Jody Meikle secured a rare win on a Carl Greaves show in Grimsby last night, but there were mixed fortunes for the other Midlands boxers on show.
Meikle, a durable, hard-nosed Lincolnshire super-middleweight [pictured tossing a right at Callum Johnson last year] who has yet to be stopped in Britain, shrugged off a sterling challenge from Tony Shields to register his second paid win in 17 at the Leisure Centre.
Though the commentary team on Hatton TV, who broadcast the six-fight bill in its entirety live on YouTube, had the Hull first-timer winning a show-opening four-threes that was always keenly-contested, i thought referee Rob Chalmers' decision [39-37 for the Newhall-based official] was the right one - and had the bullet-domed scrapper edging matters 39-38.
Shields [12st 6lbs], based on his wide-footed stance and unusual habit of holding his gloves high above his head when coming forwards, looks to have had some sort of background in martial arts. But he looked study and needed to be as the chopping right of the man who holds a win over dangerous Derby puncher Elvis Dube found its mark with regularity.
The second and thirds were close - i had the second round level and 23-year-old Tony taking the third by a whisker - but thought Scunthorpe-based Meikle [12st 9lbs 6oz] edged a competitive final three minutes that saw Shields plow forward but eat plenty of rights.
A rare but well-earned victory for the Greaves-handled 31-year-old, now 2-15, who'll be back on the road again soaking-up punishment from 12st and 12st 7lbs prospects in the coming weeks.
But well-sculpted Lincoln heavyweight Gaz Johnson [15st 9 1/4lbs] could only escape with a draw after being forced to touch down in the fourth of his six-twos with pale, flabby West Yorkshireman James Oliphant [15st 5lbs], whose professional ledger now reads an unspectacular 0-1-1.
Referee Mr Chalmers marked the 12-minute contest between a pair of novices 57 apiece, which, for what it's worth, tallied with how i saw things - and now sees the East Midlander's record drop to 1-0-1.
Johnson won the Junior ABAs as a teenager but took over a decade off from the sport and returned on the unlicenced circuit in 2008, at 32. He did well there, won his paid debut 11 months ago, and seemed on his way to securing his second [dominating behind a double jab] when he went to ground after landing a solid right in the fourth.
The pain on his face clear for all to see, the 35-year-old crumpled onto all fours and in obvious agony from a right he'd used sparingly throughout [shades of Chris Eubank Jr's six-rounder with Jason Ball last weekend]. Though he got up and finished the contest one-handed, albeit bleeding heavily from a cut that needed six stitches, the fourth was scored 10-8 and Wakefield's Oliphant took the last to secure a draw.
But there were points defeats for Nuneaton's 125-bout Kristian Laight [9st 12lbs 8oz], Newstead's winless but always game Andy Hardy [11st] and Lincoln's Rick Boulter [11st 4lbs].
Scot Calow-trained Hardy edged a session [the second] on my card but not on referee Michael Alexander's and went down 40-36 to undefeated Barnsley middleweight Matthew Malin [11st 2lbs], now without a blemish in six [one inside], after an excellent four-threes that saw the Yorkshireman turn the screw in the last and leave the Nottingham man bloody-nosed.
And Laight looked to have taken a round off Joel Haigh [9st 13lbs], now 3-0, in their six-twos but referee Mr Alexander marked it a shut-out to the 21-year-old from Hull. Kristian pot-shotted his oncoming opponent with lefts and rights but it was Haigh who spent the bout on the attack and his aggression was reflected in the official's scoreline.
Tall, lean southpaw Boulter was involved in an all-Lincolnshire six-twos sizzler with Sammy McSpadden [10st 10lbs 8oz], with referee Mr Chalmers awarding the 22-year-old a 59-57 tally that looked spot on for me. McSpadden, an orthodox boxer who fought out of a right-leading stance against a portsider who wanted to trade on the inside, secured the win with a combination of neat-boxing at range and a steady stream of lefts.
In the ten-round main event, Grimsby's Kevin Cooper added the International Masters lightweight title to his British version with a shut-out 100-90 decision from Mr Alexander over stubborn Eastern European import Yordan Vasilev. The Bulgarian stoutly stuck to his task but took a comprehensive 30-minute beating from a well-supported 27-year-old who's now unbeaten in 11 [two early].
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