British Scene Weekend Recap: Fury Controversially Tops McDermott

Matt Chudley recaps Tyson Fury's much disputed English heavyweight title win over John McDermott.

Photos © Chris Royle

Tyson Fury captured the first title of his fledgling pro career this Friday in Brentwood, Essex under highly controversial circumstances, courtesy of a mystifying scorecard from referee Terry O'Connor.

Going into the tenth and final round, Fury was told by his corner to go all out for the stoppage after John McDermott's snappy jab and chopping overhand rights had given the youngster fits for the best part of the nine previous rounds. Fury had a good last 3 minutes, but it didn't appear to be enough to overcome McDermott's inspired effort - but as soon as the final bell went O'Connor marched over to Fury and lifted his arm, later revealing that he had only given McDermott 2 rounds.

Check out The Boxing Bulletin's McDermott vs Fury Photo Gallery

After a drawn out and boisterous ring walk, Fury looked anything but in the first round. Pumping out the jab and looking tentative, Fury was caught with a big right hand midway through the first and sensing that his opponent wasn't intimidated he pressed his head into McDermott's at the bell forcing O'Connor to break them up. Buoyed by what he'd seen in the opening stanza, Frank Maloney ran to the corner of his charge to offer words of encouragement in the interval.

With McDermott not overwhelmed by Fury's power, the Manchester born fighter started to box at range and looked more composed in the second and third rounds doing so, leaving McDermott looking to work the body. Even on the outside with his 9 inch reach advantage, Fury was still prone to momentary lapses in concentration allowing McDermott to connect with right hands over the Fury jab and occasional left hooks.

Fury showed brief flashes of his impressive hand-speed in the fifth, pinning McDermott on the ropes at one stage and unloading with several quick shots. However, having never been beyond four rounds, he began to feel the pace in the second half of the contest, and often looked ragged, dropping his hands, while flicking and cuffing his shots.

The penultimate round saw both fighters keen to tie-up in close and catch a rest, but Fury putting forward the higher volume of work. Under the impression that he only needed to survive the final round to retain his belt, McDermott turned his back on Fury a couple of times but also continued to push the bigger man back at times.

While most felt Fury was extremely fortunate to come away with the decision, it must be said that the brash 21 year old showed real character in handling his first dose of professional adversity. He took McDermott's heavier punches well and forced out all the offense he could muster in a game effort to outwork the title holder.

Both fighters called for a rematch after the fight and with appeals being launched by the McDermott camp there is a strong possibility that the BBC of C may mandate the fighters go at it again for the English title.

On the under-card…

The heavily fancied Fury may have struggled, but the other house prospects had no such issues, with flyweight Ashley Sexton and heavyweight novices Tom Dallas and Larry Olubamiwo all overwhelming their limited foreign opposition in under 3 minutes.

There were mixed fortunes for two former British champions on the card. Former British light-middleweight champion Gary Woolcombe overcame a first round knockdown to scrape past former European title challenger Roman Dzhuman by a round on referee Ken Curtis's scorecard while former 118lb British champ Martin Power was stopped in 8 by 6-0-1 Stuart Hall.

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Photo Gallery: John McDermott vs Tyson Fury

Heavyweights Tyson Fury and John McDermott went at it over 10 bruising, and ultimately controversial rounds on Friday night at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.

The questionable decision handed out by referee Terry O'Conner (pictured right with McDermott) has been the talk of British boxing, with promoter Frank Maloney raging at O'Conner work.

Photographer Chris Royle was ringside to capture all the hard hitting action.

John McDermott vs Tyson Fury

Photos © Chris Royle - Click on the images to enlarge. Promoter Frank Maloney has a few words for his English heavyweight champion John McDermott. Despite holding the title and a 25-5 record, the unheralded Essex fighter entered the bout as a decided underdog. Big Tyson Fury, the odds on favourite brought a perfect 7-0 record into the contest with all victories coming inside the distance. Confounding the prevailing opinion of how the opening rounds would play out, it was McDermott that started the stronger of the two heavyweights. He pressed the action right from the beginning, and backed the youngster up, landing some heavy right hands in the process. The mid rounds were fought at a good pace, with neither fighter shying away from contact. Despite never having gone beyond 4 rounds, Fury kept pace with his more experienced opponent, and was the busier of the two fighters. An excited Frank Maloney has a few words between rounds in the McDermott corner. The promoter would have plenty more to say after the contest. Fury used his left jab to good effect and made a point of going to the body, finding the mark often on McDermott's midsection. Despite Fury's greater activity, the cleaner harder punches were consistently landed by the English champ. Below he follows through with one of several hard right hands he landed during the bout. Above - An angry Frank Maloney reacts as referee Terry O'Conner lifts Fury's hand in victory at the conclusion of the 10 rounds. While the bout was competitive throughout, the consensus at ringside was that McDermott had clearly done enough to retain his title. Certainly nobody agreed with O'Connor's astonishing 8-2 scorecard. To Fury's credit, he's expressed a willingness to do it again and a rematch would appear likely for later this year.

