By Terence Dooley

Undercard action from Frank Maloney’s Doncaster Dome bill saw prospects Liam Cameron, from Sheffield, and Rick Godding, from Bolton, both step up successfully against testing foes.  Cameron, 19, had cruised to wins over Matt Scriven, Ryan Clarke, Kevin McCauley and Alex Spitko, his sole stoppage win thus far in his career, but knew he would have to tread carefully against Birmingham’s erratic Dee Mitchell, who raced to 6-0 upon turning pro only to lose his way after losing by injury-stoppage to Gatis Skuja in 2007.

‘Cannonball’ Cameron (156lb) sported a Sheffield United badge on his shorts and was as sharp as a blade in the early going.  Indeed, Liam’s rapier-like left hand was a thing of beauty in the early minutes of the contest as he handed Mitchell (156lb) a boxing lesson; the early signs indicated that Cameron, trained by Chris Smedley, could become the second man to stop Dee, who had Richie Woodhall working his corner for the fight.

Liam, however, slowed down over the course of the bout, picking up points with lefts and rights before tucking up behind his tight defence during a tight – only one shot or two shots in it – second round. 

Chopping right hands began to flow from Cameron during the third, with the left hand doing all the spadework.  Cameron was oozing class – feinting his right hand to the head before delivering an accurate left hook to the body; he finished the stanza with a solid, looped right hand.

Mitchell, 30, tried to keep things tight in the fourth and final round, adopting an earmuffs guard whilst trying to march his man down in order to turn the fight on it’s head; Cameron is slightly taller than Mitchell, this, coupled with Mitchell’s head down movement, left Cameron plenty of opportunity to attempt a right uppercut only for Liam to switch to defence for the majority of the round. 

Cameron closed the fight out impressively, blocking a right hand to the head and then countering with a left hook to the chin of Mitchell, who had no complaints when Howard Foster turned produced a 39-37 scorecard in Cameron’s favour; Boxingscene had it a shutout, 40-36, after the most impressive performance of Cameron’s fledgling career.  Mitchell loses for the fourth time in four fights and slips to 9-8 (2).

Rick Godding made a name for himself when performing well against Amir Khan during Amir’s preparation for the landslide win over Andrey Kotelnik last year.  Godding, 25, had barely put a foot wrong whilst compiling a 11-0 (1) slate yet he was up against his stiffest test thus far in the shape of former English light-welterweight title holder and Commonwealth challenger ‘Super’ Scott Haywood, who was coming off a draw, against forgotten man John Fewkes in February, and a win, he defeated Scott Woolford on points in May.

Woolford (149lb) knew that a victory would give him a shot at getting back into the title mix; Godding (also 149lb) needed to scalp Woolford convincingly to press his own claims; the result was a compelling contest in which both men showed equal amounts of skill and bravery only for Godding’s boxing brain to come out on top.

A sluggish opener saw Haywood forcing his shots and Godding failing to put anything behind a short jab to the body, this pattern was dispensed in round two as the man from Bolton worked the body of Haywood with right and left hooks. 

Goddins, realising that his straight right hands could not penetrate Haywood’s high guard, began to loop his right hands to great effect, forcing Haywood to respond with a left and right hook to the body, which in turn led to a left uppercut from Godding, who then tried the shot again as a fast-paced round drew to a close.

Rick knew that his left hand held the key to this one, an uppercut early in round four set-up a left to the body and Godding was on his toes before Scott, who by now looked every inch a battle-worn 29-year-old, could reply.  More quality boxing followed in the following sessions, Godding stepping in and then out with a left hook to the head late in the fifth.

Rendall Munroe, who trains alongside Scott at the Shinfield’s Derby-based gym, shouted, “Give it your all, Scott”, as the bell rang for the sixth and final round only for Godding, who is trained by Karl Ince, to continue to produce some of the best boxing of his career – I’ve sat at ringside for a good few of his fights and this was his most accomplished performance.  A counter right uppercut punctuated the round, and the contest; no one complained when referee Michael Alexander awarded the fight to Godding by 59-56.  Haywood’s good run is over; he falls to 20-6 (4 early).

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