By Andrew Patterson

Wembley Arena – Undefeated super featherweight contender Mitchell Smith looked to add to his 4 minor professional titles as he faced Chilean featherweight champion Cristian Palma for the vacant WBO Intercontinental title.

There was nothing much to report from the 1st round action as both seemed to fence each other.  There was a lack of action again in the 2nd round as Smith simply looked to move forward with his hands up and letting go the occasional jab.

Palma had still to land anything significant as he seemed to frustrate Smith by his unwillingness to engage.  Smith had to simply be patient with his jab and work on the openings.  Late in the 3rd round a soft knock down was called by referee Terry O’Connor when Palma lost his footing.

More cat and mouse games continued in the 4th round but Palma did finally start letting some punches go but had problems defending against Smith’s jab.

Smith finally got the breakthrough in the 5th round when the Harrow fighter landed a great left hook to the body, Palma hesitated taking a knee, and finally upon taking a knee Smith landed a downward right hand on Palma.

Palma claimed he was punched behind the head but was counted on by Terry O’Connor and was clearly furious at the decision.

With the win Smith moves his record up to 12-0 (6KO) however he can consider himself fortunate not to be disqualified for punching a downed fighter.

Smith admitted to being frustrated during the fight, “it was one of them fights," Smith stated, "he was very awkward and I hurt him with a body shot that took the wind out of him.   I didn’t see him touch the floor I just carried on throwing punches.  He didn’t want to fight so I had to wear him down and he winced when I landed that left hook to the body.”

Promoter Frank Warren added, "as soon as he got his measure that Mitchell would take him out, we move forward now and hoping for a significant fight by the end of the year."

Bradley Skeete made the first successful defence of his WBO European Welterweight title against former Italian champion Brunet Zamora.

Skeete enjoyed a superior height and reach advantage over the 40 year old Italian visitor as he peppered with jabs resulting in Zamora’s face to mark up.

Zamora was cut over the right eye and bleeding from the nose early in the second round as Skeete found a home for the jab, right uppercut, and left hook combination.

Skeete seemed content to continue with the jab not over extending himself over the third and fourth.  The breakthrough came in the fifth round as Skeete landed a terrific three punch combination to drop Zamora.  Skeete poured on an attack late in the round and sent Zamora back to his corner in daze.

Zamora’s corner may have pulled him out but sent him out to answer the bell for the 6th round and was wobbled middle way through the round.  At the end of the round referee Steve Grey asked Zamora if he wished to continue to which the Italian shook his head in defeat.

Skeete now improves his record to 20-1 (9KO).

Local favourite Frank Buglioni defended his lightly regarded WBO European Super Middleweight title against Essex native Lee Markham.

Buglioni and Markham stood in close early and Markham landed an overhand right but Buglioni responded with some straight right hands to the body.  Buglioni unloaded a body assault but Markham remained aggressive as he attempted to bob into distance.  Markham started to get the jab working and again found another right hand over Buglioni’s lazy left jab.

Markham perhaps did enough to win the 1st round and started the 2nd round keeping Buglioni at the end of a stiff, busy jab.  Markham continued to have success as the round wore on but Buglinoi was able to respond with some body shots and attempting to use his natural size to keep Markham at bay.

The fighters styles continued to gel in the 3rd round as both showed good body movement and working their jabs though as the round ticked by Markham didn’t move forward as much as he did in the 1st round, perhaps having tasted a bit of Buglioni’s power.  Buglioni showed some good movement a t times but also elected to stand in the pocket with his hands up whilst shipping a couple of punches.

Buglioni’s trainer, Pascal Collins asked his fighter to sit down on punchers more in between rounds and started the 4th round by pushing Markham onto the back foot.  Markham kept a high guard as Buglioni outworked him but was unable to land anything powerful to totally back Markham up as the Essex man tried to walk him down.

Buglioni kept matters at a distance early in the 5th round as he looked to punch and slip, but was warned from pushing Markham back with the forearm.  Markham attempted to push forward but Buglioni replied with the jab and moved to his right.  Markham wasn’t deterred and managed to trap Buglioni on the ropes briefly with a solid uppercut.

