Jordan Ellison was today on top of the world after achieving a dream win over Terence Wilkinson at Rainton Meadows Arena.
The result states a 97-95 scorelines in their gripping 10-round battle was for the vacant Northern Area light-welterweight title yet Ellison told punch-lines ahead of the North-East derby that victory would feel like winning the world championship.
The 26-year-old, from Seaham, had to do it the hard way following a fine start from his opponent, but a strong second-half effort brought him the belt.
It was tight, amazingly tight, fight and not the easiest to judge. Indeed, your punch-lines writer had Wilkinson in front on his very unofficial scorecard by a narrow margin at the end of a contest in which both men deserve the utmost credit.
But the only score which mattered was that of referee Ron Kearney and he had Ellison two points up.
Wilkinson, who gave an excellent performance in his first bout to go beyond four rounds, will be back.
In fact, he could well be back in a re-match. This fight deserves a second viewing.
But for Ellison, this was a dream come true.
His career has had a number of highs already, including ending the unbeaten records of eight opponents in the home corner, of which Wilkinson has become the latest addition to that list, plus a victory in Liverpool against Scouser, Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd.
However, his 13th victory has to go down as his best.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” he told IFLTV. “I said before the fight that this will feel like a world title for me.
“I hope it opens more doors for me – this isn’t even my division, I’m a lightweight and Terry’s a super-light, but I took it because I wanted the fight.
“If I get the right notice I’ll give people hell.
“I don’t mind boxing at super-light but I know there are some big lads in this division so I’d like to go down to my natural weight and have a go at the English lightweight title.”
In football you often hear the ‘game of two halves’ cliché and forgive punch-lines for dragging it out here.
Wilkinson, whose skill over four rounds is well-known, was out the blocks smartly, the Davy Ritson-trained star using his left nicely over the first couple of sessions though he did get a naughty nick to his right eye in the second, which cutsman, Keiran Cain, did a tremendous job with for the remainder of the fight.
Possibly encouraged by seeing a drop of claret, Jordan had his best round of the first half in the third though your punch-lines writer thought Terence edged it on cleaner work.
There were a few stiff lefts in the fourth from Ellison though Wilkinson landed some good close-quarter lefts of his own, plus a good body combo and he was pretty effective in the fifth but his rival was beginning to look stronger.
And so it proved as Jordan picked up the baton in the sixth and began to land some solid lefts and a right on the button as well in the seventh.
He connected with some sharp punches in the eighth, though the Walker fighter had his moments too, but the ninth went Seaham’s way with the Michael Marsden-trained boxer scoring with the more decisive shots.
There was little in the last and it went to Mr Kearney’s card with Ellison edging it by two points.
Given how tricky a number of rounds were to score, any one of three results were plausible, but one thing is sure, all parties deserve credit for a tremendous fight and Ellison can savour his greatest night.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
