Just a week after what can only be described as a troubled promotion at Dunston, the pressure was on the Summer Rumble.
Not on the promoters who had nothing to do with the event at the Lancastrian Suite but North-East boxing itself, who had not enjoyed the best of 2019.
Now, before this writer types another word, it must be recorded that this show produced 11 home wins out of 11. However, it must also be stated that the 2019 Summer Rumble hit the mark and produced an entertaining afternoon of boxing and for anyone who sat through the entire card they got value for money.
Sadly, there was no Northern Area title fight, which fell through some time ago, nor was there the Tyneside derby which looked the only the competitive fight on the schedule.
There were just two or three very-one-sided bouts and one of them came in one of the main events.
Not for the first time, the gifted Newcastle light-heavy Lawrence Osueke won his eight-rounder at Sunderland AFC very much as he pleased.
It was his first time over the distance and he mastered
Cambridge’s Gianni Antoh who showed some fire in the fifth only to be soon put back in his place by the Nik Gittus/ Steve Wraith star who put together some nice stuff late on to win 80-72 from referee Ron Kearney.
The other eight rounder on the card also had Mr Kearney in charge and this was the only contest to not hear the last bell.
Middlesbrough’s Simon Vallily, now operating as a heavyweight, was up against Dorian Darch, who has been in with a number of the division’s best.
It was just starting to get interesting when it was stopped at two minutes, 10 seconds of round two when Darch was stopped with a cut right eye.
Whoever decided Darren Surtees should close this event got it spot on.
This was a cracking six-rounder for the Thornley talent who defeated Arturo Lopez 60-54, from referee Kenny Pringle.
Punch-lines does not know the Spanish for ‘great chin’ but that is exactly what the Mexican possessed,
Whatever Surtees threw at him he absorbed, but doing six high-paced rounds will have dome the unbeaten light-welter the power of good after a number of early nights.
Numerous times he made Lopez miss and belted him with both fists. Top marks to Surtees (pictured) and the same goes for Lopez who stood and traded punch for punch in the fifth.
The rest of the show were four-rounders and punch-lines will start that section with an impressive display from Terence Wilkinson.
Weighing in under 10 stones, the Dave Ritson-Phil Jeffries boxer, who made his debut on te 2018 Summer Rumble, was in terrific form in a 40-36 victory over Lee Connelly.
Moving nicely and boxing behind an accurate jab, the unbeaten Walker boxer scored superbly against his Derbyshire opponent for a 40-36 scoreline from Mr Kearney.
Another Geordie registering his sixth straight success was Joe Laws, who too made his debut here in 2018.
Now with Gittus in his corner, Laws won 40-36 against game Hull-based Lithuanian Zygimantas Butkevicius.
The first round was untidy to say the least but there was an outbreak of boxing in round two as Laws got through with two body shots and one to the head.
Roared on by the ‘Bomb Squad’, Laws was firmly on top in rounds three and four but Butkevicius refused to buckle.
Your punch-lines writer scored Anth Ornsby’s cracker with Danny Little as a draw but Mr Pringle had the O’Tooles boxer 39-37 up and you could not argue with his assessment.
It was a cracker and whatever you thought of the scoreline, there is no doubt Ornsby has improved under the tutelage of Glenn McCrory.
Round one was Anth who used his left well and switched nicely to the body. Little started round two with purpose and had the better of the second but Ornsby was back on track with a good tempo in the third.
The fourth was not the cleanest of rounds and could have gone either way, but the Wallsend boxer got the nod and you had to be pleased for him.
Last year we were treated to a couple of super debuts and the 2019 Rumble produced two more.
Former Greece amateur champ Alex Farrell dominated against Arvydas Trizno from Lithuania, winning 39-36 from Mr Pringle, who deducted a point from the Newcastle-based Peterlee light-middleweight in the last for a lowish shot.
The Dave Binns-trained boxer with ‘Black Diamond’ emblazoned on his shorts, put his solid jab into Trizno’s head from the of and went on to drive in shot after shot.
Gateshead’s Jeff Nesham opened up the event in some style.
The former High Fell ABC southpaw, trained by former Northern Area title challenger, Danny Moir, outpointed Bradford’s Jake Pollard, Mr Kearney marking this 40-37.
Using his feet nicely, Nesham showed a good variety and in the last when Pollard landed with a couple he put his foot on the gas to finish well.
It must have been a frustrating occasion for Tom Hill, who having seen his NAT match with Ellis Corrie fall through and then have opponent Chris Jenkinson cry off late on.
Sheffield’s Qasim Hussain stepped in but ‘One Bomb’ strolled through the four rounds for a 40-36 result from Mr Pringle.
Now on to the big fellas.
Middlesbrough giant Michael Webster dwarfed Remigijus Ziausys and dished out a painful beating. Put down in the first, Ziausys did well to survived to the end where he was outpointed 40-35, Mr Kearney scoring.
Hetton’s Adam Gair doubled his win tally to two but he had to tough it out with a broken nose against the cruiserweight known as Rambo, Dmitrij Kalinovskij.
Gair flicked out his jab in the first and was told to “put it on him” by coach Binns in the second and the MTK man obl;iged by putting some punches together.
However, round three saw the Lithuanian come to life and the last three minutes was a cracker as the big lads went at each other blow for blow. Some observers had it level but this observer could not separate them in the last round and scored it, like Mr Kearney, at 39-38 to the Peterlee-trained boxer.
Words: Roy Kelly
