NEWCASTLE, England – Josh Blenkiron, Kiaran MacDonald, Lee Rogers and Bradley Casey all picked up wins on the undercard of Bakhram Murtazaliev-Josh Kelly at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.
Blenkiron and Robbie Colman were involved in a cracking bout for the Northern Area lightweight title. The two local fighters were given the opportunity to run back their amateur rivalry on the big stage and took it with both hands. Blenkiron was the winner of the two bouts in the unpaid ranks, and he again had his hand raised after 10 bloody rounds. The pair went at each other from the off, hammering away at the body as they both took turns laying on the ropes. Blenkiron bust up Colman’s face, breaking his nose and causing cuts over both eyes.
The fight was hard to score, with both men seemingly landing at will at times and neglecting their defense. A decisive factor in the scoring of the contest came in the final session, when Colman had a point deducted for his mouthpiece coming out on multiple occasions. The point was decisive, as the referee Ron Kearney scored the bout 96-95 in favour of Benkiron.
Before then, former Team GB fighter Kiaran MacDonald made his professional debut on the card against Marius Vysniauskas, 3-28 (1 KO). The slick southpaw from Sunderland was fighting in the bantamweight division. It was easy to see why MacDonald, 28, had enjoyed success in the amateur ranks, with his sharp jab and footwork on display from the off. It was clear that Vysniauskas, 39, was out of his depth, and MacDonald planted in a hard body shot early in the opener to set the tone for the contest. MacDonald continued his dominance, placing his right-handed jab into the face of Vysniauskas before whipping in a left to the midsection. MacDonald turned his attacks to the head in the fourth, and dropped Vysniauskas with an accurate right hook. Vysniauskas tumbled to the floor, but climbed to his feet and saw out the round. The bout was scored 40-35 in favour of MacDonald, who is now 1-0.
Local fighter Lee Rogers picked up an impressive win in his home city. The 7-0 (2 KOs) junior featherweight was given the experienced Erick Omar Lopez, now 20-35-3 (12 KOs), in a six-round contest. Rogers, 22, started fast, displaying his flashy skills to easily deal with his flat-footed opponent. Lopez, 31, was not deterred, however, by Rogers’ pressure, and as the rounds ticked by he started to come back into it. Lopez had success in the fourth, clipping Rogers with a right hook. Rogers then regained control of the fight and took the contest by a score of 60-54.
Cruiserweight Bradley Casey opened the show with a 40-36 points victory over the now 1-4 (1 KO) Lee Roberts. Casey, now 4-0 (1 KO), started fast and easily dealt with Roberts in the first two sessions. Casey, 21, then got a little reckless, and in the third was caught by a hard right uppercut from Roberts. The bout represented a good learning fight for the young Casey as he progresses.
