Bradley Skeete Blasts Out Pinto, Frankie Gavin Next?

By Terence Dooley

York Hall - London - It's been the night of the six-footers and over so far as Tooting's Bradley "Super" Skeete (10st 10lbs 7oz) produced a second-round TKO win over Leandro Mendes Pinto (10st 3lbs) in a fight that was scheduled for 10-threes.  Skeete landed a right early in the first to find his range then dumped Pinto with a right uppercut followed by a right hand that dropped his Brazilian opponent late in the round.

Skeete, 26, polished Pinto off with a counter left hook as his 37-year-old opponent tried to open up in the second to move to 18-0 (7), referee Terry O'Connor deciding that Pinto, now 16-5-2 (7) was in no condition to continue at 0:40 of the round.

"I've got a very good team around me, my coach Alan Smith, Andy Ayling, my manager, and my promoter Frank Warren.  My career's always about me, I don't go to bed thinking about [potential rival] Frankie Gavin.  I'm mandatory [for Gavin's British] title, so I'll sit down with the team and if we can get it done we'll get it done."

"I want to do it on the 29th of November," added Ayling.  "My personal opinion is take it on the 29th [at London's ExCel Arena].  Frankie's in, he'll be fighting on that date, and I want Bradley to go for it."

Pinto's failure to turn up for a check weigh-in meant that the WBA Inter-Continental title wasn't on the line.  It was left to Ayling to explain what went down.  He said: "First of all, he's done a cracking deal because he did three different cities on a hundred pounds—we've only known the kid four days and he's been like Dick Wittington because he got into the taxi and said: 'Take me to see the Queen.'...[A]ll I know is he got back (to the hotel) at quarter to eleven when it should have been one o'clock, so he might have been a bit tired in there tonight."

Frank Buglioni (12st 1lb 8oz) continued his rehabilitation from April's loss to Sergey Khomitski by bludgeoning Bulgaria's Alexey Ribchev (12st 1lb 8oz), now 18-11-1 (6), to defeat at 2:11 of round six of their scheduled 10-threes non-title fight.  Referee Jeff Hinds opted to stop the fight due to a terrible cut above Ribchev's right eye, which was also swelling rapidly.

Buglioni, 14-1 (11), is nicknamed "Wise Guy", but there wasn't a lot of wisdom on display when the 25-year-old trundled to a sixth-round TKO defeat to Khomitski at London's Copper Box Arena earlier this year.  However, he picked up a win in July by registering a fourth-round TKO over Sam Couzens to pick up the vacant BBBoC Southern Area Super middleweight title and shake off the initial effects of his sole pro defeat.  The addition of former world titlist Steve Collins in his corner has brought some extra attention and intrigue to Buglioni's developing, ticket sales laden story.

Ribchev, 31, took his lumps with a chilling stoicism, but was not in the fight from the outset and had about as much chance as a piece of steak versus a steel steak hammer.

"There were some little adjustments made, but they won't come overnight, they'll come in time," said Buglioni.

"I'm thrilled with Frank's performance," stated Collins.  "He has improved so much in such a short space of time."

Packie Collins, Steve's brother and co-trainer of Buglioni, said: "I think tonight was a good learning process.  It was an opportunity to practice what he was learning in the gym.  I know who he possibly fights next—it's a good fight for him and he beats him (the potential opponent)."

"We'll talk about that in the week and see where we go," added Warren, reacting to Packie's comment.  "He'll on the undercard of the big show at the ExCel—I'd like to see him in some sort of title fight on that show."

Dagenham's Ediz Hussein (9st 12lbs 60z) snatched a draw from the jaws of possible defeat after his four-threes tussle against Andrejs Podusovs (9st 12lbs), a Latvian now based in Scotland who has a name that sounds like Scottish slang for the No side's reaction to this week's Independence Referendum.  The undercard encounter bubbled away nicely before coming to life in the final round.

Hussein, now 4-0-1 (no KOs), remained on his feet between rounds only to struggle to stay on them during the closing moments of the fight.  Podusovs, 5-8-1 (1), was bloodied by the nose going into the pivotal final round yet managed to inflict a cut under Hussein's right eye before popping in a one-two combination to add point scoring insult to injury.

An alarming lack of urgency from Hussein allowed Podusovs to pour forward.  As the blood drained from the 25-year-old's eye, so too did his pep and a win looked unlikely.  Pudusovs, 27, carried the round to earn a deserved 48-48 draw on referee Jeff Hind's card.  It could easily have been a win, but this is one surprise result that will go down well up North.

"Gorgeous" Georgie Kean (10st 11lbs 40z) got himself back amongst the Ws while producing a restrained performance to beat Duane Green (10st 13lbs 80z) by 40-35 on referee Jeff Hinds's card.  In his first fight since losing to William Warburton (L4) in April, Georgie, now 4-1 (1), looked keen as mustard, if a bit nervous, early only to settle down after Green hit the canvas late in round one—although it was more of a balance issue after the Norfolk-based boxer tired to manoeuvre his way to safety while under pressure from Kean in the corner.