Markham pushed on early in the 6th round landing some decent jabs but Buglioni managed to respond but had to stand his ground with his hands up taking some body shots.

Markham needed a big round and kept up his work rate as he managed to get Buglioni to stand and slug.  Buglioni again tried to respond with straight shots but still struggled to keep Markham off.

Buglioni started the 7th round positively but there was a lack of snap in his shots.  Markham kept pressing forward but his punch output had clearly dropped.  However with 90 seconds left he attempted to get going again as Buglioni was forced to stand and fight Markham’s fight.

With 90 seconds left in the 8th round Markham opened up and cleanly caught Buglioni forcing him to retreat.  Buglioni attempted to respond but again Markham was unrelenting as he landed a quality right hand with a few seconds left in the round.

There was no quarter asked or given as both combatants continued to fight it out but Buglioni now seemed to be landing more as Markham’s output slowed down after a huge effort in the eighth.

The 10th round continued a similar path to the previous nine as Markham landed an overhand right in close.  An uppercut landed that forced Buglioni to attempt to push Markham back.  Markham, sensing he needed a knock out, gave it everything he had as he practically punched himself to standstill as Buglioni again attempted to respond with a three punch combination.  Both men went toe-to-toe in the last minute and both covered up and punched on the inside in a excellent hard fought fight.

The three scoring judges scored the fight 96-94 to Markham, 96-94 to Buglioni and 95-95 even, resulting in a split draw; a fair result and a cracking fight, with a rematch possibly in the offing.

Speaking after the fight Buglioni stated, “I’m disappointed with the draw.  I didn’t box as well as I have done in the gym, I caught a lot of punches on my gloves and I responded with the more solid shots.  Hopefully we can get the rematch on” 

Markham stated, “I thought I nicked it, I was trying to go for the knock out from the 1st round, it was certainly my best fight and I’m well up for a rematch”

Promoter Frank Warren agreed, “yeah I think a rematch is in order, I was so pleased at what a great fight it was, they pulled it all tonight and I’m sure the fans loved it.

Unbeaten light middleweight prospect Joe Pigford faced off against tough journeyman Simone Lucas in a six round bout.

Lucas looked to counter the taller and longer Pigford and had no problems getting in close.  Lucas was also looking to bulldoze his way in with looping, overhand rights.  Pigford looked to unload with the right hand and far too often negated his jab.

Pigford settled down more in the 2nd round but still had to be mindful of the wild attacks from Lucas, who complained to the referee a couple of times of punches behind the head.

In the 3rd round Pigford worryingly started to draw back from Lucas’ attacks in straight lines with his hands down but as he looked to assert his authority with his longer reach he got tagged with two shots from Lucas, as the Burundi born fighter showed that he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

Lucas again caught Pigford with his hands down and started to move around.  Pigford started following Lucas around trying to land his jab, but again Lucas responded by landing shots as Pigford again dropped his hands.

Pigford’s corner told their fighter that he had to go out and win the fight, probably sensing that Lucas had racked up a couple of rounds.  Lucas had some successes again throughout the 5th round as Pigford would move inside and give himself no room to work.   Another right hand landed from Lucas but as Lucas charged forward Pigford took a step back and threaded a 4 punch salvo and dropped Lucas for the mandatory eight count.

Pigford came out all business in the 6th and final round and forced the referee to stop the fight with a barrage of punches as Lucas showed that he still hadn’t recovered from the 5th round knockdown.

Pigford’s record improves to 8-0 (7KO) whilst Lucas dropped to 8-26-4 (1KO.

Frank Warren stated after the fight, "Pigford is a big puncher but he has to work on his defence."

Lightweight prospect Ediz Hussein dropped Jamie Quinn savagely early in the 1st round with a left hook after an aggressive opening from Quinn.

Quinn managed to get his legs back together and kept a tight guard as Hussein looked to follow up with more left hands.

Quinn started the 2nd round more cautious as he attempted to get his jab going whilst being mindful not to allow Hussein an opening to explode on him with a left hand.  Meanwhile Hussein was happy to box himself in close and roll out of distance, showing some good head and body movement.

Quinn looked to stand his ground at the start of the 3rd round but Hussein was able to manoeuvre himself away from Quinn’s punches though a mistake from Hussein momentarily saw him stagger into the corner as Quinn looked to pounce.  Hussein regrouped and boxed the rest of the round.

