SCUNTHORPE light-heavy Dec Spelman relieved Clapham’s Kirk Garvey of the English title he had won just two months earlier by securing a fairly wide unanimous points victory at a plush and incredibly noisy Baths Hall.
Wearing the name ‘Westgarth’ on his waistband, and urged on from ringside by members of Scott Westgarth’s family, the man dubbed ‘Kid Nytro’ quickly moved onto the offensive behind the jab against the taller champion who, assessing the situation, proved a little reluctant to engage early on. This allowed Spelman to open an initial lead which he would never let slip.
Already four rounds to the good on my card, the challenger then launched an intense spell of pressure in the dying embers of the fifth which had Garvey in serious trouble in a neutral corner. Had the bell not halted Dec’s offensive, a few more seconds might have bought the intervention of third man Howard Foster, but, as it was, Spelman couldn’t quite force the finish. He returned to his corner having sustained a cut by the left eye, which thankfully for him didn’t worsen too much.
Action from the sixth round onwards did prove a little closer with Garvey giving as good as he got in most and a little more in a couple. Spelman, who picked up a slightly bloody nose along the way, was never particularly troubled, though, and it was only ever going one way when it went to the cards.
The three scoring judges, Bury’s John Latham, Birmingham’s Terry O’Connor and Newark’s Kevin Parker, had it 97-94, 97-93 and 98-92 respectively, my card tallying with the latter.
An intriguing little trade fight over six between hard-hitting pair Evaldas Korsakas (Hull via Lithuania) and Serge Ambomo (Sheffield via Cameroon) up at super-welterweight finished all square with undercard referee Kevin Parker unable to split the pair and turning in a 57-57 card. There’s now potential for a rematch down the line with the Hull punchers Central Area title up for grabs.
Despite having lost out on points in his last two, southpaw Korsakas went into this one as favourite but didn’t get off to the best of starts, tagged early on by a weighty right from the Stefy Bull-trained African and sent back towards the ropes. A consequence of that initial Ambomo foray was that Korsakas continued in a more wary vein than usual and Mohawk hair-styled Serge, who hadn’t tasted victory in his last 10, pressed forward with increasing regularity.
At the bout’s conclusion, the general opinion at ringside was that out-of-sorts Evaldas, who saved his best shot of the night, a punishing left cross, for mid-way through the final round, might just have done enough to nick a draw but that would be the best he could hope for.
Undefeated local welter Luke Fisher sent his noisy supporters into raptures by flooring Lincoln’s heavily tattooed Sergio Gugliotta three times in quick succession to force a stoppage as the bell sounded to mark the end of the second.
Having taken the opener with relative ease, the breakthrough for Luke came mid-way through the second round when a right sent RAF man Gugliotta to his knees in centre ring. Though Sergio was up at a count of eight, he was just as quickly back down again having been tagged by a purposeful right uppercut.
Referee Mr Parker had a look and decided the Jon Thaxton-trained visitor was ok to continue, but it was a case of game over just moments later when another uppercut dropped him once more. Fisher punched the air as he wheeled away in celebration.
It had been slated for six.
A six which did go the distance saw Grimsby’s Levi Giles claim his seventh consecutive victory, this latest one a shut-out 60-54 success against Telford’s Dean Jones. Going on immediately before the main event in front of an expectant crowd, the best of the action featured Levi landing a dozen or so unanswered head shots late in the third round.
Doncaster’s Tommy Sams, with ex-pro Kevin Burton in the corner, got the ball rolling with a 40-36 win in the only four-rounder of the evening and wasn’t given too much trouble from Chessington’s Richard Harrison, who took a head to the chin early on.
The Verdict 2019 just gets better and better for trainer and show promoter Carl Greaves
