By Ezio Prapotnich – What started as a solid but ordinary night of boxing ended up in shock and disbelief after the two main bouts events took place. The venue, as usual, is London York Hall, the occasion Goodwin Promotions’ “It’s personal”, the eagerly anticipated showdown between Ryan Barrett and Mark Alexander for the vacant International Masters Light Weight title, also featuring the British Masters Light Middleweight challenge between Pat “Phat” MacAleese and Lee “Lightning” Noble..
MacAleese, 10(2)-1(1)-1, and Noble, 12(1)-14-2, had unfinished business to settle after drawing over 6 rounds in March this year. Pat made a spirited start taking the first 3 rounds by stalking Lee and bullying him on the ropes. He looked overall confident and the more accomplished fighter of the two, not wasting any punches but aiming carefully for openings to the body, between the elbows, and behind the gloves, displaying hooks, uppercuts, and more or less every punch in the book, switching the attack from head to body and viceversa. At this stage, all Noble was able to do was measuring him for distance with the jab, without actually punching. By the end of the 5th, though, it started looking a different fight. It got harder for Pat to push the opponent on the ropes, and it was Lee to dominate in the centre of the ring. “Phat” still looked the busiest and all “Lightning” was doing was scoring with the jab. But, he landed with regularity, and he landed hard. He only used one weapon and worked the head exclusively, but, as repetitive and one-dimensional as it might have looked, what counts in the end of the day is effectiveness. By the end of the 8th, Noble was following up with straight rights as well. And then the shocking 9th came. A series of uppercuts landed flush on Pat’s chin and he was out on his feet. Lee double pushed MacAleese and to the surprise of the crowd down he went and stayed, exactly on the bell. Quite rightly, the referee did not bother finishing the count and the medics jumped on the rings with the oxygen. In boxing, for different reasons, seconds can often feel like hours, and that is never truer than when a fighter is passed out on the floor without giving sings of life. To everybody’s relief, eventually Pat regained conscience and got up on his feet. And thank God for that. He is young and this is his first defeat. Hopefully, he will be back.
Unluckily for him, in spite of shining in the first two fights of his comeback, Mark “The Flash” Alexander lived up to his nick name for the wrong reasons. Ryan Barrett knocked him down three times in the first round for the referee to stop the bout at 1:36. And that was the end of months of hype and trash-talking from both sides. As a real man should do in such occasions, Mark acknowledged the defeat and congratulated Ryan. And life goes on. At 21(5)-8-2 for Barrett and at 10(1)-5-0 for Alexander.
Earlier on, Cruiser prospect Tony Conquest, 5(1)-0-0, won comfortably a 60-54 decision against the seasoned, 25(16)-53-4, Hastings Rasani. As usual, Tony’s best weapon was his jab that he used regularly to get close and land a few right hands and hooks, occasionally switching stance and catching virtually nothing in return. It would be both advisable for Conquest and more interesting for the crowd if he started putting together some combinations, though, before somebody figures him out.
Other results of the night:
Daryl Setterfield bt Matt Scriven 60-55, Light Middleweight 6×3
Eder Kurti bt Danny Goode ko 0:58 rd 3, 6×2 Super Middleweight
George Jupp bt Pavel Serkovs 40-36, 4×3 Super Featherweight
Jaimie Arlain bt Danny Dontchev 39-37, 4×3 Welterweight
Phil Gill bt Damien Turner 40-36, 4×3 Welterweight
Michael Norgrove bt Iain Eldridge 40-36. 4×3 Light Middleweight
Erick Ochieng bt Alex Spitko tko 2:41 rd 4
EPILOGUE: Just a few seconds after Alexander was stopped, ESB was contacted by phone by the ever talkative Mr Spencer Fearon of Hard Knocks Boxing Promotions, who had a message for fellow promoter Mr. Steve Goodwin. All we could make out, while the loud cheering for Barrett was going on, is that his fighter Darren Hamilton is after Ryan Barrett, who, according to Fearon, has ducked him in several occasions, and also that he could teach a thing or two on how to put on a good show. His very last words before hanging up, which we could not tell if meant for Barrett or Goodwin himself, were: “Tell him it’s personal…” To be continued?