Anyone fancy a bit of a New Year’s quiz to get us started?
Here’s a question to test your grey matter: Who is the North-East’s most successful professional boxer of 2020?
Punch-lines is not looking for the stature of the fight, just the boxer from our little part of the world of North-East England with the biggest number of victories, which was TWO.
Two wins in one year? It beggars belief, doesn’t it, but given the year we’ve witnessed, it is no shock. The last action seen in a North-East ring was on February 29, when referee Ron Kearney accepted the surrender of Jan Prokes, bludgeoned to defeat by Joe Laws.
If your answer is Troy Williamson then go to the top of the class (Bonus points will be dished out if you can reel off those with one victory in 2020 and the busiest boxer in the region … answers later).
Darlington’s unbeaten light-middleweight hammered Daniel Urbanski to defeat in Newcastle on the aforementioned MTK show at a chocker Eagles Arena before retaining his IBF European belt with a unanimous points verdict over Harry Scarff at a deserted York Hall in late August on one of Frank Warren’s BT Sport broadcasts.
Deserted because of coronavirus, a pandemic which could keep regular venues closed until well into 2021 – it’s hard to believe that the Utilita Arena, Rainton Meadows, Lancastrian Suite and the Stadium of Light have all remained dormant throughout 2020.
You have to feel for the boxers we go to officiate, support or write or broadcast about.
It would be fair to say 2019 closed on a high, especially for Lewis Ritson who moved to number two in the WBA after a memorable win over Robbie Davies, Tommy Ward and Ellis Corrie.
All three have boxed only once in 2020 with Ritson and Ward both having to wait until October – the Sandman clearly missed the adrenaline of the Toon Army in a points win over Miguel Vazquez while Ward was held to a draw by one-time North-East neighbour Thomas Essomba.
Corrie carried on from his stoppage win over Tom Hill 12 months ago by retaining his Northern Area title in even more spectacular fashion, by beating Chad Ellis inside a round at the Eagles Arena.
That Corrie has not had the chance to use that as a springboard feels so unfair, though the same could be said of Joe Maphosa who has also had just the one fight in 2020.
Hill, beaten for the first time in that clash with Corrie, certainly gave one of the NE performances of the year in a points defeat to fellow prospect Jack Rafferty last month. If your punch-lines writer can make one observation here, hopefully post pandemic we’ll see more of these 50-50 contests.
However, there was a unanimous winner of the punch-lines performance of the year – Savannah Marshall.
The 29-year-old Hartlepool girl became WBO world middleweight champion on Halloween when defeating Scotland’s Hannah Rankin in seven clinical rounds at Wembley.
By the way, how did you get on with the quiz question?
Those who boxed once were Corrie, Ellis, Alex Farrell, Adam Gair, Matt McCallum, Maphosa, Marshall, Anth Ornsby, Ritson, Jeff Saunders, Steve Robinson, Simon Vallily, Jone Volau, Ward and Michael Webster while Jordan Ellison was the busiest boxer with four bouts.
Happy new year to all and thanks for logging in to punch-lines.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
