Badger Bated By The Jackal

By Andrew Wake at ringside: Bring on Scott Quigg! That was the message sent out by Northern Irish boxing sensation Carl Frampton at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on Saturday night (January 28).

The 24-year-old puncher, who is managed by Barry McGuigan, retained his Commonwealth super-bantamweight title with a dominant display against spirited Scotsman Kris Hughes, finishing things with a huge right hook in round seven.

It now sets up a mouth-watering clash with Bury’s reigning and undefeated British ruler Quigg – providing he can come through his defence to Jamie Arthur in Bolton next weekend.

McGuigan has been waxing lyrical about the fighting prowess of his charge ever since he turned over the pro ranks and this display could well have underlined his potential for the top.

Hughes had massive advantages in both height and reach but could never use them to his advantage.

The champion’s slick shoulder rolls enabled him to continue getting his compact frame under the Scotsman’s stick before detonating in short bursts and darting away.

By the third the challenger was moving around the ring on the back foot and throwing shots into thin air, while Frampton continued to close the space and land blows to both the head and body.

The fusillade continued in rounds four to six and Hughes, who had previously challenged for this title when he was outworked by Jamie Arthur in late 2010, was left nursing a bloodied nose from more of the Belfast man’s bombs.

And in the seventh it was all over. A huge looping right dropped the Scotsman heavily back into his corner and although he staggered back up to his feet, he was clearly groggy and unable to continue.

The time was 0.48.

Islington southpaw John Ryder looks ready to step up in class. The 23-year-old prospect took his tally to 9 – 0 (6 KOs) by blitzing Polish import Mariusz Biskupski inside two rounds, but sterner tests are needed.

Despite Biskupski having the words ‘Pit Bull’ emblazoned on the waist band of his trunks, he didn’t have much bite and Ryder took full advantage.

He softened the visitor up in the opening session before ending things a frame later.

A short left hook to the ribcage forced Biskupski to sag to knees and although he beat referee Bob Williams count, the end was now a mere formality.

Like a tiger stalking an unsuspecting gazelle, Ryder carefully stepped into punching range and detonated a huge right hand to the head that forced his foe to stagger forwards into the ring strands before dropping down. It was waved off at 2.21

Robin Reid suggested that there may still be some life in the old dog as he put reigning Southern Area super-middleweight champion Daniel Cadman to the sword in the fifth round of a scheduled eight.

Reid, three weeks short of his 41^st birthday, used good feints to set up his left hook in the early going and appeared to have Cadman’s number.

But the former WBC and IBO world champion was beginning to tire by the third round and Cadman, who has a look of Adam Booth about him, came back by finally managing to connect with his left hook.

However, after a tedious holding session in the fourth, Reid finished things at 1.20 of round five.

A right hand glided expertly over Cadman’s half-hearted jab and shook the Essex man before another pair of blows had him over.

While this win, coupled with the stoppage of Sheffield’s Wayne Reed last June, may give the impression that Reid still has something left in the tank, this reporter wouldn’t fancy his chance against the elite of the domestic 12st division.

A fight with reigning English champion Paul David has been mooted.

Upminster’s Ryan Taylor lived up to his ‘Crash Bang’ moniker in his four-threes affair with Crawley trier Robin Deakin.

Taylor, 23, went hell for leather at the bell and had ‘Rockin Robin’ on the canvas close to the end of the opening round with a crunching left hook to the jaw.

But things turned on its head a session later when Taylor left his chin exposed while attempting to get off another left hand and Deakin duly took advantage, firing off a right which put the unbeaten prospect on his backside.

Taylor, who is trained by Tony Sims, managed to shake the cartoon birds away from his head and began to target Deakin’s torso when the action resumed.

And that tactic closed the show for him the third stanza. A left hook rattled Robin’s ribcage and forced him to seek the sanctuary of the ring apron and seconds later a similar move provided the same result.

Deakin, despite his 1 – 44 (0 KOs) ledger, isn’t the kind of boxer which just lies down during a bombardment and attempted to continue the best he could but a right hand over the top had him stooping in a neutral corner and Mr Williams correctly called a halt.

For Taylor it was a fight which provided at few scary moments, but ultimately proved to be one of the most exciting bouts of the evening. With a nickname like ‘Crash Bang’ what else would you expect?

Opening bout of the night saw Enfield’s Andreas Evangelou move to 4 – 0 (1 KO) with a shutout 40 -36 margin over Welsh-based Pole Robert Studzinski.

Always in control, 28-year-old Evangelou used his height and range to fire off blows as the visiting boxer stepped forwards.