Tyneside and Wearside are motoring in the world of professional boxing, but don’t dismiss the other ‘side’.
Teesside was out in force at the Rainton Meadows Arena on Saturday night, when Tom Hill and Mohammed Waqas produced the goods.
Hill, known as ‘One Bomb’ was too powerful for Andrej Cepur, while Waqas marked his first bout in five years in style by felling Patrik Bartos twice on the way to a convincing points victory.
Mohammed (pictured) had not taped up his gloves since 2013 but it was as though the Middlesbrough talent had never been away as he took the Czech Republic fighter to task.
A left to the body put Bartos down in the first and while he was up at a count of four he was on the canvas again with a straight left to the belly from the Imran Naeem-trained boxer.
Bartos was up this time at “five” and he got through the rest of the first session.
The away fighter had learned his lesson and protected his body for the remainder of the bout but, given his term of absence, getting four good rounds under his belt will have only served him well. Referee Ron Kearney scored it 40-35.
And it was the same for Hill, who produced another accomplished display for victory number five as a pro.
A left to the body from Tom seemed to hurt Cepur in the first round but the boxer, trained by Dave Binns in Peterlee, was happiest using a very accurate jab and by the end of the opening three minutes his rights were also on target.
The 23-year-old (pictured) scored with both fists from there on in with the Lithuanian veteran showing resilience by staying on his feet.
There were a couple of right upper cuts to cheer the Redcar army in the last en route to a 40-36 result from Mr Kearney.
Words: Roy Kelly
