If there was any dispute between Adam Gair and Jone Volau, it was settled in emphatic fashion where it should be – inside the ropes.
The two cruisers looked far from best pals at the weigh-in and that’s how it played out on the night at a very impressive debut event at the Gateshead Hilton for Jobes Boxing, in association with the inimitable Phil Jeffries.
Gair v Volau was the headline contest at the plush hotel and was scheduled for six, though from the first sound of James Holborn’s bell, it was never going to run its course.
TK, a proud Fijian-Geordie, went on the offensive, launching some heavy artillery at the unbeaten Hetton fighter.
Gair (pictured) took it all and changed the direction of the fight completely with a right-left in the centre of the ring, with TK stumbling back into the neutral corner.
With a number of follow up shots piling in, referee Ron Kearney moved in to call it off at two minutes, 17 seconds of the opener.
It was the Nik Gittus-trained cruiser’s sixth straight win and his first by stoppage, with Volau’s record now at 5-7.
Each and every one of the shows five bouts were competitive, starting with the opener between Sam Menzies and Steven Maguire.
The South Shields star was nice and sharp from the off, scoring with some good combinations against the Manchester southpaw.
His opponent rattled off a three-punch flurry in the second to show his intent but the ‘Pocket Rocket’ was not fazed and stayed on top, including a superb final three minutes when he picked off Maguire for a 40-36 result from Mr Kearney.
Bout two featured the second derby on the bill and what a war Matt McCallum and Greg O’Neil fought.
O’Neil was his usual aggressive self, landing an early right-left in a leather-filled first round and continued that into the second, though McCallum began to find his rhythm with a three-punch combo and a strong finish.
The Dean Preston-trained super-middle established control in the third, especially with his left glove and in the last produced some high quality stuff, especially on the back foot.
Mr Kearney marked it 39-37 to Matt, but credit to the Horden fighter, boxing for the first time in three years, for his contribution.
The third contest was another super-middle confrontation as popular Jobes Boxing fighter, Enrico Samba, took on Scottish southpaw Ben McGivern over four pulsating rounds.
This went to and fro, Ben having the better of the first and third sessions and debutant Rico the second and fourth, when he used his jab to great effect and moved nicely into the bargain.
Mr Kearney marked it 38-all, a scoreline which looked spot on, and it was nice to see the Italian-born Geordie mobbed by his followers afterwards.
It was a fine debut against an unbeaten opponent and there will be more to come from Samba.
There will be more to come too from Jobes Boxing comrade Sam Wallace who, unfortunately, lost out in his first pro contest.
Up against Birmingham’s Waqas Mohammed, Wallace set a nice pace and looked as though he was heading for a points success, landing a very firm right to the body in the third.
But like all the men in the red corner, Waqas proved very motivated and put Sam down a minute into the last round.
Wallace was up immediately but once Mohammed moved in and delivered a volley of unanswered punches to the head, referee Neil Close intervened at one minute 27 seconds.
There was plenty of promise from Wallace who will be back.
You have to give credit to the promoters and matchmakers for making this such an entertaining show, with five competitive contests to entertain the big crowd.
Congratulations should go to all involved and punch-lines is looking forward to the next Jobes event already.
Words: Roy Kelly
