Several British Prospects Shined at Reebok Stadium Bill

By Dean Parr

This past Saturday night, Frank Maloney presented an evening of Boxing at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton with a British Title fight headlining, and an undercard of competitive scraps involving up and coming prospects supplementing the main event.

In the primary attraction of the evening, Scott Quigg (8st 9lbs) was on blistering form, tearing into the body of Jason '2 Smooth' Booth (8st 8lbs) for seven fast paced rounds, before the corner of the now-former British super-bantamweight champion pulled the brave scrapper out.

The first stanza was fairly even, but Quigg began to pull away in the second, looking very strong, maintaining the centre of the ring and unleashing some great body shots.

Session three saw more of the same, with Bury's Quigg, in his first fight under Joe Gallagher, defiantly throwing Booth into the ropes at the end, showing his strength.

Rounds four and five saw an increased effort and workrate from Booth, who has never been short of guts, but Quigg always being two steps ahead and sharper, stronger and more accurate.

At the end of the sixth, Booth was visibly disgruntled with what was coming at him from the 23 year old Quigg, shaking his head as he went to the corner. The seventh saw him dig in and really try to impose his will, but this wasn't possible against the Hatton Promotions fighter, who simply would not be stopped. After the seventh, Booth was pulled out by his team, making Quigg the new Champion.

This mature performance takes Scott to 23-0 (16 stoppages), and interest will now intensify for a showdown between him and Carl Frampton. Booth is now 36-8 (15 early), and it's hard to see where he goes from here at the age of 33 and with his best days seemingly behind him.

Being a judge wouldn't have been an enviable task in the co-main event ten rounder between Tony Hill (11st 5lbs 8oz) and Kerry Hope (11st 5lbs 8oz) in an eliminator for a British Middleweight title fight.

The first three rounds saw Hill look sharper and quicker, but Hope worked the body very well, while his opponent took a while to get going.

Stanzas three to six saw Southampton's Hill throw an increased amount of punches and stand his ground more. The left hand was working particularly well for the Southerner, with a peach of a left uppercut rocking Hope's head back in the sixth.

The seventh and eighth sessions were very close, with both trying to impose their respective games. Round nine was contested in a similar vein, although Hill came on strong towards the end, while in the concluding round of the contest, Hope imposed a barnstorming work rate, culminating in a knockdown due to an overhand left.

The judges ruled this a Majority decision, with one ruling it a 95 a piece draw, and the others giving it to Merthyr Tydfil's Hope by scores of 96-94 and 98-93, moving him to 16-3 (1 early). Hill drops to 8-2 (4 KOs).

Doncaster's Jason Ball (11st 10lbs 6oz) gave Sunderland's Jonson McLumpha (11st 7lbs) nightmares en route to dropping a 39-38 decision in a four round affair. McLumpha improves to 3-0 (1 stoppage) with this win, while the game and gutsy Ball drops to 3-5 (2 early).

Cruiserweight Danny Price (14st 7lbs) stopped Michal Tomko (14st 11lbs) in just 41 seconds in his Pro debut, first flooring his opponent with a hook, and the second time time dropping him with a straight right hand which forced the referee to wave it off. Tomko falls to 1-11-1 (0 KOs) with this defeat.

Jon Kays was given all kinds of trouble by Ibrar Riyaz, but kept his boxing together and soldiered on to earn a 59-56 points verdict. Riyaz was powerful and throwing shots with bad intentions, but Kays when calm produced quality work, meaning his score tally changes to 14-2 (4 knockouts). Riyaz falls to 4-26-1 (2 stoppages).

Karl Place was given a good run out by Ivan Godor, taking the contest 60-54. Slovakia's Godor offered more resistance than his currently 5-17-3 (1 stoppage) record would suggest, but Place's consistency, work rate and accuracy saw him through to improving his record to 15-0 (8 early).

Class shone through in Josh Warrington's (9st 2lbs) scrap with Dougie Curran (9st 3lbs 6oz), with the former walking away with a 60-55 points victory. Curran was game and ensured the whole bout was fought inside the pocket, but Warrington landed more and did the cleaner work, making sure he remains unbeaten at 8-0 (0 KOs). Curran is now 5-8-1 (0 early).

The strong and aggressive Warren Tansey (11st 10lbs) earned a decision victory over Ryan Clark (12st 4lbs 6oz), with work rate and desire being on his side throughout, taking the Middleton man to 7-1-1 (3 inside the distance). Clark's record now stands at 1-42-4.

Sheffield's Chad Gaynor (10st 6lbs 2oz) breezed to victory against Liam Griffiths (10st 12lbs 12oz) nearly stopping his foe towards the conclusion of their bout. Still unbeaten, Gaynor is now 7-0 (4 early) while Griffiths' slate now reads 1-4 (0 stoppages).

In the show opener, Glenn Foot remained unbeaten in a Welterweight tilt with Ali Shah. Foot, now 6-0 (3 early) after the 59-55 verdict, dealt with his foe's awkward style by forcing a relentless pace and landing the better shots. Shah falls to 6-1 (2 KOs).