Frank Warren tonight brought his “Striking Distance” show to the Wembley Arena in London (in a televised clash with Sky’s Matchroom “Resurrection” show from Birmingham) – which after pull-outs by middleweight stars Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr, ended up being (ably) carried by stable starlets Frank Buglioni, Bradley Skeete and Mitchell Smith – whose loyal A-Team were out in droves and vocal in their support of the top young 126/130lb prospect.
In the end it was Enfield’s Buglioni and his fight with old amateur rival Lee Markham that stole the show in a hard fought, blood and guts domestic battle that going in was tipped to be the Fight Of The Night.
It did not disappoint in that regard and for me lived up to the prediction. It’s a shame sometimes that the casual fans – who expect Pacquiao v Marquez style action from every superstar fight – don’t sometimes step back from the hype and go back to what’s perceived as the “lower” levels of the sport for their kicks.
They might be pleasantly surprised.
Skeete also did his bit in style against past-best veteran Brunet Zamora in what was always going to be a hard act to follow coming after the Buglioni fight – and popular Harrow Weald prospect Smith was frustrated at times in the biggest test of his career thus far against experienced Chilean veteran Christian Palma in a fight that ended up for the WBO inter-continental super-featherweight title.
Smith got his win in a “controversial” ending.
Yet the first fight of the televised card was the 8 round 154lb clash between the “Punch Picker”, Ahmet Patterson (15-0, 5ko) and John Brennan (4-4-1).
The undefeated 27 year old prospect got off to a slow start and seemed to make hard work at times of his inactive opponent that briefly left one in doubt as to his status as a potential British champion of the future. However, at the start of the 4th, Patterson – who is a product of the respected Peacock Gym – started to amp up the pressure – and in his first fight at 154 from 147 – found the money shot in the dying seconds of the fourth to put Brennan away. A spiteful left hook to the body knocked the stuffing out of the Slough fighter who was still breathless on his stool in the corner as Patterson was announced the victor.
The second fight of the night featured Southern Area lightweight champion George Jupp (12-2, 4ko) in his BoxNation debut against experienced journeyman fighter Barrington Brown (6-12-3). While no doubt flashy with his combinations, it was the work rate that won out for the young Kent fighter. Not a noted puncher, Jupp hadn’t the power to trouble Brown who was in the fight throughout, albeit in defensive mode. He was simply outclassed and outworked by the better boxer who took the contest on a points shut out of 80-73 from ref Robert Williams .
Next up was baby-faced Dominic Negus trained prospect Boy Jones Jr in his second pro fight – boxing a 4 rounder against Coventry’s Aaron Flynn (1-9)
It was a blink and you will miss it affair, as the 18 year old prospect jumped out of the blocks and dropped Flynn with a left hook inside 30 seconds. He repeated it moments later and this fight was over in exactly a minute. It’s difficult to read what will happen in young Jones career after such a brief outing and with just thirteen minutes as a licensed pro.
Yet even at this stage, you would be foolish not to agree the immediate future looks very, very positive.
Up next we saw 4×3’s at lightweight with Dagenham prospect Ediz Hussein (5-0) squaring off against Stockport’s Jamie Quinn. (1-12-1)
In another routine points win, Hussein was tested by a man whose record is not an accurate reflection of what he brings. Despite putting Quinn down with a thunderous left in the opener, Hussein did only enough to win in my eyes against an unpolished foe – in a fight that was ruled closer than how I saw it. In fairness it was a card filler and Hussein has much to work on.
Southampton 154 lb prospect Joe Pigford (7-0, 6ko) was up next. It was a 6 rounder for the big-punching prospect, squaring off against crude journeyman Simone Lucas (8-26-4).
Boy did he make hard work of it. The supposedly over matched Lucas was always in the fight and despite being the stronger, more aggressive man throughout, Pigford is clearly a work in progress.
He was sloppy against a crude journeyman who enjoyed far too much success and his arrogant, over-confident, hands-down style would be all good if he didn’t get tagged so often. A fighter with clear talent who needs to mature. Better opponents will slaughter him.
Yet it was Frank Buglioni and Lee Markham who came next and provided the highlight of the card. After going 1-1 in the amateurs, the professional “rubber-match” has been building a good while and did not disappoint.
The draw that was ruled was probably the best result for me! Scores of 94-96 for Markham/96-94 Buglioni and a 95-95 draw tell the full story of the fight really.
After Markham coming out with intent from the off, the familiarity between the two fighters quickly became obvious as they gelled stylistically for up-close toe-to-toe, fighting in a phone box action.
