Ringside Boxing Report: Jon Thaxton – Dave Stewart

In a superb battle for the British Lightweight title, Jon Thaxton outlasted and eventually overwhelmed Dave Stewart in the twelvfth and final round to keep a dream fight with Amir Khan alive.

It was a gallant effort from Stewart, who more than proved he belonged at this level. He gave the champion all the trouble he could handle with his zipping straight rights that at times had Thaxton falling around the ring.

But in the end it was the strength, power and stamina of the champion that proved decisive as he battered a tired Stewart to the canvas twice in the final round, which was enough for referee Dave Parris to wave it off.

Up until the stoppage the fight seemed to be in the balance.

The first round was close, Thaxton was launching in like superman trying to finish Stewart with his trademark left hook but the challenger kept his cool and managed to block the haymakers and reply with some sharp shots of his own.

Looking for the quick knockout was certainly Thaxton’s downfall early on as in rounds two and three he was peppered with fast jabs and straight right hands which put him constantly off balance. The champion’s right eye was also beginning to swell up.

There was just no rhythm in Thaxton’s work, it was as if he came with no plan B.

The fourth round was closer with the champion targeting the body and Stewart looking to counter with the right hand but the final minute of the round saw Thaxton again on the receiving end of some stinging shots down the middle. His work was just ineffective, nothing was landing flush and he was paying the price for being too hyped up.

In the fifth the tide began to turn. Stewart was now having to absorb some thudding body punches, and although the challenger was still sharper, the volume of punches was with Thaxton. It now looked as if the champion had some control, he wasn’t diving in as recklessly and picked his shots better.

The next round was very close. As usual Thaxton bossed the first minute of the round, bullying his younger challenger around the ring. It was becoming increasingly more evident that Stewart was blocking far less, as Thaxton got his jab going and looked the boss.

But just as you think Stewart is letting things slip, he responds with a burst of punches which had the crowd roaring. A solid right hand definitely seemed to momentarily shake the champion before the round was out.

Again, like the previous session, it was hard to split the two. It was a quieter round with both looking tired and missing more. It all depends if you like Thaxton’s aggression or Stewart’s punch picking.

The champion got his act together in the eighth round. He was now looking the sharper puncher and when a clash of heads left Stewart with blood gushing down the side of his face, things started to look very gloomy for the challenger.

But refusing to be overawed, Stewart rallied back and the two exchanged bombs which whipped the crowd into a frenzy. It was the kind of round that would have a huge impact on the rest of the fight and it did.

Thaxton now had the spring in his legs and Stewart looked as if he was going to wilt in the ninth round. He was now pushing he punches and the left hooks he had been blocking earlier in the fight were now landing flush. \

The challenger’s face was looking a mess in the tenth and he was now being overwhelmed. Bravely, he fought back but the tank was emptying rapidly and the eleventh was much of the same as Thaxton barged his way inside, pounding the body.

Stewart was beginning to crack.

Going into the last round, I had Thaxton two rounds up but would not complain if it was the other way as some rounds were so close to call [I had 3 rounds level].

But the judges would not be needed as Stewart had nothing left. Thaxton had grinded him down and out of pure exhaustion, the challenger went to the canvas. He groggily beat the count but just could not see out the final bell and when he went down again Dave Parris made a compassionate decision to end what was a terrific fight.

Stewart drops to 20-2 (5), but will have earned bags of praise for his performance. Nobody expected him to put up such a battle. For Thaxton, now 33-7 (18), he is one step away from securing the Lonsdale belt for keeps and maybe, just maybe a fight with Khan could take place.

Frank Warren, an expert at timing crucial fights in his boxer’s careers, may think after one more fight that Thaxton at 33 years of age, will be ripe for the taking.

Show opener on the Hennessy Sports Promotion was an interesting light heavyweight match up between Hackney’s Andrew Lowe and the awkward Paul David from Sheffield.

David, trained by Dominic Ingle, has the classic unorthodox style designed to give opponents nightmares and again it did as he scored a well deserved points win against the more experience Lowe, who just couldn’t gain any momentum in the fight.
Referee Bob Williams scored 78-75.

This was Lowe’s third defeat and second in a row, and its hard to see where he goes from here. He didn’t seem to commit himself fully when attacking David, despite appearing to breathe heavily at the mid point of the fight.

Both were also guilty of far too much clowning. David constantly shaking his head every time Lowe landed flush and the Hackney man responding by poking his tongue out.

The key to winning this fight was the jab, and David used his very well. They landed with a heavy thud and kept Lowe at bay for the first two rounds.

