By Dean Parr
While he hardly put in a quintessential performance, Anthony 'Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jr.' Small defeated Thomas 'Stormboy' McDonagh at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan Saturday night via unanimous decision to retain his British and Commonwealth light middleweight titles. It was a closely contested, tactical battle, but Small worked a little harder than his foe in the conclusive rounds, nicking him the fight.
While McDonagh entered the ring with the usual 'hometown' cheers, Small took his time with his entrance, and came down the walkway on a foot scooter, dressed in a suit. Then, when stood on the apron, he proceeded to take out a 'Spurs' scarf in a bid to antagonise any Wigan fans there (as Tottenham had trounced them 9-1 a week earlier). This was all done in jest, although the strongly pro-McDonagh crowd took it as an opportunity to berate their collective rival.
The opener was fairly tentative, although Small (152½lb) jabbed well (to the head and the body) and connected with a decent left hook. He was the more mobile of the pair, and used his foot speed to good effect.
In the second though, despite Small's best efforts to talk his ears off, McDonagh (152½lb) woke up and got into the fight. He started putting some combinations together and had some success with the left hook himself.
The third was very similar. Small would walk around practicing his dance moves until McDonagh closed the gap and they had a brief engagement. Then Small would walk away and the whole cycle would start again. McDonagh, like he did in the previous round, took the session because Small was just simply not doing enough.
Small ended up on the canvas in the fourth, but unfortunately for the crowd (who cheered anyway) it was just because of a slip. 'The Scream' once again left it up to McDonagh to come and find him in this session, and 'Stormboy' started banging some hooks to the body in while Small leaned on the ropes. It was another close round, but seemingly another in the bag for McDonagh.
Round five was the most exciting of the fight to this point, but that wasn't saying much. For long periods the pair clinched, and they negated each other in this position. However, at the end of the session, they traded briefly, although they were equally successful, meaning this round was near impossible to score.
Maybe sensing that he wasn't doing nearly enough, in the sixth Small started pushing forward more, and was using the jab better. He was beginning to cut out his showboating, and it had a good effect on his fighting.
The seventh was messy and contested at close quarters, but McDonagh possibly did the better work. While Small would pot shot and generally miss, 'Stormboy' threw his punches in twos and threes and had partially more success.
Neither boxer deserved to win the eighth stanza. The action here was more akin to that on an amateur-wrestling mat than in a boxing ring, and neither the champion nor the challenger took the initiative.
An overhand right buzzed 'Stormboy' in the ninth and, despite McDonagh's chin holding up well, this seemed to take a lot out of him. Small was making an effort to push the pace now, although there was still lots of clinching and inside work.
McDonagh seemed so tired in the tenth session that he only had the energy to fight in bursts, whereas Small was comparatively fresh, and could box for the whole three minutes. 'Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jr.' was really going for it now, and McDonagh couldn't keep up.
Saying this though, 'Stormboy' dug deep in round eleven. He by no means won the round, but he was really trying to impose himself, and unleash the hooks to the body on the ropes that had shaken Small to the core earlier in the contest. He finished strong as well with good left hooks, but Small had controlled the round with his movement.
The final round was even. Small started well with a couple of right hooks, but as the round carried on, the momentum seemed to swing in the favour of the hometown fighter. It was a close round to wrap up a close fight.
Much to the dismay of the crowd, all three judges scored the bout in favour of Small. Terry O'Connor and Phil Edwards gave it to the Deptford man by the margin of 115-114, while John Keane had it even wider at 116-113. McDonagh was gutted, but much in the same vein as the Matthew Hatton vs. Lovemore N'Dou fight, there can be no cries of robbery as it was extremely close. Small improves to 23-1 (16 KOs), while McDonagh slumps to 34-3-3 (7 KOs).
On the undercard, Craig Watson (147¼lb) looked great in stopping Riad Menasria (147¼lb) at 1:55 of round two. Menasria came into the bout with an impressive record of 28-1-1, but Watson showed his power from the get go.
