The only fighter who could have frustrated Shane McPhilbin more than his opponent last night would have been recently-disposed British champion Rob Norton.
The mallet-fisted Midland Area cruiserweight champion from Bulwell [pictured with his Area title in June] found it hard to pin-down slippery ex-Ingle-trained Simeon Cover but landed a steady stream of straight rights to secure a 59-56 six-twos points victory in his home city.
For the record, i thought referee John Keane's tally was a trifle generous to Worksop's Cover, returning to competitive action for the first time in over three years and in fight 61 [16 wins, four inside, and two draws], and had the Nottingham banger a shut-out winner at Clifton Leisure Centre.
But McPhilbin [14st 13lbs] will just have been glad to fight. He was originally penciled in to fight Birmingham-based Zimbabwean Hastings Rasani, but the former Commonwealth title challenger withdrew last weekend following the death of his father. Then another Commonwealth belt challenger, Billy Boyle, was drafted in before he pulled out on Wednesday and Cover was settled on.
To break the 12 minutes down would be a dull affair - and that's through no fault of the home ticket-seller. Shane, who won the Midland belt with a spectacular three-round destruction of then-unbeaten Rhys Davies in June, was the man looking to work throughout - left hooks and straight rights - and any decent, clean shots that were landed [and there were few] arrived from his iron-laden gloves.
Yet negative Cover [14st 10 1/4lbs] moved as though he was skating on ice and, when the action moved in close, ducked and grabbed hold of the 25-year-old, supported at ringside by one of Bulwell's most famous fighting sons [ex-British champion Del Bryan] and another former Lonsdale belt-holder from Nottingham, Tony Laing, around the waist.
Still, 33-year-old Simeon was forced to hold tightly when a left and looping right bounced off his shaven-headed dome in the fifth - with the same trick repeated successfully in the final two minutes. But the look of frustration and disgust on the face of 'Mr Block' at the final bell said it all; he wanted to have a fight.
It would be hard to gauge what McPhilbin's level is at or what level he has potential to reach if you'd only seen him box last night. But I've seen him on four or five occasions and have no qualms in predicting that he'd rip the British cruiserweight title from Streatham's Leon Williams if the opportunity presented itself.
Williams controversially took the belt from Stourbridge's Rob Norton last week in a fight he looked very fortunate to win. Although improving, he's been knocked out before and is a one-dimensional scrapper who wants a fighter to come to him. The iron-chinned East Midlander, who absorbed punishment from former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Michael Sprott and from Tyson Fury [three times] in the vest, would do that and i'd favour his strength and power to show through.
In the meantime, however, Shane [who was noisily supported by hundreds of passionate fans from his area of the Lace City] is set to box again on December 3 in Newark, at the Grove Leisure Centre, before an assault on the English and possibly British crowns are mounted in 2012.
But he left a chilling message to the newly-crowned domestic cruiserweight king. "If i got the chance, i'd knock Williams out," roared the Carl Greaves-handled former heavyweight Prizefighter semi-finalist. "I'd love to."
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