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British Scene: Tyson Fury vs John McDermott Preview

Matt Chudley previews tomorrow night's Sky show featuring British heavyweights Tyson Fury and John McDermott battling it out for McDermott's English title.

Photo © Justin McKie

The most talked about prospect and arguably one of the brightest in the UK, Tyson Fury (pictured right) makes his first foray into the 10 round scheduled distance and title contention when he takes on John McDermott in Brentwood, Essex this Friday.

In doing so, Fury will be facing very different circumstances to the ones he has become accustomed to so far in his pro career. Having fought as the house fighter in front of favourable crowd support in all his previous contests, Fury will now be stepping into his opponent’ s backyard as the challenger after McDermott's promoter Frank Maloney won the purse bids to this English title contest.

This card will also be the first in over 2 years to be televised live on Sky without the presence of the traditional 12 round British, Commonwealth or European title fights. The previous occasion was David Haye's heavyweight debut against Tomasz Bonin and following the postponement of the originally scheduled headliner between Gary Davis and Ian Napa, the broadcaster has deemed that Fury's appeal is strong enough to carry the card.

Storming out to 7-0 with all the wins coming early, Fury has held little regard for his contemporaries in the pro ranks thus far and has hounded his domestic rivals at every opportunity. An onslaught of sound bytes and press releases would rarely endear a fighter to the public but to date Fury has made good on all the hype in taking on as good a competition as could be expected and proving to be the aggressive and powerful heavyweight craved by the fans to this point.

After looking out of shape against the 3-6 Aleksandrs Selezens last time out following a run of niggling injuries, Fury has left little to chance and once again traveled to Germany to get quality sparring amongst the large contingent of Eastern European heavies based there. With British champ Danny Williams risking his title by stepping into the next prizefighter tournament, Fury could soon find himself fighting for the vacant Lonsdale belt with a good performance on Friday and will once again be eager to make a statement of intent to the rest of the division.

Compiling a fairly modest 25-5 record and always appearing to be carrying a little excess weight, John McDermott has received little fan fare to date but has proved that he belongs at British title level after dropping controversial majority and split decisions to reigning British champ Danny Williams in his last two fights. After extending his record against very poor opposition to a soft 16-0 McDermott was dispensed of by the very average Nikolay Popov and Mark Krence and put to the sword by Matt Skelton in under two minutes. However, he has since produced a credible win over Scott Gammer and can rightly feel aggrieved with the decisions of the judges in those defeats to Williams.

With his greater maturity and experience McDermott is unlikely to lose the fight before he steps into the ring like many who have been intimidated by the 6'7 puncher and will be looking to soak up the pressure early and see if Fury becomes discouraged when things don't go his way. Should McDermott see the 4th and 5th rounds, Fury's stamina may also be tested since he has yet to go beyond 4 rounds let alone 10.

On the under-card…

Former British light middleweight champion Gary Woolcombe will be taking on a yet to be named opponent, as he looks to get back in line for another shot at domestic honours. Having won the Lonsdale belt in December of 2007, Woolcombe lose by stoppage to Ryan Rhodes in his first defense. With Rhodes taking on Jamie Moore for the European crown next month, the path appears open for Woolcombe to work his way back into the mix for a shot against current British champion, Anthony Small.

Also in action is 7-0 flyweight Ashley Sexton who stays busy against 17-7-1 Brazilian Darli Goncalves Pires as he builds towards a British title challenge. Former British bantamweight champ Martin Power also sees action against the 5-0-1 Stuart Hall, while Frank Maloney's own giant heavyweight prospect Tom Dallas looks to make an impression against the 12-15-1 Hungarian Mihaly Nemet.

e-mail Matt Chudley

Video of Tyson Fury warming up before his fight with Scott Belshaw courtesy of Justin McKie:

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British Scene Season Preview Part One; Simpson vs Truscott, O'Donnell vs Glover, Davis vs Napa, Fury vs McDermott & Olusegun vs Daws

The new British boxing season is just about ready to get underway and over the next couple days Dave Oakes will be previewing what we have to look forward to in September and October.

