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McAleese, Bailey & Bacon Do
The Business
Whilst Scriven Holds Gladman To A Surprise Draw
By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
On Saturday night the boxing fraternity made it’s annual
pilgrimage to the British home of Horse Racing - Newmarket -
for the Graham Earl, in association with the TKO Boxing Gym,
promoted ‘Return of the Mac’ event.
Before I get onto the actual fight report I have to say that
this was my first visit to Newmarket and more importantly
the Tattersalls Sales Rooms, which is an exceptional
facility set in stunning grounds on the outskirts of the
beautiful town. The sales room itself has to be the premier
small hall venue in the country, the circular design makes
the venue feel more like a Roman Amphitheater and provides
the fans with an unrivaled viewing experience. I was
mightily impressed as you may be able to tell.
Another thing that impressed me were the changing rooms, now
usually these are quite bland and cramped, and in some cases
downright decrepit - please note York Hall. Not so at
Tattersalls. Initially the house fighters were located in
the red room - a huge hall like room with priceless oil
paintings adorning every wall, leather Chesterfields sofas
and a huge Chandelier as the centre piece.
However Johnny Eames stated a preference for the smaller
State rooms as used in previous years, which again featured
priceless oil paintings etc, but also more importantly
included both Sky TV and a close circuit TV link from the
Sales Rooms,which enabled the fighters to be able to relax
pre-battle by watching Chelsea versus Tottenham Hotspurs as
well as all the action and drama as it unfolded from each
bout.
Graham Earl and Johnny Eames created the event and, along
with Roy Hilder, matched it to give the fans a feel of old
time Roman Gladiatorial battles, each fight really did have
that feel about them, especially the headliner which
featured - and was named in honour of - Newmarket’s very own
‘Phat’ Pat McAleese, who locked horns with Newark’s AA Lowe.
Right from the opening bell both protagonists decided attack
was the best form of defense and started trading in the
centre of the ring, matching punch for punch, until around
the second minute when McAleese changed tack slightly by
moving around Lowe before letting rip with an assortment of
combinations before lithely moving aside, causing Lowe’s
shots to find nothing but fresh air. It was that final
minute that secured the round for McAleese in my book.
Round two was more or less more of the same, albeit it more
of the same as the final minute of the first round, McAleese
was on fire, at times making Lowe’s efforts seem rather
amateurish, which they were far from. McAleese showcased a
series of body to head combinations, One of which started
with a vicious left to the body followed by a right to the
head before slipping back to the body with a screaming left
right double. Late on Lowe started to push forward to try
and take control but was often met with a solid jab or a
straight right to stop his forceful advance. An easy round
to call in my book, it was McAleese’s.
Normal service resumed in the third, with both McAleese and
Lowe throwing all caution to the wind. However, no matter
how hard Lowe tried to push forward, throughout McAleese
just planted his feet and played the body of the Newark man
like it was xylophone. It seemed that McAleese could plant
single and combinations of body shots at will. Again I see
this round an easy call for McAleese.
The fourth see McAleese shoot from his corner as the bell
sounded to meet Lowe, who was just a few feet out from his
corner, with a solid right to the chin before again slipping
down to land a stinging left to the body. Lowe really showed
his mettle in this round, he took some serious punishment
but just kept coming forward, he just would not back down no
matter how many times a McAleese exocet pierced his defense.
Round five was more or less the same with McAleese shooting
forward on the bell to cut of the ring. Again McAleese let
rip with vicious body shots throughout in an effort to slow
down the constantly forward coming Lowe. Mid way through the
round McAleese’s work rate slowed noticeably, occasionally
allowing Lowe to gain some success. Each time this happened
it seemed to light the blue fuse paper to detonate yet
another McAleese body salvo. This was a much closer round,
similar to the first, but even though Lowe had the higher
work rate it was still McAleese that landed the more
meaningful punches, enough in my book to secure the round.
The scene was set for a cracking final round, Lowe’s trainer
former World Champ Carl Greaves told his charge in no
uncertain terms that he needed a knockdown or knockout in
the final round to get the win.
Right from the opening bell the tables were turned, this
time it was Lowe who shot out of the corner to close down
the ring and force McAleese back onto the ropes. With
McAleese corralled Lowe let rip with a salvo of
combinations. McAleese weaved and ducked his way out of
trouble only to be chased down and receive another
relentless attack. In his hurry to evade yet another attack
McAleese lost his footing and crashed to the deck, luckily
the referee had seen that no contact had been made and waved
the count off.
With Carl Greaves screaming from his corner Lowe stepped up
a gear and continued his attack, with even more vigour, and
landed a peach of a right which sent McAleese reeling back
onto the ropes. McAleese used the momentum against the ropes
to catapult himself into the path of the fast forward moving
Lowe and let rip with a big right of his own which stopped
the Newark man in his tracks, momentarily.
Lowe again stepped up a gear and again forced a tired
looking McAleese back onto the ropes with another flurry of
nitro burning punches. Then, with barely seconds of the
round to go, Lowe let rip with a soid left jab that sent the
tiring McAleese to the canvas.
All fears of a repeat of the ending of the McAleese-Noble
battle last year quickly subsided as McAleese made his way
to his feet to see out the final second or two of the round
and secure a much deserved victory with a 58-56 points
decision.
