By Lee Collier
Belfast’s Martin Lindsay had a successful first defence of his British featherweight title last Friday night at the Leigh Indoor Sports Centre when he beat the resilient Jamie Arthur of Wales over the full 12 rounds distance.
Lindsay (125½lb) had dethroned the then champion Paul Appleby back in April last year and in his first defence proved his championship credentials with a dominant performance over the brave Jamie Arthur (125¾lb).
The first round started with Lindsay rocking Arthur with a left hook, which was a constant weapon in the Irishman’s arsenal all night. Arthur withstood the early pressure and managed to keep busy throughout the round trying to work behind the jab.
The second round seemed to be the end for Welshman Arthur when he tasted the canvas twice. Lindsay managed to get through with a left hand followed up by a right to the temple of the challenger that sent Arthur to the canvas.
The Welshman was up early but was soon receiving his second count after another right hand connected flush. Arthur rose early and just when the end seemed near the bell saved Arthur from any further punishment.
Arthur came out in the third intent to make a fight of it landing a nice body shot to the champion. Arthur’s legs seemed to have recovered as he outworked the champion but the Irishman’s defence held firm allowing him to land some telling left hooks.
The next few rounds showed that Arthur’s fitness levels and preparation had been done as he pushed the pace of the fight. Lindsay was taking the majority of Arthur’s shots on the gloves and arms and managed to land some telling left and right hooks of his own.
During the seventh round Lindsay punished Arthur on the ropes with a three-punch combination before the brave Welshman fired back. Lindsay landed a follow up right hand that sent blood flying from the Welshman’s mouth only for Arthur to stand tall.
During the eleventh round both fighters stood toe-to-toe in some exciting exchanges before a clash of heads opened up a cut on Arthur’s right eye. The Welshman seemingly behind on points had one extra factor to deal with. In the last round the brave Arthur battled on behind the cut eye whilst Lindsay continued to land the left hood, which had been successful all night
Referee Richie Davies lifted the hand of the current champion to the applause of the noisy Irish travelling support after all three judges scored the fight in his favour with scores of 118-108 (Phil Edwards), 119-108 (John Keane), 117-110 (Mark Green). Lindsay’s record extends to 16-0 (6), whilst Arthur slips to 16-3 (4).
The undercard was a solid affair with some impressive performances starting with former British bantamweight champion Gary Davies. Davies (121½lb), coming off a title loss to Ian Napa, faced former British super-flyweight champion Andy Bell (124¾lb) over eight rounds.
Davies did not need eight rounds to dispatch his opponent, who came in over the agreed weight limit. The big punching Davies launched an immediate big overhand right that missed Bell by a fraction. Davies then had some brief success with two right hands before a right hand sent Bell to the canvas.
Bell rose on six and immediately Davies launched himself looking for the knockout before the pair ended up on the canvas in a tangle. The next shot Davies landed was a right hand to the temple of Bell who went down for the second time in the opener. Bell rose on nine on very unsteady legs and referee Phil Edwards rightly decided to call a halt to the action at 2:39 of the 1st round.
Davies, who will now be looking for an English or British title shot, extends his record to 10-3-1 (8 early) with ‘Doncaster’s Bell now on 11-6 (3 KOs).
Liverpool’s Olympian David Price (248lb) extended his winning start to his pro career with a quick blast out over Heywood’s Martyn Grainger (215lb).
Grainger was quickly on the canvas after two glancing left hands sent the much smaller man to the canvas. Grainger beat the count but did not seem happy with the power of Price when a left to the body sent him to the canvas for a second count. This time Grainger rose on six before Phil Edwards decided enough was enough at 1:03 of the first round.
Price now stands at 5-0 (4 stoppages), but after two quick victories needs stepping up slightly. Granger, 3-3 (1 KO), looks set to go back to his natural cruiserweight.
Fellow Liverpudlian John Watson (140lb) was involved in a fight of two halves over six rounds against Hove’s Ben Murphy (141½lb). Watson was originally down to face Scotsman Martin Watson before his withdrawal.
Murphy, who was scheduled to face Lee McAllister in a Commonwealth title fight next week before McAllister pulled out, stepped in last minute to give the unbeaten Watson a good test.
