Ringside Boxing Report: Matt Galer – Simon Sherrington

There was a rowdy atmosphere at the Meadowside Leisure Centre in Burton-on-Trent, England on Saturday night for the Midlands Area Light Middleweight title fight between home-town hero Matt Galer and Simon Sherrington of Birmingham on a PJ Promotions show.

Ahead of the headlining bout was the clash between another very popular fighter, Jonjo Finnegan of Burton, against Jamie Ambler of Aberystwyth, Wales. During the six round super middleweight contest, Finnegan and Ambler looked evenly matched for the first five rounds of the fight, although the local man seemed to edge the first three frames.

At the start of round six, both fighters came out for a real war and watching Finnegan, it was clear that he really wanted this win as he constantly came forward. Midway through the session, the Welshman Ambler landed a barrage of punches that had Finnegan stealing a few seconds rest as his gum shield is replaced. It was a messy last round, with Finnegan finally winning on points, 58-56, to move to 9-1-2 (0) while Ambler dropped to 1-5 (1).

The main event of the evening was the Midlands Area Light Middleweight title fight between Burton’s own Matt Galer and Birminghams’ Simon Sherrington, scheduled for 10 rounds. It was a cautious first half of round one by reigning champion Galer, who then landed a cracking shot which looked to daze Sherrington briefly. By the end of the first, Galer looked the stronger of the two boxers.

After the first minute of round three, Galer is forced to blink as Sherrington lands a few shots but they’re not hard enough to knock the champion down and he returns with a few punches of his own. Galer takes a few more blows and sustains a cut to the right brow before the third is over.

At this point the rival factions of the crowd begin taunting each other and the atmosphere in the hall becomes a little tense.

In the fourth, chants of Galer!, Galer!, Galer! ring through the Meadowside Leisure Centre as the local man’s supporting fans chant loudly, roaring support for their man. Spurred on, Galer pushes Sherrington on to the ropes and gets in a hard uppercut but soon both men are looking tired.

At the start of round five, Galer is warned by the referee for holding down Sherrington’s head and punching. But it’s right back to the action as both guys slug it out, punch for punch. It looked like a couple of Galer’s shots were low blows but they weren’t spotted by the referee.

Sherrington now looks the more tired of the two but Galer seems to have taken more punches in this round so far.

With half a minute to go in the fifth, Galer lands a peach of a right hand and Sherrington lands hard on the canvas, completely sparked out. The crowd is euphoric but it’s an anxious time for Sherrington as Medics rush to his aid.

Matt Galer wins by knockout in 2 minutes and 1 second of round five, improving to 9-6 (4) while Simon Sherrington drops to 5-2-3 (3).

Sadly, fighting broke out amongst the rival supporters but it wasn’t really a surprise as it had been brewing all night!. The Master of Ceremonies and Jonjo Finnegan call for order from the ring as Sherrington is helped to his corner.

Other fights on the bill:

Light welter Jack Perry outpoints Deniss Sirjatovs, 59-56, over six rounds.

Heavyweight Scott Lansdowne defeats Istvan Kecskes on points 39-36 over four rounds.

Karl Chiverton outpoints Tony Randell at middleweight 58-56 in a six rounder.

Dale Miles defeats Steven Cooper at welterweight on points over six rounds.