Carl Greaves remonstrated with referee Mark Green, as he
felt the two points for the knockdown was enough to secure
the win for his man. Greaves then approached McAleese’s
manager/co-trainer Johnny Eames to ask for a rematch, and to
add a little extra gravitas to the proposal suggested that
it should be for a title. Now that’s a mouth watering
prospect.
Whilst McAleese-Lowe was without doubt a great fight the
preceding battle between Slough’s Ian Bailey and Mansfield
based Latvian Pavels Senkovs was a cracker and rightly
received the accolade of being named the fight of the night.
Right from the outset both protagonists set out their stall
in the centre ring, with neither seemingly willing to
concede any ground whatsoever, what followed was a minute or
so of good old fashioned slug fest.
As the round progressed the diminutive Bailey began to use
his lesser height as an advantage, by dipping and moving
around Senkovs before letting off powerful bodyshots of rib
cracking proportions. Senkovs tried in vane to thwart
Bailey’s regular forays to the body with long sharp jabs.
Unfortunately for Senkovs his height advantage was working
against him as Bailey easily avoided the downward shots.
Round two and three were very much more of the same, except
that Bailey’s movement became more and more fluid and his
body attacks became even more frequent. Please don’t go
reading this as total domination on Bailey’s behalf, it
wasn’t just that Senkovs was at a disadvantage being the
taller of the two. Senkovs put together many excellent
attacks, that pushed Bailey back onto the ropes, but the
ever mobile Bailey would absorb part one and move out of the
way for part two before returning with yet another body
attack. Late on in the third Bailey switched to the head, as
Senkovs covered up the body to prevent yet another painful
attack, the result soon showed as Senkovs right eye reddened
noticeably.
The previous rounds were nonstop action, yet somehow the
pair summoned up the energy to step up the pace for a final
round slug fest. With a do or die attitude both went in
search of a stoppage finish, letting rip with bomb after
bomb with little thought of defense. Again Senkovs’ height
advantage worked against him as Bailey constantly moved
around him to land huge hooks to the body. At the end of
twelve minutes of virtually nonstop action referee Mark
Green raised Bailey’s hand aloft declaring him victor by a
40-37 points margin.
The second bout of the night see the professional debut of
Ipswich Super Middleweight Henry Bacon against Canning
Town’s Costas Osben.
Osben was clearly intent on putting his 1-1-1 record back
into the positive column by the way he took the fight to the
new boy. Bacon on the other hand was barely fazed by the
ferociousness of Osben’s opening salvos, instead the
youngster kept a cool head and turned to his trusty jab to
keep the Londoner at bay.
As the round progressed Bacon started to take the fight back
to Osben, picking his shots rather than jab his way out of
trouble as he did in the early part of the round. As the
seconds ticked away Bacon’s confidence grew in leaps and
bounds and no matter how much Osben pushed the youngster
just responded with a crisp jab followed by a stinging right
hand.
Seeing a second potential drawing near, Osben really stepped
up the pressure in the fourth and just attacked, attacked
and attacked. Unfortunately for him though the previous
round had given Bacon the confidence to weather the storm
and retaliate with some excellent boxing, enough in fact to
win the second round also.
Osben’s attacks in the third were much milder than in the
previous rounds, no real surprise there as he exerted a lot
of energy, to no avail, in the second. This allowed Bacon to
take total control of the bout and just pick off the rapidly
tiring Osben at will with some quality jabs, hooks as well
as some beautiful combinations at times.
The final round was a war, Osben summoned up all the effort
he could muster as he went searching for a stoppage finish.
He pushed and he pushed but Bacon thwarted every effort
masterfully. About two minutes in, whilst Osben had him
backed onto the ropes, Bacon responded punch for punch and
then let rip with a vicious right that virtually stopped
Osben in his tracks. Perhaps it was his inexperience but
instead of going in for the finish Bacon used the
opportunity to get away from the ropes. Further excellent
exchanges littered the final minute. No surprise that
referee Mark Green’s decision went to the debutant, by a
tidy 39-37 points margin.
The opening bout featured Cheshunt’s undefeated Welterweight
Bobby Gladman against Nottingham’s highly experienced Matt
Scriven. On paper this looked a no brainer as Scriven’s
record shows his last win was twenty fights ago. Saying that
Scriven is known as a tough battler who always comes to
fight.
There was that much action in the first round as both the
protagonists seemed to be feeling the other. The second
round on the other hand was a totally different affair.
From the opening bell Scriven went on the attack, forcing
Gladman to utilise his jab in an effort to thwart ‘The
Scrivs’ many forceful forays.
Round three see a total turn around, instead of just using
his jab Gladman started to counter with heavy hands each
time Scriven let rip. In the first minute Gladman let rip
with a big right hand that clearly shook his opponent.
However Scriven seemed undaunted by this and just stepped up
the pace. Another close round, one I felt Gladman had done
just enough to win.
The final round was another punch fest, Scriven did the more
work, whilst the clearly tiring Gladman landed the more
telling shots. At the end of the bout I feel referee Mark
Green was one hundred percent correct declaring the bout a
draw.
Graham Earl and Johnny Eames should be commended for taking
their show on the road and taking the risk of promoting such
an event in a rural location. They should also be commended
for putting on an excellent night of boxing, It may have
been just a four bout show but the assembled crowd at
Tattersalls went away more than happy as they were treated
four top class all action fights.
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