by Dave Crellin
12/1 - The British light-middleweight title match-up between Jamie Moore and Michael Jones ended in a bluster of false controversy as Moore was disqualified in the third round. The result left everyone watching feeling slightly short-changed but opinions were mixed over whether Moore, Jones or the referee should be the focus of complaint.

Jones knew he had to work behind the jab but the shorter, stockier Jones sucked him into a closer-quarters battle from the opening bell, with predictable results. Jones looked in shape but couldn’t cope with the swarming style of Moore.

However, in the third a clinch brought a call of ‘stop boxing’ from referee Dave Parris. Jones did. Moore didn’t. The result was a double hook, body and head, that left Jones on the deck.

There was some conjecture over whether the body shot was a low blow but it was the head shot which did the damage, Jones protesting during the post-fight interviews that he still had blurred vision. With Jones unable to continue, Parris made the call to disqualify the typically aggressive Moore. A no-contest might have been a more amenable decision, but the fact remains that the fight was halted following an illegal action.

The crowd were furious, as was Moore who observed, quite rightly, that he’d lost because the other guy refused to fight on. Whether or not Jones was as badly hurt as he claims, only he knows. What is true is that for the entirety of the contest to that point he was on the receiving end of plenty of leather without doing too much in reply. What was telling was that Jones did not seem keen on a further rematch (Moore had won on points in a previous bout). It’s crying out to be made, though.

Supporting was Brian Magee, who took on old foe Neil Linford as he attempted to get back on the world title ladder. Linford was game but Magee, fighting at light-heavy and looking surprisingly good on it, was just a little sharper, quicker and cleverer. The Irishman’s strength also came through impressively at a step up from his normal division and Linford’s corner and the referee agreed on a stoppage as the seventh came to an end.

Also on the card Richard Williams took care of Szabolcs Rimovsky, dominating and dropping the Hungarian on the way to a third round stoppage. Williams looked sharp in attack and coped well in defence against the Hungarian’s limited advances.

Back up north for the big card this weekend: Alex Arthur is defending whatever nonsense super featherweight belt he holds against Argentinian Nazareno Gastón Ruiz. Ruiz is no puncher and is evidently capable of being outboxed in this, his first pro contest outside his native land. He is the Argentine national champion at the weight, but Arthur shouldn’t have much more trouble with him than he did in the recent one-sided win over Eric Odumase.

Chief support is Willie Limond, evidently being angled towards an ill-advised rematch with Arthur. He’s in the opposite corner to Spaniard Alberto Lopez for the EEC title at super-feather (the EEC title is not the European title – that distinction belongs to, I think, the EBU). Lopez is 35 and has amassed 28 contests in an 11-year career fought mostly at a domestic level. He’ll be keen and he does have some pugilistic capability but this looks like another Christmas points win for the home fighter.

There’s also a big European card worth noting on Saturday, headed by Luan Krasniqui and Timo Hoffman duking it out for the EBU (aaah...) heavyweight title in Berlin. Neither of these boys are going to set the world on fire, but Krasniqui should take the points verdict. Felix Sturm rocks out and uses Hassine Cherifi (1-3 in his last four) as a warm-up for a mooted spring clash with Felix Trinidad. Croatian light-heavy Stipe Drews and lanky cruiserweight Rudiger May both take comeback steps after losses to quality opposition by proving they can still do the business against obscure no-hopers.

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