Watson started off well in the opener working behind a double and triple jab. During the second and third rounds, Murphy found his way past Watson’s jab to the inside on numerous occasions and was working the body of Watson well to take the better of the exchanges against the ineffective Watson.
Watson came out during the fourth looking like he knew he needed to raise his game. Watson now upped his work rate and landed numerous combinations including a big right hand, which seemed to buckle the legs of Murphy.
Watson managed to keep the pace going during the last two rounds and was rightly awarded the fight on referee Steve Gray’s scorecard by a margin of 59-56. Watson now stands at 12-0 (4) and looks a good bet at a possible title shot this year, with the brave Murphy dropping to 7-3-1 (3).
Manchester’s Karl Place (141lb) enjoyed a good week. Place was named in Boxing News as a prospect to watch and also extended his unbeaten start over a tricky Steve Saville (141¼lb).
Place started off the fight with a stiff jab but it was Saville who came forward looking to test the young prospect out. Place was having some considerable success with a good variety of shots before a Saville left hook stiffened the legs of Place. By now Place’s nose seemed a mess and was bleeding badly and it seemed the youngster was in for a tough night.
The nosebleed didn’t seem to be affecting Place too much as he immediately started targeting the body of Saville. Place followed up with a right hand which sent Saville reeling to the ropes before a further four punches culminating with a right hook flattened Saville. The 33-year-old shook his head to say enough was enough and was counted out by referee Steve Gray.
Place looks a good bet for the future and extends his unbeaten start to 8-0 (5), whilst a game Saville drops to 19-8 (8).
North Shields 34-year-old Dave Ferguson (229¼lb) faced much smaller Paul Morris (202¼lb) of Preston. Ferguson, whose only two defeats came in Prizefighter tournaments, seemed out of sorts and had trouble finding his range against a smaller more agile fighter.
Ferguson landed an early right hand that proved that Morris could take a shot. Morris kept launching quick in and out attacks but did not have the size or power to worry the natural heavyweight. Ferguson landed right hands throughout but could not find the flush shot needed.
Morris came strong in the fourth as Ferguson tired and the Preston novice dominated to end the fight strongly but referee Steve Gray deemed Ferguson to have done enough to win by 39-37.
Ferguson moves to 11-2 (4), whereas Morris falls to 1-1-1 (1) and needs to stick to his more natural cruiserweight limit where on this performance he could get some good wins under his belt.
British flyweight champion Shinny Bayaar (114¼lb), boxing out of Oldham via Mongolia, was pushed hard by Iraqi 2004 Olympian Najah Ali (116lb), who boxes out of London. Ali had recently been stopped by Michael Walsh and was not expected to give the British champion much trouble but seemed to ignore the formbook.
Bayaar struggled to find his rhythm in the early rounds as Ali did enough to steal the rounds. The British champion then came strong at the midpoint of the fight as he started to land more left hands. The final round was close with Bayaar landing the more clean shots which probably won the fight for him with Steve Gray scoring in his favour 58-57 from ringside. Trialist referee Mark Lyson was the man in charge.
Bayaar moves onto 15-4-1 (4), and is scheduled to face the dangerous Ashley Sexton next. Ali falls to 3-2 (1).
Bolton’s Rick Godding (145½lb) warmed up for a potential fight with Curtis Woodhouse for the International Masters title by out-pointing Atherton’s William Warburton (148½lb) over six rounds.
Godding was never in trouble against a game Warburton and during the early rounds Godding targeted the body to good effect. Warburton kept coming forward and even landed some left hands of his own in reply to Godding.
During the fifth round Gooding landed a right hand that had Warburton holding on. Gooding then continued to work the body to ensure that Warburton could not change the state of the fight.
Steve Gray scoring for trialist Mark Lyson awarded Godding the fight by 60-54, which leaves the unbeaten youngster on 11-0 (1) with the game Warburton now looking at 1-8-2 (0).
Opening the show was Sunderland’s Kirk Gooding’s (130¼lb) who faced Mansfield’s based Latvian Pavel Senkovs (132¾lb) over four rounds.
Senkovs had a good first round outworking the Sunderland based fighter before Gooding’s picked up the pace to walk away with a 40-37 victory on Phil Edwards scorecard, with trialist Mark Lyson refereeing. Gooding’s extends his unbeaten start to 2-0 (0) whilst another loss sends Senkovs to 2-13-2 (2).