Watson started fast, rushing his opponent and pressing the pace. This paid off as every time he hit Menasria, the Swiss fighter seemed to be hurt, and this showed when a left hook floored him. Watson tried to finish after this but to no avail.
In the second, Watson seemed to be more content to take his time, although he still got the stoppage after a straight left forced Menasria to fall flat on his face. With this solid win over a decent foe, Watson improves to 15-3 (5 KOs) while Menasria drops to 28-2-1 (9 KOs).
Bury's Scott Quigg (124¼lbs) looked mightily impressive in stopping Yuri Voronin (123¼lb) after 1:54 of round six; a feat that neither Nicky Cook nor Bernard Dunne could achieve in their bouts with the Ukrainian. Quigg picked his punches well throughout, knocking Voronin down a couple of times (in the third and fourth rounds) to show that he has the power to do well at a good level.
What was also good about Quigg's performance was that he tucked up well and Voronin barely laid a finger on him. On the other hand, Voronin had to eat a ton of hard hooks to the head and the body, and while he was durable, the result seemed inevitable from the first knockdown onwards. Quigg retains his undefeated record and moves to 16-0 (10 KOs); Voronin decreases to 27-10 (18 KOs).
Mark Thompson (150lbs) was meant to be the chief supporting act on this show in a Commonwealth title eliminator, but unfortunately his opponent pulled out at short notice. Stepping up to face the Heywood man was the overmatched Danny Parkinson (145lbs), who Thompson took his frustrations out on and blasted in a round.
A former International Masters Champion, Thompson looked determined from the get go, mixing his punches up well and throwing them in ruthless bunches. Parkinson never looked like he had a chance, and he drops to 12-4 (4 KOs). In contrast, Thompson moves to 22-1 (14 KOs).
Joe Murray took his fifth win and second consecutive stoppage against Barrington Brown. Brown, who has held Gary Davies to a draw in the past, couldn't deal with how well Murray picked his punches, and the speed at which they were coming.
The stoppage came after 1:55 of round two, when a huge overhand right had Brown in disarray and Murray went in for the kill. Murray looked good, but against this calibre of opposition, it is hard to see how he will fare when he moves up a level. 'Genius' moves to 5-0 (2 KOs), while Brown goes to 5-5-2 (2 KOs).
Martin Murray (164½lb) had an off night against Sergey Khomitsky (163¼lb), and even briefly touched down in the seventh of an eight rounder. Murray had controlled the fight with his jab, and he dictated the pace well, but his defence got sloppy in the later stages, as the knockdown showed. The referee's verdict was 77-73 in favour of the St. Helens man, whose record now stands at 17-0 (6 KOs); Khomitsky dropped to 21-6-1 (8 KOs).
Andy 'Wythenshawe Warrior' Morris (134lb) moved well to earn a 79-72 points win against the decent Pierre Francois Bonicel (134lb). Morris managed to knock his opponent down in the second with a cracking left hook, but the durable Frenchman in front of him got back into the fight and made him work for the duration. Morris showed a lovely jab, and excellent chopping body shots. He improves to 18-2 (6 KOs), while Bonicel now has a record of 17-3 (7 KOs).
Kieran Maher didn't impress massively in his win over Kristian Laight, but it is early days for the Hattersley prospect. Laight made it a rough and awkward night for Maher, who in fairness used his jab decently and earned a 39-37 verdict. The Joe Pennington trained man moved to 2-0 (0 KOs); journeyman Laight decreased to 6-69-5 (0 KOs).
Matty Askin looked the business in his cruiserweight clash with Bobby Scott, taking him out after just 49 seconds of the very first round. Askin floored his foe with his opening left, right combination, and as soon as Scott rose, Askin was all over him forcing the referee to stop the contest. The impressive Askin moves to 4-0 (2 KOs) while Scott's losing record is now 3-5-1 (2 KOs).
Denton Vassell (149lbs) was also on the bill, and in the show opener, he cruised to a 59-55 points win over the previously undefeated Jamal Morrison. Vassell remains unbeaten at 13-0 (7 KOs). Morrison's first loss takes him to 5-1 (2 KOs).
