MGM Manchester 20th February 2016 - Review

britishboxingblog
Feb 22, 2016
2 min read

MGM Manchester's first venture to Preston Guild Hall was promised to be action packed

and didn't disappoint. The action was a little later starting than anticipated but was certainly worth the wait. In what were billed as competitive match ups, Curtis Valentine opened the action in sensational style with an early TKO of Yailton Neves. The Super-Middleweight contest was waved off 1:46 into the first round after he followed up a knockdown with some sustained pressure. Nathan Brough continued his comeback with a comfortable points win over Belfast's James Gorman. The Liverpool man has only lost once, to undefeated Jack Caterall for the Central Area title, and looked in complete control throughout. Local favourite Chris Conwell was up next against North East prospect Jordan Ellison. We witnessed his pro debut last year but the youngster had since dropped to 2-2 following two consecutive losses. He stopped the rot in some style, upsetting the previously undefeated Conwell to take the ref's scorecard 40-36. Conwell drops to 7-1. Michael Ramabeletsa (14-15) took the British Challenge title with a convincing points victory, however he was made to work all the way by Mihail Soloninkini. Ramabeletsa has mixed in good company, often on short notice, and it will be interesting to see how far he can progress with the backing of MGM and Johnny Roye. Welshman Jason Sillett overcame a first round scare to defeat Ryan Hanson over four rounds. A nice right hand from Hanson dropped him but Sillett but he regrouped and won the three remaining rounds well. Ashley Peyton and Adam Hague both notched impressive points victories over durable journeyman Jason Nesbitt and Silvije Kebet respectively. Hague in particular looked good planting his feet and working the body well. Cruiserweight prospect Jordan Thomson made very light work of Shane Dragonslayer, dropping and stopping his man in under a minute. Thomson appears to have all of the tools necessary to progress through the ranks so is definitely one to watch. Manchester Super-Lightweight Kofi Yates did what he he had to and got the win against veteran Yousef Al Hamidi. Al Hamidi has shared the ring with a who's who of British lightweights over the years and it showed on Saturday night. He is an awkward customer but Yates was always in control and deservedly got the nod. In the evening's main event Liam Conroy took on Krzysztof Golec over eight rounds for the British Challenge Light-Heavyweight title. He looked good from start to finish. The early rounds were won by the jab and his ability to keep the game Golec out of range. As the fight wore on, Conroy did more damage and had his man hurt on several occasions but couldn't quite get the finish. His performance kept his vocal fans entertained and ended what was a thoroughly enjoyable night of boxing. Thanks again to MGM Manchester, Johnny Roye and Chris Glover for arranging our access and their hospitality.