Ringside Boxing Report: Undercard Of Carl Froch vs. Jean Pascal
© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing
Saturday night at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England, Hennessy Sports promoted a fantastic night of boxing which consisted of a superb undercard in support of the much anticipated clash between Carl Froch and Jean Pascal for the WBC Super Middleweight title.
Making his pro debut was 6 foot 9 inch tall Tyson Fury, who faced Hungarian -boxer Bela Gyongyosi in a scheduled six round heavyweight contest.
Entering the ring dancing along to the ‘live’ sounds of ‘Shine, Shine’ from singing duo ’Booty Luv’, the twenty year old, 18 stone plus Mancunian giant looked relaxed and confident.
And it was a short nights’ work for the debutant who landed some heavy punches in the opening half of the first frame, finally landing a big left hook to the body of the Hungarian.
Gyongyosi fell to the canvas in obvious pain from the rib-cruncher of a blow inside the last minute of round one. Referee Howard Foster administered the count but a clearly distressed Gyongyosi was unable to continue.
An impressive Tyson Fury notches up his first professional win in great style.
Another ‘quick exit’ came in the English Light Heavyweight title fight between Danny McIntosh of Norwich and Rod Anderton of Nottingham.
Tattooed Anderton entered the ring to the sounds of ‘The Jam’ and flanked by stablemates Rendall Munroe and Scott Haywood.
The Champion, McIntosh, entered the arena to Booty Luv‘s ‘He’s My Boy’. His friend, former WBO Heavyweight Champion Herbie Hide, was waiting to welcome him in to the ring.
McIntosh settled in straight away with a confident and fast start – whipping out the straight left. Anderton didn’t look comfortable and was caught a number of times in the opening minute as he struggled to settle down but there was no time – as a big swinging right hook caught him smart on the chin and the local man fell to the canvas.
Getting unsteadily to his feet – Anderton was clearly dazed from the shot and referee Foster called off the contest with just 1 minute 17 seconds of round one gone.
McIntosh wins by KO and improves to 9-0.
Paul David of Sheffield was looking to take revenge on local man Tyrone Wright after a points decision gave Wright the victory when the two met in May for the Midlands Area Light Heavyweight title. The two met again Saturday for the English Super Middleweight title.
Counter-punching David, of the Ingle’s gym, looked a confident boxer, adopting a low defence. Wright gets off to a good start keeping busy and seemingly looking for a big shot, but already has a swelling under the left eye as they finish round one.
There’s a bit of grappling in round two and Wright goes for some long-reaching, swinging shots. Round three sees trainer Dominic Ingle urge his charge to use the jab. David responds by snapping out the left jab to the nose of Wright midway through the round, then moments later lands a good right hook to the face of the Nottingham man.
In the closing half-minute of the round – David has gained more confidence and – grinning – does a bit of showboating. Wright’s nose is pouring with blood as they finish the third frame.
Midway through round four, referee Marcus McDonnell takes Wright to his corner to check out his nose, which is still pouring blood. Happy for him to continue, the fighting resumes.
With a minute of the fourth to go, Wright lands a right hook to the chin of David, who stumbles back from the blow. Wrights gumshield has come out of his now gaping mouth and his nose continues to drip blood. Seconds later, a clubbing left hook from David sends Wright to the canvas, but it is counted as a ‘no knockdown’ as it appears the shot was delivered by the inside of the glove resulting in a ‘pulling over‘ rather than a knockdown.
Wright launches at David with some lunging shots which miss their mark, but the damaged nose must be giving him a lot of discomfort. In the closing seconds, David skips around with gloves dropped to his sides.
With a minute of round five remaining, David flicks out a straight left and Wright flinches – hesitating as he puts a glove up to his right eye. But David jumps in and Wright has no time to think about the eye as David ‘winds up’ a big shot – looking for the uppercut.
Wright covers up tight as David pressures him on the ropes. David stands in the middle of the ring – taunting Wright as the bell ends the fifth round.
Midway through the sixth, Wright lands a flurry of shots as he pins David in the corner. He looks battered and bruised – but he ‘digs in’ to stand up to David.
Wright lands a right followed by a left to the face of David midway through the seventh and the Sheffield man holds on, but moments later a big right hook sends Wright crashing to the canvas. Wright gets up slowly and misses the count. His face looks a mess – but it was a brave, brave effort from the local-man.
David wins by KO round seven and improves to 10-4.
Next up, Stoke’s Scott Lawton challenged unbeaten Martin Gethin of Walsall for the English Lightweight title. Gethin won the belt, which Lawton used to hold, after defeating John Fewkes in September.
Taller Lawton kept focussed throughout the contest while Gethin had a slower start. Picking up pace in the latter rounds, Gethin adopted a busier work-rate, tucking in tight and throwing uppercuts. An unfazed Lawton looked calm between rounds and worked methodically in the ring. He is – what I call – a quiet, calculating, boxer.
Then in the opening seconds of round nine, Gethin sustains a long, neat cut to the side of the head which spills blood – apparently caused from an accidental elbow. Referee McDonnell sadly calls a halt to the fight despite the pleads from Team Gethin.
Lawton, who – at the time – looked clearly unhappy by the stoppage, will be thrilled to be taking the title back to Stoke.
Lawton’s record now stands at 25-4-1.
Other undercard action saw Nottingham’s Nathan McIntosh defeat Kristian Laight of Nuneaton on points 59-56 after six rounds at light welter. McIntosh now stands at 3-0.
Light welter Jack Perry of Derby outpointed Karl Taylor of Birmingham 40-36 after four rounds and Perry now stands at 8-0-1.