Classy Booth knocks the fight out of Hunter

By John Hannen at ringside

Jason Booth looked tremendous on Friday night forcing Michael Hunter to retire on his stool, and surely from the fight game altogether, as he retained his British super bantamweight title at the Seaburn Centre in Sunderland. A mixture of Booth being just ‘2 smooth’, and Hunter seeming a shadow of the fighter he once was, combined to see the fight waved off between rounds five and six as the man from Hartlepool told his corner ‘no mas’.

Hunter entered the ring in his traditional camouflage attire looking very determined and pumped up by a vocal and largely partisan crowd, with many fans making the trip from the challenger’s home town of Hartlepool. Ominously though, and in contrast, Booth appeared very relaxed, confident and assured both in the dressing room before the fight and as he made his way into the ring.

Hunter couldn’t wait to get at Booth and, at the first bell, immediately attempted to pressure the champion from Nottingham. The difference in size was evident as the two fighters traded. Booth’s weight had been announced as 8st 9lb, and while I missed Hunter’s poundage due to the roar of the crowd during the introductions he looked noticeably taller, bigger and stronger.

The first round was close and a little scrappy. Both boxers landed shots but I had Hunter edging it for his more aggressive work as he had success harrying and bullying Booth, and nullifying the Nottingham man’s boxing.

However, by the end of the second round it was clear that a sea change was occurring. The fast hands of Booth were beginning to make Hunter look pedestrian as the champion began to land flush, both to the body and head. Hunter was continuing to try to pressure and did his best work when he managed to push Booth against the ropes but, discouragingly, his level of success in repelling the champion was nowhere equal to the effort expired.

Booth’s work was even more impressive in rounds three and four as he began to completely dominate the contest. The 31 year old’s hand speed, variety of shots and intelligent ‘in and out’ boxing were giving Hunter problems that he had no solution to. Booth was mixing up his work with precise combinations making the challenger look one dimensional and easy to hit as the man from Hartlepool continued to try to fight the only way, it seems, he knows how – straight ahead and aggressive.

Booth was proving just too clever and too quick, and had Hunter under his spell, landing with almost everything he threw, and with little reply. In the third round the classy Booth caught Hunter flush with a tremendous straight right followed by a left hook to the head, and also had him backed against the ropes towards the end of the round. Against all the pre-fight perceived wisdom – it was now Booth who was pressuring and bullying Hunter.

Similarly, in round four Booth’s tail was well and truly up. The challenger just didn’t seem to be able to pull the trigger, was waiting too long to throw shots, and appeared static – all gold dust to a fighter like Booth. Hunter’s mouth was now open and his head movement seemed non existent as his noggin was continually rocked back by Booth’s accuracy. Hunter was being beaten up, his will was being drained by punishing body shots, and he looked totally dispirited as he made his way back to his corner at the end of round four.

Credit to Hunter as he came out purposefully at the start of round five and pushed Booth back to the ropes. This success was only fleeting though as normal service was resumed and Booth really began to do a number on him. The champion was rolling back the years with a cerebral show of silky counter punching. A blistering body shot saw Hunter visually wilt and he was absorbing so many combinations that there seemed a case for stopping the fight.

Hunter, did well to make it through to the end of the round, but returned to his corner looking like a man who desperately wanted to be anywhere else but in the ring with Booth. And so it proved as, during the minute’s break the referee was called to Hunter’s corner and was instructed to wave the fight off as Booth, W34(14) L5(0), celebrated one of, if not the, best win of his career.

Booth proved a lot of people wrong with this victory, including myself, who thought that Hunter would be too big and have too much for him. The similarities and, yet, differences between these two fighters at this stage in their careers couldn’t have been more striking tonight. Both men are aged 31, both have had problems outside the ring, and both have had successful, long careers. Yet the inspirational Booth is in the form of his life and looks as though he’s reversing the ageing process. Hunter, W29(13) L2(2) D1, meanwhile was just a shell of the fighter from a few years ago and looked exactly what he seems to be – a boxer at the end of the road.

Booth’s a real success story and now moves onto more glory nights and possibly the European success that’s evaded him in his attempts previously. I feel for Hunter and, no doubt, some keyboard warriors on Internet boxing forums will label him a ‘quitter’. In my book, though, anybody that gets through the ropes deserves respect. Hunter knew it was ‘mission impossible’ at the end of round five and there seemed little point in him taking more punishment. He’s a fighter that’s provided boxing fans with great entertainment over the years, and I hope he finds peace and success in whatever he decides to do with his future.

Undercard Review

In addition to this main event there were a number of other fights on this packed, Frank Maloney promoted show, including the two Olympic medallists; Tony ‘Jaffa’ Jeffries and David Price.

