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Jerry Elliott, however, gave Magee everything he could handle, and the truth is that this wasn't much. Magee did win the fight, unquestionably, although scores averaging 117-110 give no impression of the trouble he had in doing so. Round one saw Magee decked within a minute by a right hand, and it was Elliott's studious following of the 'right hand, left hook versus southpaws' mantra that really caused Magee difficulties, particularly the right over the top. Given this is taught in the kindergarten of how to deal with southpaws, it should be of concern for the Northern Irish leftie.
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In what was potentially the fight of the night, talented Richard Williams was cruelly exposed by southpaw Argentinian Sergio Martinez and pulled out by his corner at the end of the ninth in their light-middleweight contest. Martinez looked to have the edge in all departments, having put on muscle since their first match last year. The champion (IBO) caught Williams with jabs repeatedly, irrespective of how Williams held his guard. It was this speed that allowed him to introduce some eye-catching - and genuinely hard - combinations.
Williams had dropped Martinez twice last time out and started to forget his boxing and look for the knockout shots, which was a mistake as he became easier to read and even more hittable. By the end, Williams was well beaten. There was some talk of retirement but the Stockwell man has more than enough talent at domestic level, and even European level. Provided he stays away from southpaws he could come again, although two bad defeats might affect him mentally. The champion announces himself thoroughly as a player at 154 pound.
Friday's Bradford card saw Junior Witter's European light-welter challenge go west as Sergio Battaglia pulled out the day before, taking the shot for the vacant title with him. Gavin Downs, Witter's stable-mate, was rejected by the BBBofC (to their eternal credit) and Ingle-managed Oscar Hall stepped into a real mismatch. Witter was never in any trouble, dropping Hall in the first with a body shot and coasting to a third round stoppage win. Punters could feel justifiably short-changed, but the Battaglia bout will be rescheduled for the title. Ryan Rhodes, John 'Buster' Keeton and Gilbert Eastman all won on the supporting bill.
The card at Reading on Saturday is the major European card of the weekend, headlined by Michael Sprott's first defence of the British and Commonwealth titles against English champion Matt Skelton. My suspicion is that this bout will prove to be more missable than my train to work as the hugely flawed but admittedly strong Skelton attempts to wrest the titles off the limited Sprott, who seemed to be the most surprised man in Wembley when announced as the winner of the belt against Danny Williams in January. Skelton has banged out a series of early wins over mediocre opposition but showed decent stamina when outpointing a defensively-minded Julius Francis earlier this year. His footwork betrays his martial arts roots, but he still might have too much for Sprott, who has inside-the-distance losses to Williams (twice), recent Jameel McCline snack Wayne Llewellyn, WBC title challenger Corrie Sanders and East London trial horse Harry Senior. Skelton should look to stop the champion late, although quite what this says about the state of British heavyweight boxing remains to be seen.
That said, if these two produce a barn-burner I'll happily eat humble pie.
Ricky Hatton's opponent for 5th June is yet to be announced at the time of writing. Frank Warren has promised a 'Top 10' fighter. Lovemore N'Dou, one of the favourites for the gig, has been snapped up by Miguel Cotto and amongst names being mentioned is Henry Bruseles, a Cotto sparring partner. Bruseles is no top 10 fighter, but a Hatton-Bruseles match would be a real crowd-pleaser, as Bruseles is an aggressive, come-forward type.
Past British Updates
Feb. 18 | Feb. 24 | March 3 | March 10 | March 18 | March 24 | March 31 | April 7 | April 14
