TALK about not messing about. Rob Ismay got his job done in a mere 129 seconds.
And, to be honest, that was without rushing it as the Gateshead star produced a finish befitting his top-of-the-bill status at Rainton Arena, where he stopped Yorkshire’s Josh Sandland in the first of a scheduled six.
It was not Isy’s fastest night’s work, that was back in 2011 when Matt Inman succumbed in just 66 seconds at Peterlee.
That was just when he was starting out, as a light-heavy with Neil Fannan, which probably makes this 10th and most recent win even sweeter because he’s now up at heavyweight at Wallsend Boxing Academy with Nik Gittus.
He put Josh down midway through the round with a right to the head and while the Halifax fighter was soon back on his feet, it was only temporary.
The unbeaten Sunniside man showed his experience and quality by not rushing it and a left to the body opened a gap for a right to the head.
Sandland went down in his own corner and referee Ron Kearney showed showed his experience and quality by not starting a count, allowing the medics in to treat Josh, who recovered quickly.
Well done to Rob though who now hopes to do cruiserweight for his next appearance in 2022.
It proved an entertaining event. All that was missing were the debuts of Ben Rees and Kerry Haley. Hopefully, the issues which kept them off the bill will be resolved and we’ll see them next year.
How good was it to watch Chad Ellis back inside the square ring?
Back after a 21-month absence, the Spennymoor welterweight outboxed dangerous Sheffield operator Serge Ambomo, who missed wildly many times but landed some strong closer shots to test Chad’s head.
He passed the test, thanks to an effective jab and some accurate combinations and earned his 39-37 result from Mr Kearney, with Ambomo deserving to be ‘on the scoreboard’.
Boxing occasionally throws up some ironies and that was the case here. Having masterminded Chad’s sole career defeat last time out, a first-round stoppage for Ellis Corrie in a Northern Area title fight, coach Pete Shepperson was in his corner this time.
And what a win.
Shepperson was also in the Andy Collins corner as the Darlington boxer resumed his career after an eight-year gap by opening the show against Bognor’s Carl Turney
It can’t be easy ‘getting back on the horse’ after such a long time but credit to Andy for doing it. He took a nice measured approach, jabbing smoothly before bringing both hands into play including some bodywork to win 40-37 from Mr Kearney with Neil Close handling the bout smoothly inside the ropes.
Next in the ring was the battle of the Georges – Scarborough’s George Rhodes up against George Rogers, from Whetstone in Leicestershire.
It was a very watchable bout with Rhodes on top but Rogers game.
So game in fact that he cut Rhodes in the third with former European champion Paul Charters doing some good work on the left eye in the blue corner ahead of the last.
“Back on the boxing” coach George Rhodes Snr urged and his boy did just that in the last round with some neat scoring shots to won 40-36. It was nice to see Scarborough’s Ryan Ashworth in the winning corner too having boxed out of Hartlepool for Neil Fannan during his career.
Anth Ornsby, now managed by Sheffiield fight figure Dennis Hobson, marked the occasion with his best performance yet, against Newark’s Fonz Alexander.
Fonz is best known for being one of those regular names on the right-side of the bill up and down the land and is well versed in losing.
But this time Fonz gave it a go and halfway through, it looked as though it could be a difficult evening for the Wallsend fighter.
Anth came through in style, especially in the last when he finished with a flourish, scoring and moving superbly. Mr Kearney scored it 40-37.
Not even the stupid behaviour of some complete numpties in the crowd could put Ewan McKenzie off as he doubled his win tally with a 40-36 shut-out against Vitalii Maksymiv.
The way the Ukraine fighter opened showed he meant business but so did his Jarrow opponent who was quickly in his stride with numerous combinations which found their target every time.
Sadly the events outside the ring meant a delay to the last round and top marks must to both boxers and corners, plus referee Kevin Weaver.
Credit too to MC Billy Hardy, the BBBC officials and security staff for their work in bringing an ugly moment to an end and the boxing back to centre-stage. Ewan was a 40-36 winner.
Words: Roy Kelly