There are always high expectations of super middleweight Jeffries whenever he fights in his home town of Sunderland, and this scenario was no different tonight. Jaffa (12st 4lb) took on the experienced Artem Solomko (12st 3lb) from Belarus and outpointed his foe over six rounds to move his record onto 4-0. Jeffries seemed to be trying too hard to finish this contest early and ended up smothering much of his work by rushing in. The Olympic bronze medallist looked far more effective when working off his jab and keeping a little distance. Jeffries, though, is still a novice pro and it won’t have done him any harm to get some rounds under his belt against the awkward Solomko who slips to 10-18.

David Price, from Liverpool, in just his second fight beat German opponent Liridon Memishi. Price (17st 10lb) towered over the ‘fleshy’ Memishi (18st) and peppered him with enough, occasional hard shots to ensure that the German failed to come out for the third round in a scheduled six rounder. Price, 2-0 (2), is due to fight again on the Jamie Moore-Ryan Rhodes undercard next Friday.

Another super middleweight making a name for himself is former ABA champion George Groves. Groves (11st 12lb) looks very accomplished for someone with so little professional experience and stopped his Lithuanian opponent, Tadas Jonkus (11st 4lb), with a display of patient, clinical boxing in the fourth round of a scheduled 6X3’s. Groves, now 6-0 (5), looks a dangerous member of a bubbling super middleweight division that includes the likes of James DeGale and the aforementioned Tony Jeffries. After this defeat Jonkus now has a record of 4-5.

In a 8X3 lightweight contest, Sunderland’s Paul Holborn (9st 8lb) drew with Ben Murphy from Hove. Holborn, now 11-2-2, struggled with the muscular and very strong Murphy (9st 11lb) who was constantly in Holborn’s chest whether punching or grappling. Murphy, 6-2-1, looked as fresh at the end of the contest as he did when he started it. I thought the better quality work came from Holborn but the harder shots from Murphy. The referee, Andrew Wright, scored the contest 76-76.

Hard hitting Travis Dickinson (12st 12lb) from Durham demolished debutant Steffan Hughes (12st 4lb) from Wales within 40 seconds of the first round. Hughes managed to land one left hand before Dickinson, with a significant height advantage, moved him onto the ropes and unleashed damaging shots forcing the referee to intervene. Although still standing, Hughes looked in bad shape for a while and still had shaky legs as he left the ring. Dickinson moves onto his next contest 4-0 (3).

In other contests on the night:

George ‘razor’ Watson (10st) beat Kristian Laight (9st 11lb) on points in a four round contest. Laight, who seems to fight just about every week, was unambitious hence the referee’s score of 40-36. Watson, 7-1-1, also previously beat Laight, 6-67-5, in his second professional contest, again on points.

Heavyweight, Dave Ferguson (16st 8lb) from North Shields took just one minute and 23 seconds to beat the Latvian, Roman Dabolins (14st 13lb) in a scheduled six round fight. Ferguson, 10-2 (four inside), connected early with a big right hand and had his man down a further two times before the referee had seen enough. Dabolins is now 9-12.

Cruiserweight Jon Lewis Dickinson, brother of Travis, beat Martyn Grainger (14st 10lb) from Lancashire on points over four rounds by a score of 40-37. Dickinson worked hard, had a better variety of shots and ground out the win to keep an unbeaten record of 5-0. Grainger is now 3-2.

Unbeaten Gary Sykes (9st 10lb) kept his career ticking over with an eight rounds points win over durable Ibrar Riyaz (9st 11lb) from Reading. Former ABA champion Sykes, now unbeaten in 13, from Dewsbury put in a solid, workmanlike performance to clearly outpoint Riyaz without ever looking like he would finish it early. Riyaz, with some justification, leant over the ropes at the final bell to tell Sky TV commentators Ian Darke and Jim Watt that it wasn’t a bad performance seeing as he’d only been given two weeks notice!!

Making his professional debut, Kirk Goodins (9st 8lb) from Sunderland looked a tidy and accomplished fighter as he outpointed journeyman Sid Razak (9st 11lb) over four rounds by a score of 40-36.

The last fight of the night saw a terrific welterweight scrap between Chris Mullen from South Shields and Lancashire’s William Warburton. The well supported Mullen (10st 8lb) didn’t have it all his own way in the first half of this four round contest as Warburton (10st 10lb) threw the uppercut and hooked to some effect. Mullen, though, looks strong and his work to his opponents’ body was impressive, taking it’s toll over the duration, with Warburton doing well to survive the last round. Mullen moves on to his next contest sporting a 6-1 record, Warburton is 1-5-1.