THE night’s nominal main event at the Hilton Deansgate went well for Manchester’s Jake James when opponent Kamil Mlodzinski was stopped with a minute remaining of the sixth.
Referee Andy Brook decided to step in with the visitor behind on points and cut by his left eye. Mlodzinski was taking a few too many right hands by this point, so Brook’s decision was understandable.
The rest of the bill was dedicated to the inaugural “Contender VIP Fight Series One” format, a quartet of four-threes fights that saw the winners progress to the final on December 21 at the same venue.
Bradford’s Jermaine Springer and Aberdeen’s Boris Crighton both brought 5-0 records into their four-rounder yet it was clear that Crighton had the edge in power. He floored Springer in the first and second rounds, with Mr. Brook stepping in at 0-55 of the second as he deemed Springer was in no position to continue.
Brazil-born, Fallowfield-based Diego Costa posted a routine win over Middleton’s Darryl Sharp to set up a meeting with Crighton. Michael Alexander gave Sharp round two, only for Costa to get a firm grip of the contest in rounds three and four for a deserved 39-37 decision win.
Alexander was the third man for the fight between John Telford of Flixton and Loughlinstown’s Jay Byrne. He gave the Irishman a share of round three, in which he forced Telford on to the back foot with a nice right uppercut. However, Telford’s work was far more urgent in the fourth and he trotted out a 39-38 winner on Alexander’s card.
Haroon Hadley’s Phil Martin tribute night had kicked off with a routine win for Leigh’s Kyle Lomotey after Paisley’s Craig Kelly retired in the corner at the end of the first round. Referee Brook accepted the decision and told BN that Kelly had injured his right hand. Lomotey fights Telford next.
The Verdict Good win for unbeaten hopeful James at the top of the bill.
FULL RESULTS
Jake James (145 2/4lbs), 6-0 (2), w rsf 6 Kamil Mlodzinski (144lbs), 11-5-4 (6); Boris Crighton (176lbs), 6-0 (5), w rsf 2 Jermain Springer (176lbs), 5-1 (1); Diego Costa (177 1/4lbs), 6-0 (4), w pts 4 Darryl Sharp (175 1/2lbs), 5-60-1; John Telford (162 3/4lbs), 10-2-1 (2), w pts 4 Jay Byrne (162lbs), 9-7 (2); Kyle Lomotey (159 3/4lbs), 8-0 (1), w rtd 1 Craig Kelly (162 1/4lbs), 11-14-1 (2).