In the 4th and final round Quinn claimed centre ring but looked hesitant to following through completely with the jab.  The single punches were easily avoided by Hussein who looked to jab and land the straight right hand to the stomach of Quinn.  As a result Quinn began to move around the ring in the last minute of the round looking to fend Hussein off.

The referee was the sole judge and scored the fight 38-37 to Ediz Hussein, who now improves his record to 5-0-1 (0KO).

Eighteen year old Boy Jones Jnr faced Aaron Flinn in his second professional fight and dropped Flinn after only 40 seconds of the 1st round and was finally dropped for good with another left hook to the body after only 1 minute of action.

Speaking to Box Nation directly after the fight the super featherweight prospect stated, “I’ll get in with anyone but I’m only 18 years old.  I’ve done all my learning in sparring and the unlicensed circuit.”

Undefeated Southern Area Super Featherweight champion George Jupp made a quick start against Barrington Brown looking to land the jab but would fall short with it at times.  Brown was able to land a couple of uppercuts as Jupp moved in but Brown would concede ground looking to draw Jupp onto a counter.

Jupp showed some good body movement in the 2nd round and was able to settle down and box better as he doubled up on his jab to head and body and worked Brown’s body with hooks as he stepped up the work rate.

Jupp kept up the work in the 3rd round with nothing much coming back from Brown.  Brown’s corner demanded action in the 4th round and their charge finally stood his ground and threw punches.  A quality upper cut slightly stunned Jupp.  Brown landed three more good uppercuts as Jupp stood over his lead foot leaving him open to the shot.

Brown switched southpaw early in the 5th round as Jupp looked to outwork him with continued jabs and body shots.  Jupp’s best work was at distance moving in and out but Brown managed to land one right uppercut and left hook to the body.

Jupp looked to be slowing slightly mid-way through the 6th round but still managed to do enough to win the round.  Jupp’s corner warned him not to step out with his hands down and wanted him to box in and out.

During the 7th round Jupp elected, at times, to stand in the pocket to throw shots and block them as he started to outwork Brown, whilst Brown looked for openings for the uppercut.

Brown needed a knock out to win entering into the 8th and final round however Jupp had heeded his corners instructions to keep the hands up and keep the work rate going.  Brown was unable to stop Jupp from doing what he wanted leaving Brown to throw a couple of wild, single shots.

Referee Robert Williams, the sole judge, scored the fight 80-73 in favour of George Jupp, who improved his record to 11-2 (4KO).  With the victory Jupp may now move up to fight for the English title.

Ahmet Patterson was stepping up to light middleweight for the first time after admitting to having problem making the welterweight limit. Patterson started well with the jab however Brennan looked to get involved with a couple of flurries before Patterson kicked back into gear.  His confidence was evident with his switching hitting and movement.  Brennan’s best chance to make an impression on Patterson was to try and trap him on the ropes and look to rough him up, Patterson though comfortable won the 1st round.

Brennan attempted to make it more competitive in the 2nd round and in the 3rd he got some success early as he finally got Patterson to the ropes.  Brennan’s corner wanted more left hooks.  Patterson started to think more rather than fight in close with a minute left in the round and landed two good straight right hands which maybe just shaded the round Patterson’s way.

Patterson started the 4th round looking to pick his shots from behind his jab and showed some deft defence; blocking shots and rolling out of distance.  Patterson though would sometimes smother his work after stepping in with some body shots.  Stepping back Patterson landed some good shots then right on the bell to end the round Patterson landed a thudding left hook under Brennan’s right elbow to the front ribs sucking the wind out of Brennan and was counted out.

Patterson improves his record to 15-0 (5KO).

Welsh middleweight Alex Hughes improved his record to 4-0 (3KO) with a 1st round stoppage of Hungarian Gyorgy Varga.

Ilford’s Anthony Yarde opened up his professional ledger with a 2nd round stoppage over journeyman Mitch Mitchell.

Surrey Heavyweight Nick Webb also made his professional debut this evening with a 56 second knock out in the 1st round over Hungarian import Martin Szatmari.