"Fighting Against Adversity" - Review

We made no secret of how eagerly we anticipated Phil Jeffries’s “Fighting Against Adversity” show and in particular the main event, a British Super-Bantamweight title clash between home favourite Martin Ward and likeable scowser Jazza Dickens. Safe to say the whole event lived up to our billing from start to finish.

Our prediction success rate is hit and miss but we called this one saying we felt Dickens would win a close decision. From ringside I unofficially had him retaining his title by a couple of rounds but there were plenty that could have been scored for either man. Both of them deserve a huge amount of credit for producing an enthralling 12 rounds that were fought at a tremendous pace. They both pushed, Ward especially looking to throw punches in bunches, however it was the champion who produced the cleaner shots and in particular seemed to get some joy with his right hook. The challenger was bloody by the end but not beaten. The mutual respect on show between the men was a joy to see and while Dickens had spoken of moving onto bigger things (a European title shot against Gavin McDonnell has been mooted) Ward did not look out of place at this level.

The undercard itself was littered with close decisions as well. Danny Wall (1-0) edged his debut 39-38 and Hartlepool’s Peter Cope (12-3) won a similarly close, but more bad tempered, encounter 38-37. Newcastle prospect Sam Best also did enough to win against Andy Neylon who was game but the 39-38 scorecard was deserved for Best who advances to 5-0. Local favourite Jonson McClumpha (11-1-1) won a lot more comfortably, as did Jordan King (6-0) and Lewis Ritson (6-0) who all won every round convincingly. Darren Surtees also won his pro debut after opponent Ryan McNicol was unable to continue after the second round.

Arguably the performance of the night was Martin’s brother Tommy Ward who absolutely outclassed late replacement Everth Briceno to win 60-54. The younger Ward never looked in trouble and certainly has a bright future ahead of him. Speaking of bright futures, former Team GB cruiserweight Warren Baister had a homecoming to enjoy as he breezed through his four rounder without being tested in the slightest. Another prospect to pay close attention to in the coming months. Horden's Anthony "Hitman" Hardy (8-1) also impressed with a classy decision win. The tall southpaw used his jab beautifully to cruise his four rounder winning comfortably against a game opponent. This was his first outing since losing a close decision to Joe Hughes for the English title.

The only blot on the homefighters’ copy book was a shock stoppage defeat for Newcastle’s Basi Razaq. The super-welterweight didn’t look anywhere near his best before being dropped hard in the fourth and final round. He did well to pull himself to his feet and back into the contest but was floored a second time by a big right hand and was unable to fully recover. The ref waved it off and he can’t have too many complaints.

Recent Commonwealth conqueror Thomas Essomba briefly addressed the packed out arena and remains ever popular in these parts. Based on Friday night’s performances we could have few more stepping up to that sort of level in the near future. And maybe even beyond!

Image courtesy of www.sunderlandecho.com