Markham brought a loud fan base with him and the pre-fight needle that existed from the amatuers – and locally – manifested itself as the fight caught light.
Buglioni had the better success at range, the busier work if you will – but Markham would just not be denied and was determined to make a fight of it up close – In no way was he overawed by the occasion.
Things started with some figuring out, a battle of jabs and composure but Buglioni seemed to warm to the task and take an early lead. Yet Markham was determined to make Frank fight his fight and kept coming and coming, forcing the Enfield man to get drawn into close exchanges and fighting toe-to-toe.
The 6th was Markham’s best since the off as he forced Buglioni more and more into fighting his fight, coming up close and trying to push Buglioni back. The better inside work came from him in that round as he appeared to have tired the Wise Guy.
Markham started the 7th with much of the same and his heart and desire were evidently operating his arms as he threw his punches. Put simply, the game Essex fighter would not be denied.
Buglioni looked worn out come the eighth but regained his composure and moved back to taking control once again after some sensible advice from the corner.
Things then carried on in much the same way with the work rate of the “Wise Guy” coming up against the persistence and resilience of “Banjo” Markham. Watching at home, it was incredibly hard to score.
By the time we saw the 10th and final round the fight was an impossible split on most cards. A grandstand finish by Frank was not enough to rescue the draw and a rematch is what the fans will crave after this.
It was deservedly the FOTN and will be easy to put together as well as being another treat for the fans. And a good pay-day for both guys. Sh**, they deserve it after that!
It was always going to be extremely hard for Bradley Skeete to upstage what the crowd and viewers had just witnessed.
Against ageing veteran Bruno Zamora(26-4-2, 11ko) I don’t think anybody expected too much. Skeete did the business against a visibly smaller opponent who had previously never been stopped. It was a good performance from Bradley but didn’t tell us too much more than we didn’t know already and was a good card “filler” in which we became a little bit more aware of the Londoner’s level.
If Frankie Gavin loses to Kell Brook as the fans expect, a rematch would be an option should the Matchroom promoted Gavin agree. It’s a winnable fight for Skeete who didn’t necessarily turn up last November in their first fight.
It was the turn off the A-Team next.
As far as young British prospects go, Mitchell Smith is one of the best to keep your eye on, and he rounded off the televised performance with a stand-out career best performance to close the show, fighting tough veteran Cristian Palma (20-10-1)
While I didn’t approve of the young stars entrance track, (some dodgy dance number!!) his loyal A-Team following roared as he entered the ring in style – sunglasses and all, clearly enjoying his moment, raring to go.
After initially wanting to move down to 126 for the fight, the contest was made at 130 after some issues with Palma’s weight and Smith came out firing against the veteran who is not a noted puncher but has extended other young prospects in the past.
It was a credible test of Smith’s “star of the future” status.
After Palma losing his gumshield and delaying things for a moment before the bell rang, the action kicked off with Smith clearly in control but getting frustrated with the awkward, holding up close, dirty style of the Chilean.
Mitchell was clearly sharper, faster, the better boxer – but learned never underestimate an old pro.
Palma was intent on trying to unsettle Smith from the off – his experience evident throughout the contest – yet it frustrated the young prospect who will benefit no end from a fight like this.
His anger was evident at times, and justifiably with the rough house tactics – but he will realise when he has calmed down, it’s part of the evolution of a young fighter.
He did well to stay focused, stick to his boxing and think about thinks a little bit.
There was a dubious knockdown in the 3rd, yet Mitchell kept things at range where he could and tried to make his speed tell against the awkward Chilean.
It didn’t take long- and the thinking led to spite in the 5th when Smith – who carries deceptive power – unloaded and dealt a Karmic blow to Palma for his rough housing when he was down from a fantastic body shot.
As he took a knee, Smith then punched down and hit the grounded man – technically a DQ.
Yet the damage was done and after a quick warning from ref Terry O’Connor, the count was administered and Palma was out of there.
Smith may have been lucky with hindsight.
Job done for the young prospect who can now look forward to even bigger things.
In all honesty, this card pissed all over the mis-Matchroom boxing show from Birmingham in terms of quality, action and meaningfulness of the fights. It’s great to see and we enjoyed a card tonight that survived perfectly well without Saunders or Eubank Jr and re-affirmed the fact that even if he doesn’t have the monopoly anymore, Frank Warren can still put on a show!!!
Buglioni and Markham can do that again all day and Mitchell Smith is one of the best young prospects in British boxing.
May-Pac means boxing is dead?
Get out of here! Seek and ye shall find!!
Thanks for reading….Im on twitter all my boxing stuff is @Undilutedpoison