In today's preview:

John Simpson vs Paul Truscott - Commonwealth featherweight title

John O'Donnell vs Tom Glover - Commonwealth welterweight title

Gary Davis vs Ian Napa - British bantamweight title

Tyson Fury (Photo © Justin McKie) vs John McDermott - English heavyweight title

Ajose Olusegun vs Lenny Daws - British light-welterweight title

It’s at times like this when all British based boxing fans are starting to get withdrawal symptoms. It’s been nearly a month since the last boxing card that contained a title fight, and a month is a long time for any boxing addict. So, with the inevitable feeling of melancholy descending upon me, I decided to raise my spirits by taking a brief look at what we can look forward to when the new season starts in September.

Simpson vs Truscott

First up is the rematch between Commonwealth featherweight champion John Simpson and former champion Paul Truscott on September 4th. Simpson stopped Truscott in the 8th round of their first meeting after a clash of heads opened up a nasty gash above the then champion’s right eye. Simpson was clearly ahead on the cards at the time but Truscott believes there’s unfinished business to be taken care of.

Simpson’s speed surprised Truscott last time out, Truscott thought he could dance rings around Simpson but found that the experienced Scotsman was no slouch in closing the distance between them. If Truscott has learnt from their first fight, and can make the necessary adjustments, he can make it a much closer battle.

O'Donnell vs Glover

In the days of protected fighters with padded undefeated records, it’s good to see a fighter like John O’Donnell proving that a defeat can be a positive rather than a negative.

O’Donnell was a much touted prospect in the early part of his career and was looking the part until bumping into one Christian Solano on a hot night in Vegas in May of 2007. O’Donnell, eager to impress on his U.S debut, was caught cold and went down heavily after a short left hook landed around his temple midway through the first round, he managed to get to his feet but never seemed to recover.

His corner waved the fight off in the second round after he was dropped heavily by another hook, he’d managed to get to his feet again but his legs were still shaky and it was a sensible decision by his trainer Robert McCracken to stop the fight.

Such a devastating defeat proved hard for the likable Londoner to take, he took an extended break before eventually returning to the ring just over a year later, his batteries recharged and mind focused on the future rather than the past.

His patience and determination paid off when he claimed the Commonwealth welterweight title earlier this year, winning on a split decision after a bruising encounter with Craig Watson. Watson started the quicker but O’Donnell came on strong in the later rounds to just edge a fight in which he showed plenty of heart as well as some superb technical boxing.

He returns to the ring on September 5th against the durable but limited Tom Glover in a fight that should be a competitive warm up before the first defence of his Commonwealth title in December.

Glover is in the form of his life having beaten Chas Symonds, Nadeem Siddique and Jon Thaxton in his past three fights. He was considered the underdog in those fights but battled his way to deserved victories through willpower and work-rate. Glover isn’t blessed with great speed, skill or power but makes the most of what he’s got. He’s a fighter that will struggle to win titles in his career but he’ll always gain the respect of his opponents.

O’Donnell should be too skilful for him but Glover will make it a hard night’s work like he always does. I expect the much taller O’Donnell to use his reach advantage to jab and move his way to an early lead before trading punches more as the fight goes on. I think O’Donnell will win somewhere around the 118-110 mark in an entertaining but one-sided fight.

Davis vs Napa

A week later sees Ian Napa challenge Gary Davis for the latter’s British bantamweight title. Napa is coming off a career worst performance, having surrendered his European title in the meekest of manners against Malik Bouziane.

Napa couldn’t get going that night and found himself being picked apart at distance by the much taller man. He needs a performance here to disprove his critics from claiming that his career is on the slide.

Davis, on the other hand, is full of confidence after dropping Matthew Edmonds three times en route to a 7th round stoppage to claim the vacant title earlier this year. Davis imposed his will on Edmonds from the first bell and looked very strong for the weight.

This will be an intriguing clash of styles and experience but I’ve got a feeling the cleaner punching and better tactical nous of Napa will be enough for him to win on points.