The 23-year-old from Islington kept a lid on his natural attacking tendencies for the rest of the bout to earn a win that will restore some of the confidence that he lost when Warburton took away his '0'.  Green, 32, is now 1-12-2, he has yet to score a stoppage and has not savoured a victory since turning pro with a four-threes decision win over Drew Campbell in March of last year.

The York Hall crowd also got a chance to show some love to Cardiff's Romeo Romaeo (9st 5lbs 4oz); the 18-year-old took on Croatia's Antonio Horvatic (9st 2lbs 8oz) and produced a sixth-round RSF win over the 27-year-old. 

The Croatian, now 4-8 (3), was cut over his left eye in the final round, but seemed to be en route to the closing bell only for referee Terry O'Connor to end matters at 2:52 of the session after Romaeo put some sustained pressure on his wounded foe.

While it was hardly Chavez-Taylor, the crowd voiced their pleasure over the decision to stop the fight.  This was no doubt due to the visitor's spirited display in the third, a round in which he spent more time on the floor than a rug after being floored by a one-two then dropped again shortly afterwards by a strangely delivered straight left.  Despite this, he remained game throughout the remainder of the bout.

Between the two knockdowns, Romaeo looked for the Hollywood KO finish, but it was an unorthodoxly delivered orthodox shot that put his man over.  It could be a sign that he needs to add more solid, basic graft to his brash moves as he develops as a pro.

Romaeo may not have romanced everyone in the York Hall while moving to 5-0 (2),
however he seemed to listen to the advice of promoter Frank Warren.  "He needs to look at how much better you could be if you take your time and get your distance.  Work off your jab and you'll be a different class fighter," said Warren when speaking to Bunce, which prompted a "Thank you" from the winner.

Trainer Tunde Ajayi has pledged to work hard on his charge in the Peacock gym, but said there will always be a bit of preening from Romaeo, both in and out of the ring, before promising that it will be an interesting journey for any British boxing fan who hooks their wagon to Romaeo's star. 

It wasn't a happy night for Newark's Fonz Alexander (10st 7lbs 9oz) as the 26-year-old was stopped on the ringside doctor's advice after picking up a cut under his left eye in round two of a scheduled four-threes against Louis Adolphe (10st 11lbs 3oz).  The stoppage came at 0:26 of the round.

The battle of extravagantly named fighters was going Adolphe's way from the outset, but Fonz had slipped home a few of his own shots.  Adolphe, though, landed the ones that mattered, although there was a hint of head prior to the eruption of blood; the 22-year-old from Wimbledon is now 2-0 (1).  Fonz moves to 2-3.  Referee Jeff Hinds was the third man.

In the night's next bout, Chingford's Tom Baker (12st 1lb) edged closer to his Baker's Dozen with a six-threes win over Welshman Nathan King (12st 11lbs 40z).  The 22-year-old moved to 10-0 (2), really getting going in the final round with some smart lateral movement and clean shots.  King kept throwing until the end, the 33-year-old dips to 14-25 (1) and walked through a solid right uppercut in the sixth stanza.  Referee Terry O'Connor turned in a 59-55 card for the 6' 1'' victor.

"I felt his experience," said Baker when speaking to Steve Bunce of BoxNation, who are televising the card.  "I could have gone eight-rounds, I'd have trained hard to get in those extra two rounds," he added, a good point given that the last round was his best.

The action continued with a scheduled six-threes all-southpaw meeting between Surrey's Brett Beadon (10st 2lbs 8oz) and Liverpool's Terry Needham (10st 5lbs 6oz).  Beadon looked confident going into the fight.  The highly-regarded former amateur started brightly by flooring his rival with a sharp left cross.  Needham, though, beat the count then turned the tables with a flurry that was soon followed by a left hook that floored his opponent.

Beadon got up early then failed to put his hands up when instructed to do so by referee Jeff Hinds, who stopped the bout.  Although Beadon protested, his legs looked shaky, which is the price you pay for jumping to your feet too early.  The talent's there, clearly, but the 3-1 (1) 22-year-old needs to take his time, up his pro IQ and move on from this setback.

Needham improves to 6-1 (3); the 37-year-old visitor heads back up to Liverpool with a good win, and explosive KO, on the ledger.

Frank Warren's York Hall, London bill kicked off with a routine win for Manchester's Macaulay McGowan.  The Anthony Farnell-trained fighter barely put a foot wrong while posting a four-threes decision over Barnsley's Jamie Zaszlos.  The show is topped by Bradley Skeete, the WBA Inter-Continental welterweight champion, in a non-title fight against Leandro Mendes Pinto, and the winner shares a similar style to the well-schooled bill topper.

Macaulay (10st 11lbs 8oz) won by a 40-36 margin on Terry O'Connor's scorecard by keeping Zazlos (10st 9lbs 4oz) at bay behind the left then threading home point scoring shots of his own.  The 19-year-old moves to 3-0 (0); Zazlos slips to 1-13 (0), his sole win came in his debut, a decision over Ricky Stock, a fellow debutant, in 2012.  The 32-year-old looks a long way off a winning performance.

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