Nathan Heaney Vs Christian Schembri Ringside Report

Friday night, at the Kings Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, local man – Nathan Heaney, won the Vacant IBO Continental Super-Middleweight Title by outpointing Christian Schembri of Malta over ten action-packed rounds.

Heaney’s ring entrance was one of the best I’ve attended. The atmosphere, the singing and the flag waving was noisy and uplifting! Both men stood for their respective national anthems then fighting commenced.

It looked like Heaney might have an early night in the opening round as his opponent had a stanza that made him look rather ungainly, but he was tough and took Heaney the whole ten rounds.

He forces Heaney back on the ropes using his gloved hand and Referee Howard Foster tells him off. Heaney starts to sink in the body-shots in the third frame but, while both still as busy, neither man looked quite as sharp in the fourth.

Schembri sustains a cut to the left eye area in the fifth round and is warned again in round six for pushing Heaney back. It’s an all-action contest with both men practically chasing each other round the ring in round eight. Schembri’s gumshield comes out in the ninth – it’s retrieved and he comes back with gusto.

A thrilling final round sees both men go for it, but it is Heaney who gets the Unanimous Points Decision to win the IBO Continental Super-Middleweight Title.

The Errol Johnson, BCB Promotions ‘Friday the thirteenth’ event saw five contests in all.

Other results as follows:

Kieron McLaren (Stoke-on-Trent) v Lee Connelly (Chesterfield)

4×3 Super-Lightweight Contest

McLaren gets straight on the attack and Connelly looks less confident in the first half of the contest. McLaren keeps busy and Connelly picks it up in the third round. McLaren gets the win on points 40-37

Luke Caci (Newcastle-under-Lyme via Stoke-on-Trent) v Sergei Bannov (Estonia)

6×3 Light-Heavyweight Contest

Caci looked in charge as they began round one despite Bannov taking centre of ring. Caci administered a low blow in the second frame but Bannov seemed to settle in this round and Caci looked surprised momentarily. Bannov is warned a couple of times for hitting using the base of his glove then Caci is warned in the fifth. Bannov is starting to look jaded and Caci goes on to get the points win 60-54

Cole Johnson (Stoke-on-Trent) v Sean Davis (Birmingham)

6×3 Lightweight Contest

This was a fast paced fight with some sharp boxing from Johnson. There was some grappling together during the second frame but Johnson looks to be growing more confident. Although not as tidy – Davis keeps up to Johnsons’ work-rate in the fourth. A low blow in the fifth gets Johnson a ticking off from Referee Shaun Messer but smiles his way through the remaining rounds to win 59-56

Connor Parker (Woodville via Burton-on-Trent) v Eligio Palacios (Gelsa, Spain, via Nicaragua)

4×3 Welterweight Contest

Some tidy boxing and a variety of punches from Parker sees him win a shut-out points victory 40-36