Fury vs McDermott

The undercard is headed by Tyson Fury taking on former British title challenger John McDermott. Fury is unbeaten with all of his victories coming inside the distance and will be looking to continue his reign of terror on the domestic heavyweight scene.

McDermott is the nearly man of the division having lost in his three British title attempts. He failed to turn up in his first attempt when he was pummelled to the floor three times and stopped inside a round by Matt Skelton. The other two title defeats were much closer affairs against Danny Williams but it was worrying that when the going got tough, McDermott went into his shell and found a way of losing when he could’ve easily battle his way to victory.

I think this is the perfect fight for Fury at this stage of his career and one in which he’ll be made to work for a few rounds before claiming an impressive stoppage win.

Olusegun vs Daws

The following Friday (September 18) sees the world class Ajose Olusegun defend his British light-welterweight title against former holder Lenny Daws at the legendary York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Olusegun is using this fight as a warm up for a world title eliminator that’s been pencilled in for a month later, this could prove to be a dangerous move if he views Daws as nothing more than a competitive spar.

Daws lost this title in his first defence against Barry Morrison, but still has the ambition and hunger to give Olusegun a real battle. Daws is a pressure fighter who is willing to walk through walls to win.

Olusegun should be too classy for Daws and should be able to pick him apart off the back foot, but if he takes his foot off the gas, or lets Daws get into a rhythm, then he could be in for a bruising night.

e-mail Dave Oakes

Check out the second half of Dave's season preview: British Scene Season Preview Part Two: Macklin vs Asikainen, Thaxton vs Murray, Sexton vs Rogan & Booth vs Hunter
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British Scene Weekend Recap

Along with giving his thoughts on Ricky Hatton's devastating loss at the hands of Manny Pacquaio, Dave Oakes recaps this past Saturday night's Sunderland show that featured world title aspirants, Jamie Moore and Rendall Munroe.

