Reece MacMillan bags another win despite Des Newton mind games

Boxing returned to Colne Municipal Hall, East Lancashire, on Saturday night with a Kevin Maree and Frank Duffin co-promotion. The eight-fight-strong card saw two novice boxers roll the dice in a blood-and-thunder bout, with others taking the next strides of their pro careers. 

In the headline fight, Morecambe’s Reece MacMillan took on Des Newton over six rounds at lightweight. Having lost only once since his 2016 debut, MacMillan was looking to take his 14th win against an experipenced away fighter. 

Devon man Newton hadn’t picked up a win on his travels since 2019 but, reliable as always, he enjoyed winding up the seasider’s vocal fans in between rounds and the man himself – MacMillan – during each session. 

Newton did more taunting than punching though and other than a hard accurate hook at the end of the second, he did little to worry the home fighter. 

MacMillan offered a nice, compact style, a good engine and came forward well. He took a 60-54 decision and will be looking for bigger fights later this year. 

In the main supporting contest – and the most eye-catching contest of the night – 1-0 Joe Hardy took on 2-0 Craig Miles. Manager Kevin Maree was delighted with the attitude shown by both men, who were “struggling for opponents, so decided to box each other”. 

The two Leeds men certainly came to win and it made for a fantastic contest. Hardy found a home for his right uppercut in the opening seconds, landing a hard accurate shot that rocked Miles back on his heels. 

It was the defining punch of the opening round and Hardy found it again and again. He had Miles hurt at the end of a closely contested opener. 

Miles roared back into a competitive bout. He knocked Hardy’s gumshield out in the opening moments of the second but failed to adapt his defence for that accurate right uppercut and was dropped hard, late in the round. Hardy exhausted himself trying to follow up the knockdown and by the end of the second, the shoe was on the other foot. 

Miles was on top in the third, winging in hooks and forcing Hardy back. One hefty left hook landed with Hardy’s head unusually high and the referee took issue, jumping in at 1.46 of the third round to enact a slightly premature stoppage. Fans ringside were disappointed, as the referee curtailed what was undoubtedly the fight of the night. 

Dan Catlin stepped into the professional ring for a ninth time, looking to improve his 7-1 ledger. He took on “The Baltic Bomber” Genadij Krajevskij in his 30th contest, who was yet to record a win. 

Catlin is trained at Jennings’ Gym and looks a promising prospect, with a developing record at just 22 years old. 

Against Krajevskij, he lived up to his ring name, “Dangerous” Dan, coming out with hard-hitting, front-foot aggression from the off. In the second round, a series of crunching left hooks made a real dent in well-travelled journeyman, Krajevskij. For the remainder, there was no let-up and Catlin looked eager to hurt his man and consistently found gaps in Krajevskij’s well-schooled guard. 

The home fighter came close to a stoppage in both the third and fourth rounds, but “The Baltic Bomber” managed to hang in there, with guts and an iron chin. Catlin took a 40-36 decision. 

Nineteen-year-old Nelson native, Connor Lawrence, went in against former Commonwealth super-middleweight champion, Luke Blackledge. However, Blackledge has looked a shadow of his former self since making his ring return in 2021, a year in which the 31-year old Darwen man dropped a points loss to Dan Catlin and was stopped by Lewis Edmonson in three rounds.

There have been warning signs over Blackledge’s career and he’s not gone the distance in two of his last three contests, so Lawrence entered the bout expecting to take a notable scalp. 

Braford southpaw, Lawrence gave away significant weight to Blackledge. The heavier Darwen man made the first round awkward, exposing some naivety by landing successive uppercuts as the pair went into a messy clinch. Lawrence edged a more explosive second round, was more active generally and ultimately showed enough quality to take a 40-37 win. 

Unbeaten Charlie Martin Stewart went into his third bout, taking on Sultan Ahmet, of Bicester, who similarly had two bouts under his belt, but had lost both. “The Huddersfield Hitman” Stewart was well-supported and outclassed a limited opponent in Ahmet, forcing a stoppage 2-54 into the first round. 

Local  Burnley fighter, Reece Farnhill, looked to go 4-0 against Romford man, Kyle Paevie, who was defeated in his previous – and only – two contests. 

The former amateur star landed a hard straight right hand through the guard early on, jolting Paevie and setting the tone for the fight. He then forced his man back into the corner and unloaded fast, accurate combinations. Following more relentless pressure and accurate bombardments, Farnhill forced the referee to step in and halt the contest at 2-50 of the first round. 

At bantamweight, 1-1 John Patrick Harker went into his third contest aiming to put a more positive spin on his fledgling career. He faced gutsy away fighter, Matar Sambou. Harker looked a little nervous, punching accurately but without venom. Other than some solid body-punching from Sambou, that was the pattern of the fight. Harker took a 40-36 win and some much-needed confidence. 

In his debut, Fezan Shahid had suffered a shock loss live on Fightzone, dropping a points defeat to Steven Maguire of Middleton. The super-bantamweight took to the ring in the Municipal Hall hoping to bag his first win and did so. After a slightly hesitant first round, he warmed into the fight against fellow Bradford man, Jake Pollard, who boxed a conservative fight. “Fizzy” took a 40-36 win.