Goodwin wins second Masters belt in a month on Storming Sunday
For the headline bout on Miranda Carter’s ‘Storming Sunday’ card at the York Hall, the International Masters Welterweight strap was at stake over ten rounds between Chester’s Chris Goodwin (14-1-1) and Wesley Hertoghe (3-10-1) from Belgium. A little strange, seeing as Goodwin was contesting the lightweight version less than a month ago against Kenyan Geoffrey Munika. He must have put on a fair bit of suet since then.
As their respective records would suggest, Goodwin (10st 4lbs) looked quicker and sharper from the start, snapping out a jab which frustrated Hertoghe (10st 2lbs) and restricted him to body shot counters.
Hertoghe’s main problem was that he found it difficult to match Goodwin’s speed, which resulted in Goodwin landing many more punches per round. Hertoghe delivered some better work in the fourth, but as the round progressed, his single shot strategy failed to gain him an advantage.
Good head movement from Goodwin had Hertoghe missing with much of what he threw, until the pair traded at close range in the 7th, which was fairly even. The last two rounds looked more like a spar than an (albeit lightly regarded) championship contest.
Despite a fair showing from Hertoghe, Goodwin never looked like losing this one. The Chester man performed well in his first visit to the capital, and showed good movement, fast hands and sound footwork.
Referee Jeff Hines scored the fight 91-100 to Goodwin, who should return to London soon for a sterner test.
Ryan Toms (9-1-1) from Northolt was coming of the back of a televised first round knockout defeat to Steve O’Meara for the Southern Area light middleweight title, and was keen to put that experience behind him in a Sunday afternoon six threes against Thamesmeads’ Nathan Weise (7-1-2).
Fairly even first and second rounds saw both fighters being economical with the leather. Toms (11st 11/2lbs) warmed it up a bit halfway through round two, which drew a response from Weise (11st 1/2lb), who had the father and son Tibbs team in his corner.
In the third, Toms unloaded with a vicious right hook which forced Wiese to take a knee, and he looked a little shook up for the remainder of the round. He regained his poise in the 4th and found the target with some stiff jabs and fast combos. His movement seemed to trouble Toms, who was outworked in the round and has started to look a little tired.
That said, Toms exploded at the beginning of the 5th, nearly sending Weise completely out of the ring, but the Thamesmead man recovered to take control with rights and left hooks that were delivered with speed. He avoided Toms onslaught at the end of the round, and the final three minutes was pretty even
Referee Ken Curtis scored it a 57 each draw. I wasn’t the only person in the York Hall to scratch their head at this, bearing in mind the third round knockdown and Toms’ much heavier hands.
Brett O’Callaghan (2-0) boxed on the back foot for most of the first against Birmingham’s Andrew Patterson (4-21-3), a late replacement for durable journeyman Bheki Moyo. Patterson (11st 8 1/4 lbs) was hesitant to throw and unable to find the target when he did. For most of the second, he ate jabs from O’Callaghan (11st 2lbs) through his high guard. Patterson did apply some pressure towards the end of the second, but wrote a long, verbose letter before he threw them.
As the tough Patterson marched forward in the third, he kept getting caught but managed to nick the fourth, for me. As O’Callaghan tired, Patterson was able to catch him with several shots that won the round, but certainly not the fight.
Jeff Hinds scored the fight 39-37 for O’Callaghan. The boxer beat the fighter.
Surrey’s Danny ‘Cassius’ Connor (4-5-1) was in with Russell Pearce (2-10-2) from Welshpool. It took a while for Connor (10st 6 1/2 lbs) to warm up, and in the early part of the first looked fragile as Welshpool’s Pearce (10st 4lbs) caught him with counters. As the fight progressed, however, Connor began to dominate. Pearce hit the canvas two minutes into the round, and the York Hall crowd thought it was all over, only for referee Ken Curtis to rule no knockdown and send both boxers back to the corner.
Pearce was caught with a crisp right towards the end of the third which clearly wobbled him, and despite the odd blind flurry, didn’t offer much in the way of attack. He was beaten to the punch consistently by Connor, who looked better in every department.