Photo © Ray Kasprowicz

Saturday May 2 Hatton Overview and British Undercard By Dave Oakes Many people may feel that Saturday night was a bad day for British boxing, but there were some positive signs shown on the Sunderland card that made up the PPV on British television. Two of Britain’s potential world champions came through title fights with ease and will be hoping to be in the next wave of champs now that the Calzaghe, Hatton and Woods era seems over. And yes, the Hatton era is most certainly over. Whilst taking nothing away from the breathtaking performance by Manny Pacquiao, Hatton doesn’t look like the same fighter he was years ago. Don’t misunderstand me, Pacquiao is and always will be a greater fighter than Hatton, that’s beyond question, but I believe Hatton’s career has been in decline ever since the Tszyu fight and maybe even before it. It may seem easy for me to say that after the fight, but I believe the Hatton that fought Kostya Tszyu would’ve been able to take the punches that knocked him down in the first round. The punch that levelled him in the second would still have done so, but that monstrous left hand was good enough to knock out any light-welterweight in the world. I believe the many years of Hatton not living the life of a boxer have finally caught up with him. You can’t put 50lbs on between fights and not expect it to come back to haunt you. His punch resistance has gone, and with a defence as poor as Hatton’s, that can be a dangerous thing. It must be said that Hatton wasn’t helped one bit by Floyd Mayweather Snr, whose petulance and unprofessional approach in the build up and on fight night itself was nothing less than disgraceful. It’s been well reported that Mayweather Snr was late numerous times for training sessions but I don’t think many people would’ve expected him to do that on Saturday night. He did, and then barely said a word to anyone in Hatton’s team all night. It was Mayweather’s assistant, Lee Beard, that prepared Hatton in the dressing room. Mayweather turned up just before the ring walk and kept his distance during the introductions. When he did speak, it was less than ten words in between the first and second rounds. He seemed to be more intent on proving some childish point to Hatton rather than helping him or at least acting in the professional manner that nearly every other trainer in boxing would have. The most disgusting aspect of the whole night was when Hatton was laying on his back having been poleaxed by Pacquiao; Mayweather didn’t seem at all bothered and completely ignored Hatton. It’s the responsibility of the trainer, as well as the referee, to help the boxer when he’s in need of medical attention. You get in the ring as fast as possible and get the boxer on his side to stop him swallowing his tongue. You don’t hang around at the edge of the ring posing for the cameras and trying to do as many interviews as possible. Mayweather should have his licence revoked for such a scandalous and dangerous display of incompetence. He seems to enjoy dismissing Freddie Roach’s credentials as a trainer but there was only one winner between the pair on Saturday night, even if Hatton had won, Roach would still be the better trainer and the better man. Mayweather’s earned a lot of money in his career but he just goes to show that the old saying is right – money can’t buy you class. If Hatton does continue, Mayweather will undoubtedly be sacked. Personally, I think Hatton should call it a day; he’s got nothing left to prove, has a lot of money in bank and has a great family to enjoy. He would still be competitive against all of the light-welterweight’s bar Pacquiao, but the way he responded to the knockout on Saturday was worrying and was a sharp reminder as to how dangerous boxing can be. Most people in the trade believe it’s time for Hatton to retire, including Freddie Roach, who spoke honestly about his own decision to fight on longer than he should’ve done and the effects he believes it has had on him. That’s called class, something Hatton, Pacquiao and Roach will always have no matter where their futures takes them, Mayweather Snr on the other hand, will always be viewed as the lowest form of humankind in many peoples eyes. Whilst Hatton’s career looks to be near the end, Manny Pacquiao’s just keeps getting better and better. I think all boxing fans should enjoy watching him whilst they can, you don’t get to see many fighters like Manny Pacquiao in your lifetime. He’s done everything needed to be classed as a legendary fighter; he’s gone through the weight divisions, he’s fought the best opponents he could face, he’s entertaining, has improved his technique ten fold since he started, and above all else, done it in a respectful and professional manner that makes him a great role model for young kids and a great ambassador for boxing. Hatton Undercard – The British Leg Jamie Moore made a successful defence of his European light-middleweight title by blowing away Roman Dzuman in two one-sided rounds. Moore started aggressively, pounding Dzuman with hard hooks to the body. His work on the inside was very intelligently done; he was switching from his usual southpaw stance to orthodox at times and was repeatedly catching Dzuman with the left hook thrown from that stance. The end came in the second round when Moore caught Dzuman with two crisp straight lefts followed by a vicious left hook under the ribcage. Dzuman went down heavily and did well to get back on his feet. It was only delaying the inevitable though and he was over from the same shot again seconds later and was counted out whilst he was on his knees trying desperately to catch his breath. Moore moves to 32-3 and is looking far too good for European level. His promoter, Frank Maloney, said he expects to make a major announcement within six months about a world title opportunity. I think Moore would stand a very good chance of beating any of the current champions and should be aiming for the ageing Vernon Forrest as soon as possible. In the joint headline slot, Rendall Munroe added the Commonwealth belt to his European belt after he was taken the distance by the strong and determined Isaac Nettey. Munroe made a slow start to the fight but was controlling Nettey with his jab. Nettey was trying to stand and trade with Munroe throughout the first six rounds and occasionally landed a heavy looking overhand right; Munroe still remained in control though and was beginning wear Nettey down with some neat body work. In the seventh it looked as though Munroe might me able to stop a tiring Nettey late on, but the brave Ghanaian battled his way through the last six rounds and even found the energy for a late burst of aggression in the eleventh. There were no doubts who had won, with the judges scoring the bout 120-109 and 119-110 twice in favour of Munroe. Munroe has been very busy in the past twelve months and should take a short break from boxing to help recharge his batteries before making another defence of his European belt in September. On the undercard… Danny Williams retained his British heavyweight title after a split decision victory over John McDermott in a predictably tedious affair. Williams won the first six rounds behind a sloppy jab with McDermott barely throwing a punch., McDermott put more effort into the fight in the last few rounds but it was too little too late. Both fighters were deducted a point during the fight, McDermott for use of the elbow in the third, whilst Williams was harshly deducted a point in the sixth for holding, I agree with the referee that he was holding but having just sat through six rounds of McDermott doing the exact same thing, it seemed to me that the referee was rather too keen on evening things up. Two of the judges scored the fight 116-111 in favour of Williams, whilst the third judge had McDermott winning 115-113. I was in agreement with the score of 116-111 to Williams. Olympic hero Tony Jeffries made his hometown debut a night to remember by demolishing hapless Roy Meissner inside two rounds. Jeffries received a massive ovation during his ring walk and looks like becoming a major ticket seller on the British scene. He came out all guns blazing and had Meissner badly hurt from a clubbing left hook within twenty seconds. He kept blazing away until a big right hook to the side of the head sent Meissner sprawling across the canvass barely a minute in, which the referee bizarrely ruled as a slip. Meissner got to his feet but was put back on the seat of his pants seconds later when he was caught with another overhand right. He dragged himself up yet again but was dropped heavily with a hurtful right hook to the body moments after. He managed to make it to the bell but should’ve been pulled out by his corner, they didn’t seem to think that way though and deemed him fit enough to come out for the second round. The end came seconds into the round when the referee waved it off with Jeffries using Meissner as a walking punch bag. In a crossroads fight, Sam Webb edged out Thomas McDonagh 96-95 to record the win of his career. Webb was the busier fighter and took advantage of McDonagh’s lackadaisical approach to boxing to outpoint the more experienced man. Webb will now be looking towards a British title fight sometime in the future. e-mail Dave Oakes