The third round saw Lowe become more aggressive and he was successful when he brought it to David. He landed some solid right hands and even though they was not hurting his opponent they were eye catching and was enough to give him the session.

David got back to his boxing in round four as Lowe failed to capitalise on his success in the previous round. Standing off too much Lowe was picked off with booming left jabs.

Lowe, to his credit, tried to make a fight of it in round five as he backed up a now tired looking David to the ropes, but he just did not have the power to really stamp his authority on the fight and was eating more jabs in the next round. David was now mixing his shots up to head and body and saw out the fight a comfortable winner.

David improves to 7-3 (3) and will be looking to meet the winner of this November’s British title clash between Tony Oakey and Peter Haymer and I would certainly give him a great chance due to his nightmare style, especially as David already has a recent win over Haymer.

Lowe falls to 16-3 (1).

Super middleweight Darren Barker made a triumphant return to the ring following the tragic death of his brother with a three round shellacking of brave but overmatched Greg Barton.

It was one way traffic the whole way through but Barton was incredibly brave, too brave for his own good. He allowed to take far too much for me from referee Mark Green. Barton was on the end of non-stop barrages of punches and I was beginning to wonder what Barker would have to do to force the stoppage.

Barker understandably needs to ease back following his time out of the ring, but I think he is ready to move up in class. You can only beat what is put in front of you and Barker did it in terrific style with great support as always from his fans.

Sometimes defeats for a young fighter can be crushing, other times a blessing and for Canning Town’s George Hillyard, it’s the latter as he boxed sensibly to defeat Lee Noble over six rounds at middleweight. Referee Mark Green’s scorecard read 58-57.

I had it slightly wide at 59-56, giving Noble the first round only when he seemed to have the measure of Hillyard, connecting with stinging left hooks and jabs.

However the Canning Town man was not fazed and took over through rounds two, three and four with fast combinations that didn’t carry much power but were eye catching and on target. Noble seemed to tire fast and just didn’t have the work rate to match Hillyard who did just that bit more each round.

I scored the fifth round level as Noble tried to get back into the fight but Hillyard regained control in the last to pick up a useful victory. It will be interesting to see how Hillyard, 8-3-1 (4), progresses because despite the three defeats on his record, that experience could now work in his favour. Noble’s record now stands at 7-5 (1).

Debutant Daniel Herdman received a brutal introduction to the paid ranks when he was battered for the most part of four rounds by Latvian journeyman Gatis Skuja at light middle.

Herdman, a former amateur star with Repton, brought big support but they couldn’t help him contain Skuja, who fought with tremendous ferocity that nobody, especially Herdman, was expecting.

It was only Skuja’s fourth win in 16 fights, but his second in a row which will lift his confidence.

The fight started off at a furious pace with both digging in solid body shots and thudding hooks upstairs. It was take one to land one stuff and I couldn’t split them in the opener.

However, in the second round, Skuja began to take over and outwork Herdman, who was now bleeding heavily from a badly gashed cut eye. Spurred on by the sight of blood, Skuja was putting together two fisted attacks which had Herdman grimacing.

The third was more of the same as Herman looking increasingly more tired. He could not live with the pace and had to retreat to the ropes. The blood was continuing to flow and Skuja just would not be denied.

The fourth and final round was close. Knowing he was probably behind on the cards, Herdman showed tremendous heart as he rallied with Skuja and troubled him with a few body shots, but it wasn’t to be and referee Bob Williams handed Skuja a 39-37 win.

The Bethnal Green based Latvian improves to 4-8-4 (2) while Herdman stands at 0-1 (0).

Light welter Leonard Lothian improved his slate to 4-1-2 (0) with a points victory over game trier Tommy Glover, 4-3-2 (0).

Lothian, who has an awkward rangy style, showed good technical skills to negate the aggression of Glover who had sporadic success with the right hand but could not slip the jab of Lothian.

Referee Bob Williams scored 39-38.

Despite being out of the ring for 10 months, Peter McDonagh, 11-11 (2), looked sharp and more aggressive than usual in outpointing journeyman Duncan Cottier, 3-30-2 (1), over four at light middle.

The Irish born McDonagh, coming off a career best win against Michael Gomez at lightweight, took control as expected from the off with accurate jabs and right hands. Not noted for being a big puncher, I did think if McDonagh had gone for an all out attack he would of picked up a stoppage win but instead settled for a shutout points win.

The Irishman will now be looking for a title fight of sorts.