Referee Ken Curtis scores 37-40 for Connor, presumably scoring the first to Pearce.
An all Lithuanian light heavyweight four threes saw Ridas Vaivada(2-0) march Egidijus Kakstys (2-4) down for most of the bout, making his near half stone weight advantage count. Kakstys (12st 1 1/2lbs) was game, and threw plenty back at Vaivada (12st 7lbs) without doing too much damage.
Kakstys hit the canvas briefly two minutes into round three but rose to see out the round, which was tit for tat. The final three minutes was surprisingly energetic, with both fighters showing a desire to entertain the audience. Ken Curtis scored 40-36 for Vaivada.
In a scrappy but energetic light welterweight opener, Duane Grimes (1-3) from Luton went on the offensive from the bell but was susceptible to some smart counter punching from Norwich’s Scott Moises (3-3).
Moises (9st 12lbs) landed a solid left right combination in the second, followed by several hard shots to the body which seemed to slow Grimes (10st 1/2lb) down. Despite a tangled mess for a fair part of the round, it ended energetically. In the third, Moises counter punching was the difference, but Grimes did come on in the last minute. The final round saw the better work from Moises, with Grimes bring far too easy to counter. A deserved win for Moises -
Referee Jeff Hinds had it 40-36 for Moises – a deserved win for the Norwich man, who was visibly thrilled to even his record.
Manchester’sEddie Corcoran(7-1) faced Latvian Sergejs Volodins (7-15) at light middle. This was Corcoran’s (10 st 10 1/2 lbs) first bout since his only loss – to Denton Vassell way back in March 2009, and he looked eager to get back to winning ways. Under severe pressure, Volodins (10st 8 1/2 lbs) went down early in the first from a slip, and again in the second, but this time from a solid dig to the temple. He got up, and was put down again seconds later for a 2nd count.
He got up, only to go straight back down again for a third count, which caused referee Jeff Hines to sensibly wave it off halfway through the second.
Ipswich’s Henry Bacon (3-0), a product of Jonny Eames’ TKO TRAD Gym, was in againstHayden Chick (1-4) from Woking in a very scrappy affair, with little landed of note by either in the first. Chick (11st 12 1/4lbs) employed spoiling tactics, but by the end of the second, Bacon (11 st 6 1/2 lbs) began to settle into his rhythm and box at range effectively.
Referee Jeff Hines scored the fight 39-37 for Bacon, who fully deserved the decision, even if it didn’t look pretty.
Formerly known as Jimmy Ward, Surrey’s James Coyle (3-0-1) was involved in his first fight in over a year against Oleksiy Chukov (2-4) from the Ukraine.
Coyle (11st 6lbs) was a much, much bigger man, and started aggressively. A practiced left right combination shocked Chukov (10st 7lbs 5oz) but he stayed with it to whether the early storm, only to be pinned against the ropes for the majority of the second while Coyle threw the same combo again and again, also getting through with some stiff jabs.
Chukov showed massive cahonas for staying with Coyle, who looked two or three weight classes above. During the final round Chukov even laughed off several attacks from Coyle to take the fight the distance.
Referee Ken Curtis scored 40-36 for Coyle. Chukov was extremely game, but I feared for his safety. While understanding the difficulty promoters have in finding suitable opponents, often at short notice, match-ups like this don’t make sense.
In a light heavy four threes, Preston’s Stuart Maddox (1-1) was in against debutant Scott Hartley from Alloa, Scotland, who seemed to be dropped from a right in the first (although no knockdown was scored) and with blood pouring from his head, he rose groggily – it looked as if it might be waved off.
His corner managed to stop the flow. Hartley (12st 5 1/2 lbs) got his act together in the second and used his boxing skills for the remainder of the bout to deal with the power coming from Maddox (12st 8 1/2lbs), a bigger man, who looked like a handful.
Referee Jeff Hines scored the fight a draw – 38 each. For me, Maddox edged it with more aggression and a much more powerful delivery.
Source BoxRec News