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British Scene Weekend Preview

While American boxing fans will have to make do with a less than impressive undercard as they await this Saturday night's main event between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquaio, British fans will have a little more to look forward to.

Dave Oakes previews the full slate of bouts airing from Sunderland before Sky Box Office shifts its attention to the big show in Las Vegas.

Friday April 17 Hatton Undercard - The British Leg (SKY Box Office) By Dave Oakes Before the big fight starts in Vegas, there’ll be an opportunity for two of Britain’s most popular fighters to keep busy and increase their fan base on a jam-packed card from the Crowntree Leisure Centre, Sunderland, England. Jamie Moore makes the second defence of his European title against perennial letdown Roman Dzuman. Moore starts as the hot favourite against a fighter who hasn’t won in his last four fights and always seems to find a way of losing in the big fights. Dzuman, a natural welterweight, is looking more vulnerable these days up at light-middleweight having been stopped in his past two fights, including last time out when he was destroyed by Alexander Abraham in six one-sided rounds. Moore will be hoping for a similar outcome on Saturday night. He’ll be looking to put on a classy show of intelligent pressure boxing to impress the huge PPV numbers expected. I can see Dzuman trying his best in the first couple of rounds before accepting his fate and being stopped sometime between rounds four and six. Sharing top billing is European champion Rendall Munroe, who makes his PPV debut when he challenges for the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title against tough Ghanaian Isaac Nettey. Nettey is officially 3-2-1 (although it's safe to say he's had more bouts than that) in his career but can fight a bit and is as tough as old boots. Munroe is a fast improving boxer. He’s come back well from his only career defeat against Andy Morris three years ago, when he lost on points in a British title shot at featherweight. The move down to super-bantamweight proved to be the making of him; he’s massive for the weight, carries reasonable power in both hands and can trade inside as well as box on the outside. He’s closing in on a world title fight and has been calling out Bernard Dunne ever since the Irishman produced the performance of his career to stop Ricardo Cordoba last month. Munroe is unfortunate to be in one of the strongest divisions in boxing, it would have been much easier for him to win a world title if he’d been a natural featherweight. He may still be tempted to try his luck at 126lbs rather than take on the impressive trio of Israel Vasquez, Juan Manuel Lopez and Celestino Caballero. Nettey won’t be a threat to Munroe but he’ll make him work hard early on and will be as brave as a lion when Munroe starts to pick up the pace from the fourth round onwards. I think Munroe will be too big, too fast and far too good for Nettey to cope with for the full twelve rounds and will stop him around the eighth round. On the undercard… Danny Williams and John McDermott meet again in a rematch of their putrid twelve round sleep-inducing fight of last year. Williams prevailed last time by a controversial majority points decision and McDermott has been crying about it ever since. He will finally get the chance to avenge that decision, although I’m not too sure whether he will. It all depends on which Danny Williams turns up. If he turns up weighing less than 260lbs, then he has to be considered the favourite. If he wobbles in above 260lbs, then anything could happen. The only thing guaranteed is another tedious fight between two overweight boxers that will test the resolve of every fan watching. Olympic Bronze medallist Tony Jeffries makes his second outing in the paid ranks against a yet to be named opponent. Jeffries will be hoping for an impressive performance in front of his hometown fans. There are also two crossroads fights on the bill, with Thomas McDonagh taking on Sam Webb and Gary Woolcombe fighting Andrew Facey. The losers of those fights will have nowhere to go in their career, whilst the winners will be looking to take a step towards a British title fight. e-mail Dave Oakes

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