By Dan Cotter

Jason ‘2 Smooth’ Booth, 35-5 (14 early), 121¼ lb, continued his terrific form aged 32 at the Harvey Hadden Centre last Friday night, where he was successful in capturing the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title, along with defending his British title for the third time.  However, Matthew Marsh, 13-2-0 (1 early), 120¼lb, from West Ham, London proved to be no pushover on the night, giving Booth plenty to worry about during the fight before succumbing to a nasty cut, forcing the bout to be cut short and the challenger’s chances dashed in the 11th.

In the opening rounds, Booth was finding it hard to produce any rhythm and to land any clean shots on the challenger Marsh.  A serious cut had developed over Booth’s left eye after a clash of heads in the opening minutes, but Booth’s corner team ensured that this would not affect his vision.

Marsh continued to look the better fighter, coming off better when the two locked horns to throw the combinations, and was able to land effective jabs and then stay out of range.  The champion found himself dropped to the canvas in the fifth when Marsh unleashed a left hook; however, a coming together of heads opened a cut just above the challenger’s eye in the same round.

Booth’s responded positively as he rallied in the latter rounds, controlling much more of the fight by coming forward and timing his attacks more efficiently.  However, Marsh was still imposing himself enough to challenge each round.

In the eleventh and final round, Marsh’s cut had noticeably worsened.  Referee John Keane called upon the fight doctor and the championship bout was brought to a close.  Marsh would have been disheartened to discover that he was up on two of the judges scorecards, though the cut was to severe for the fight to continue and the right decision was certainly made.

The fight was to prove who the best in the super-bantamweight division was domestically.  Jason Booth may count himself lucky that the doctor stepped in to stop the fight as he was down on two official scorecards.  It still looks unlikely that a Rendall Munroe match-up will be made anytime in the near future as Munroe looks to vacate the European title in pursue of the WBC crown.

However, Booth’s next step maybe to take the belt Munroe held and step up to European level.  Although, if Booth wants to perform at a considerably higher standard, he may need to raise his game, as the warning signs were that a 14-year professional career is taking its toll on Booth.

In the light middleweight Midlands Area title fight, Martin Concepcion, 16-6 (10 KOs), 153½lb, guaranteed his place at the next Prizefighter show after a debatable 97-96 victory over Kevin Hammond, 8-2-1 (4 stoppages), 153½lb.

In a high-octane fight, Hammond was relentless in coming forward and refused to let Concepcion be the aggressor.  Though Hammond rarely went to the body and this is meant that Concepcion was able to simply concentrate on blocking the headshots before firing his own attacks.

In the ninth, Hammond had victory his sights as a crushing left hand sent Concepcion backing into the ropes with unsteady legs.  With the atmosphere intensifying in the final rounds, the tenth proved to be the most exciting as both men wore their heart on their sleeve and one of them looked likely to fall before the bell brought a stop to the fight.

Concepcion who fights in this month’s Prizefighter has agreed to give Hammond a rematch, a decision that was praised by many at ringside, as the general view was that Hammond had won.

The light heavyweight Prizefighter champion Ovill McKenzie, 18-9 (7 early), 179lb, returned to the ring after a 9-month lay-off all be it for a first round demolition of Yorkshire’s Billy Boyle, 13-5 (7 KOs), 182lb.  Within the first 40 seconds, ‘The Upsetter’ McKenzie landed a straight right, which sent Boyle crashing to the canvas.  The fight continued to be one sided through its short duration and Terry O’Connor waved the fight off as Boyle’s corner threw the towel in after a right hook nearly sent Billy Boyle down again.

Former British super-featherweight champion Carl Johanneson, 28-4 (19 early), 138lb, made his eagerly awaited comeback to the ring against journeyman Youssef Al Hamidi, now 6-24-2 (1 early), 138¾, at lightweight.

 

Johanneson began well using his jab and was keen to land the straight, though unlike in his last fight against Kevin Mitchell he avoided a war against the Syrian national, who is a fighter a few rungs below his calibre.  Al Hamidi, based in Yorkshire, is a trickier opponent than his 23 previous losses on his record portrayed.  Johanneson showed some ring rust as he was being caught on occasions by Al Hamidi’s uppercut and left hook.

By the end referee Terry O’Connor scored the fight 60-55 in Johanneson’s favour.

Unbeaten welterweight Dale Miles, 8-0-0 (5 early), 147¾lb, continued his perfect start in the professional ranks by adding another stoppage win to his resume by defeating Kristian Laight, 6-72-5, 144¾lb, in the second round.  Laight had only ever been stopped 3 times in his 71 defeats prior to the fight.  Miles may be a serious contender soon for an English or even British title.

Promising super-featherweight Gary ‘Five Star’ Sykes, 14-0 (4 early), 137lb, had to come up from off the canvas, though he appeared to slip, in his fight against Dean Mills, 3-3-2 (2 knockouts), 139lb, to ensure a decision victory.  Sykes defeated Anthony Crolla last year in a British super-featherweight title eliminator.  Sykes may not be far off a British or an English title fight.

After being what is called in boxing as “sparked out” by Romanian Mihaita Mutu, Young Mutley, 28-5 (14 early), 147¼lb, has started to show signs that there is still maybe gas in the tank.  Despite losing in last year’s Prizefighter, due to a contested knockdown, Mutley must have felt he still had to abide by the Prizefighter rules, as he was able to earn a stoppage victory in the third against Scott Woolford, 10-5 (3 KOs), 147¾lb.

In the second Mutley landed a hard body shot, which sent Woolford reeling to the floor.  It wasn’t long before referee Terry O’Connor was forced to stop the fight in the third round when a cut above Woolford’s right eye worsened.

Super-flyweights Paul Edwards, 6-0-0 (1 sole stoppage win) 114¾, and Andy Bell, 11-5 (3 early), 117lb, entertained the Nottingham fans with a very exciting fight that may have been considered one of the fights of the night if the two feature bouts weren’t as exciting.  There was an astounding amount of blood coming from Bell’s nose throughout. Despite looking to have a height advantage, Bell was unable to land many hurtful shots to Edwards, as Edwards continued to land hard overhand right hooks.  Scouser Paul Edwards managed to earn a 58-57 decision victory.

Curtis Valentine, 2-0 (1 KO), 157lb, looked sharp in his light middleweight match against Craig Tomes, 1-12-2, 155¾lb, as he won a points decision after hardly being hit over the 4 rounds.  Terry Maughan, now 2-1, 156lb, won his second professional fight of three against Ryan Clark, who falls to 1-5-2, 155lb, on a point’s decision.  Maughan, who began his career with a loss to experienced Matt Scriven, showed better defensive abilities by planning when to use his jab and hooks better and keeping a more rigid peek-a-boo style of defence.