Jordan Barker-Porter is back in business.
Beaten by Rebecca Ferguson last November, the 28-year-old found her form on the six-bout Jobes Boxing event in Benwell.
JBP outpointed the aggressive Karina Szmalenberg over six compelling rounds at the HQ of Newcastle City Juniors.
Szmalenberg would be familiar to many avid boxing watchers as Karina Kopinska, who was the opponent for Katie Taylor on her pro debut and has boxed Chantelle Cameron and Natasha Jonas too.
The Pole flew out of the blocks and came forward with some big swings but the Wallsend Boxing Academy star refused to be unsettled and did the quality work, getting better as the contest wore on.
With a terrific support in the hall, they had much to cheer with rounds three to six her best yet as a professional.
The Nik Gittus-trained boxer won via a 60-54 shut-out from judge Ron Kearney.
Sam Menzies also won over six rounds when he renewed his battle with Manchester’s Steven Maguire, Mr Kearney scoring it 60-55.
The pair had fought a four-round pre-Christmas cracker in Gateshead in December and Menzies was even better here.
The ‘Pocket Rocket’ is an exceptional talent, whether he was moving in and out with his sharp feet and gloves or boxing on the back foot.
Maguire got a share of the last but the night belonged to the unbeaten South Shields man.
Having been involved in a war last time out with Greg O’Neil, Matt ‘Stark’ McCallum had a somewhat smoother route to victory in his third paid contest.
Up against one of the UK’s best known and loved journeymen, Lewis van Poetsch, the Marden super-middle won 60-55, Mr Kearney the referee and sole scorer.
Poochi received a trophy from Matty Jobes on reaching his 150th bout and then received around 150 punches from Matt.
Van Poetsch did throw a few himself, but McCallum gave a performance full of quality.
There was quality above quantity in the only stoppage of the evening.
Nathan Cummiskey blew away Jake Osgood in the first round of their welterweight clash.
Very much on the front foot and almost running at times, the Jobes Boxing star forced his opponent from along the A69 to cover up, but decked him with a stunning right hook.
Mr Kearney took up the count bit waved it off at eight, the time of the stoppage two minutes, 36 seconds.
You wondered whether there might be a stoppage in the heavyweight bout on the show when Daryll Hall opened up on Christian Adjoufack.
But the South Yorkshire fighter got through to the finish, when MC Billy Hardy announced a 40-36 result for the Spennymoor fighter who clinched his fourth straight victory.
Former non-league football defender Hall was in control throughout with some good bursts and was a worthy winner against the former Olympian in a bout well refereed by Neil Close.
Sadly, there was a defeat for Enrico Samba in his second pro appearance when he was outpointed by Londoner Robbie Chapman.
The Newcastle boxer came forward throughout and bloodied his opponent, but the ‘Camden Caretaker’ was sharp and accurate with his scoring shots and took the verdict 40-37, Rico getting a share of the third round, his best session.
As he showed on his debut, when he gets his jab working he can be highly-effective but must work on being harder to hit.
The overall event did not match the excitement of the debut Jobes show at the Hilton but given how spectacular that was, it was always going to be difficult.
However, it proved an absorbing evening for a big audience.
Words: Roy Kelly
