By Alexey Sukachev

In a stunner at Rainton Meadows Arena in Houghton-le-Spring. British 2008 Olympian and (presumably) rising prospect Tony Jeffries (7-0-1, 5 KOs) was very lucky to get a hardly deserving draw against Britain-based Polish upset specialist Michael Banbula (10-25-4) over eight rounds.

Banbula, with colorful tattoos all around his back, is by FAR a better boxer than his losing record suggests, being British Masters light heavyweight champion and scoring head-to-head wins over three prohibitive favorites lately; including 29-5-1 Tony Oakey. The Pole took some time to adjust to hard-hitting but slow, plodding and way too raw prospect. He was boxing outside inviting Jeffries in and punishing him for entering the home. Jeffries was a better man in the first rounds but he got considerably worse after the midst of the contest.

After an end of round six, Jeffries went to greet Banbula thinking the fight is over and was returned to his corner in disgust by the referee. The last two rounds saw Jeffries in retreat and eating punches in bunches. The prospect went into a full-fledged survival mode after a major right hand by the Pole in the eighth and was lucky to hear the final bell. Referee Andrew Wright, who was officiating this bout, scored a fight a draw 77-77. BoxingScene saw it in favour of Michael Banbula - 77-75 - and he has nothing to be ashamed of.