Solid weekend for Derby duo

After Ovill McKenzie swooped the Commonwealth crown with a 15-second display of power in front of the TV cameras on Friday night, the pressure was on Derby duo Elvis Dube and Jack Perry to deliver in their fights over the weekend.

But despite being involved in tough-looking assignments with men who'd came to win, neither suffered defeat. In the Steel City, at Bramall Lane [home to Sheffield United] on the same evening as gym-mate McKenzie demolished Welshman Jeff Evans, Dube [pictured] battled to a solid six-round draw with Carl Wild.

And the following night [November 12], on a Hennessy Sports-promoted bill in Manchester that was topped by Tyson Fury's up-and-down three-round Commonwealth heavyweight title victory over Serbian Neven Pajkic, Perry kept his undefeated record intact and pounded-out a solid four-round points win over streaking William Warburton.

Elvis has twice swapped leather with South Yorkshireman Wild, with the Shinfield-trained puncher reversing a 12-minute June points defeat with a clinical one-round stoppage victory in July. Dube had uncorked an earth-trembling overhand right that put Carl's lights out five months ago but his opponent's high-held hands and work-smothering boxing in the rubber meant the Derby light-heavy couldn't find the room to detonate another fight-ending blow.

And though referee Michael Alexander saw the six-twos even at 57 apiece, the East Midlander believed otherwise. "I landed more than him, found holes in his tight defence to punch through and he finished with both eyes swollen," said the heavy-handed 33-year-old, now with four wins [three quickly] and a draw in 15. 

"I deserved the win."

But there was no doubting that Ingle-handled Perry was the better man at Manchester's Event City. Hard and willing, Warburton has upset the apple cart and registered back-to-back distance wins over Midland Area lightweight champion Amir Unsworth and ex-Midland Area light-welterweight boss and British title challenger Dean Harrison in the past month.

Yet the tall 24-year-old from Derby, now 15-0-1 (2) and who's been out of action since February with a serious hand injury that required surgery, rattled the Atherton-based welterweight in the opener and repeated the trick again in the latter stages to romp home with a 40-37 nod in what was probably his career-hardest-looking test.

"I didn't feel 100 per cent in there," admitted the former One Nation ABC Midlander afterwards," but i hurt him a few times and was a comfortable winner."

Perry has dropped only a handful of his 71 professionally-boxed sessions and could now find himself on the Atlantic City undercard of another East Midlander, Nottingham's Carl Froch, who boxes in Super Six final and WBC/WBA unification showdown with smooth-boxing American Andre Ward on December 17.

Image courtesy of Gavin Burrows.