeds trips over and the crowd cheers! As the bell signals the end of the round, again Norton gives a look of ‘you’re not bothering me!’
Mid-way through the fifth, Norton stands teasingly with his right arm wide then he swings the right which lands – clubbing Steeds part of the way around the back of the head, knocking him to his knees. Referee Foster waves it off to signal a no-knockdown and gestures to Norton that it was a ‘shove’.
Frank Maloney, Steeds’ Promoter, watches keenly from his position leaning against the apron. Steeds dips low as he goes in with a shot and ends up on his knees again, but it’s waved off by Foster.
At the end of the fifth, Sky Stats indicate that Norton has thrown more, 126 to 84, and landed more punches, 26 to 18, but Steeds has the fractionally better success rate of 21% to 20%.
In the closing minute of round six, Steeds takes the standing eight count after landing through the ropes from – what appears to be – not much of a shot from his opponent. With renewed confidence, Norton’s arms seem to be even more outstretched – like he welcomes Steeds in with open-arms – but it’s not a hug he’s after! As the bell sounds to end the sixth, both men square up to each other with a bit of eye-balling and referee Foster steps in to separate them.
Another clubbing right sends Steeds off-balance in the opening half minute of the seventh and Norton looks to be enjoying himself now. Foster warns Steeds after he spots another low blow. A good straight left followed by a right lands on Norton but he shakes his head again to tell Steeds – it was nothing.
Foster starts round eight by talking to both men in the centre of the ring. But with just over a minute to go, he’s warning Norton for hitting and holding. Seconds later and both men are warned again, Steeds for low punches and Norton for holding down.
Both men grapple on the ropes as the ninth round begins. But it’s another great round for Norton as Steeds gives him plenty of room to work. A smiling Norton comes out for round ten. Another sweet left uppercut lands to the face of Steeds and he holds on to his opponent. Norton – still looking fresh – lands a couple of big straight punches and the crowd get excited. Confidently teasing his younger opponent – Norton steps across landing a clubbing right. Steeds has taken some shots this round!
It’s a disheartened Mickey Steeds that goes back to his corner at the end of round eleven. “I can’t do it!†Steeds tells his corner “yes you can – you’ve done it once†his corner tells him.
As both men come out for the twelfth and final round – the crowd erupts. Norton continues with the pressure but Steeds lands a good left shot to the face of the Stourbridge man – but again – Norton shakes his head. Steeds tries for the swinging left punch again but it misses its mark. He knows he must get a knockdown to win!
Norton sticks in an uppercut as he turns his opponent and Steeds barges in with another swinging left. Another good left hook from Norton and Steeds is backed into the corner.
After the round comes to a close, Rob Norton is crowned the new Cruiserweight Champion of Great Britain by unanimous decision,
119-108, 118-110 and 118-109.
Afterward, Norton – who had waited 15 years to get a British title – seemed not overly happy with his performance and said he wanted to ‘fight more often’.
Norton improves to 30-4-1 (19) while Steeds drops to 12-3 (3).
There was some great undercard action at Meadowside Leisure Centre.
Paul ‘Trussy’ Truscott of Middlesborough faced late opponent, Belgian boxer Alex Miskirtchian, in an eight round featherweight contest.
A ‘snappy’ fighter, Truscott has a tight defence and keeps busy throughout the contest against the tough Belgian. But Trussy is caught by a good right from Miskirtchian in the opening half minute of round two. Keeping focussed, Truscott circles his opponent, snapping out the left jab continuously.
In the closing seconds of the third, Truscott lands a solid right and it’s been another good round for the Middlesborough man.
Truscott gets caught with a body shot but throws a combination of shots back in reply at the start of the fourth. He starts to throw body-shots in this round but is told to ‘keep them up’ by Referee John Keane.
It was a better round five for the Belgian, and in round six he delivers some big right punches to the face of Trussy. At the end of the sixth frame, both men slug it out shot for shot, but Miskirtchian finishes it strongly.
At the start of the seventh Truscott is in trouble as Miskirtchian fires in with a barrage of shots which rock Truscott’s head back. Truscott digs in to continue the fight and mid-way through the round is warned after holding and hitting his opponent.
It’s a close contest and as they come out for the eighth and final round, both men are landing shots. A more confident Miskirtchian backs Truscott up to the ropes and although he catches his opponent with a couple of shots to the head, Truscott throws an uppercut to keep his opponent off. It’s a strong finish by the Belgian but it’s Truscott’s hand that is raised by Referee Keane.
Truscott wins on points 78-75 and improves to 12-0 (1).
Other undercard action included:
Middleweights Prince Arron (Droylsden) vs. Tony Randell (Birmingham)
Arron landed a peach of a right uppercut on Randell in the opening minute of the fourth round. Following it up with further shots – Randell could not return his punches and was stopped by Referee John Keane. Arron wins by TKO and improves to 11-3 (2).
Cruiserweights David Dolan (Sunderland) vs. Rachid El Hadak (France)
Hadak caused the ‘stir’ of the evening when he turned up wearing – what looked like – a long velvet skirt! After a few ‘strange’ looks and giggles from ringside onlookers – one photographer (not me!) remarked ‘It’s curtains for him!‘ Thankfully, Dolan wasn’t distracted by the Frenchman’s attire and won on points. His record improves to 11-1 (4).
Light welterweights Tristan Davies (Shrewsbury) vs. Tom Glover (Maldon)
Despite a bloody face from the cut at the corner of his right eye – ‘Dangerous’ Davies secured a 60-57 points win over Glover. His record now stands at 12-1 (1).
Cruiserweights Jonjo Finnegan (Burton) vs. Adam Wilcox (Wales)
Local man Finnegan faced late opponent Wilcox and was stopped in the first minute of round three. Wilcox wins by TKO and improves to 1-4 (1).
Middleweights Duane Parker (Woodville) vs. Paul Royston (Rotherham)
Parker gets his fifth consecutive win on points, defeating Royston, 60-54.
Cruiserweights Neil ‘Simmo’ Simpson (Coventry) vs. Paul Bonson (Featherstone)
A close contest with Simmo sustaining a bad cut to the left eye, the bout is a declared a draw after four rounds. Simpson goes to 26-17-1 (11), while Bonson is now 20-101-8 (1).