Mansouri mauls Mallin

Mansouri mauls Mallin

A sell out crowd at the Ice Sheffield arena saw Navid Mansouri put in a career best performance to knockout Matthew Mallin in the fifth round to successfully defend his English light middleweight title.

On a terrific domestic card staged by British promoter, Dave Coldwell, Rotherham based Mansouri (13-1-2, 4 knockouts) was in control throughout, putting Mallin (9-2-1) down in the third before trapping his man on the ropes in the fifth to end the fight in brutal fashion.

The anticipated rematch after the first encounter ended in a technical following a head clash began with a tentative opening round, only for Mansouri to step on the gas in the second landing a series of clean head shots. Referee, Steve Gray, took a long hard look at Mallin who on unsteady legs managed to stumble back to his corner and see out the round.

Into the third and Mansouri was displaying terrific head movement and countering Mallin at will, before an accumulation of huge and accurate punches had Mallin down with 20 seconds left of the round. Bravely beating the count Mallin again made it back to his stool but it looked a matter of time before the fight would be stopped.

To his credit, Mallin would not give in and did land his own single shots but it wasn’t enough to deter Mansouri and the fourth continued in the same pattern. Mansoori persisted to land huge punches and the referee again looked to move in and stop the fight, before it came to a natural conclusion in the fifth with Mansouri registering his thirteenth career victory and fourth knockout.

It’s back to the drawing board for Barnsley’s Matthew Mallin whilst Mansouri will now be targeting the British title, currently held by Liam Smith.

The chief support saw a local derby as Lee Noble (17-24-3, 3 KOs) from Barnsley beat the previously undefeated Dave Fidler (7-1-2, 3 KOs) of Sheffield by decision 97-94, to win the International Masters light-middleweight title.

In a cracking fight Noble came out strong in the opening round landing right hands down the middle and looking noticeably the bigger man. Fidler who at 35-years-old has arguably seen his best years, hit the canvas in the second, as Noble’s right hands were timed well and proving concussive.

The third and fourth rounds saw much of the same, Noble’s rhythm was working well and he was seemingly in cruise control only for Fidler to end the fourth with a burst of punches and over the next few rounds work his way back into the fight.

Fidler trained by former British and European champion, Ryan Rhodes, tried to push the 26-year-old Noble back and force the pace, proving effective at times only for Noble to land right hands which established itself as the telling punch of the fight.

A superb last round saw Fidler pouring forward trying to score the knockout but was rattled by Noble on more than one occasion. Both fighters received huge applause from the crowd as they showed great respect for each after the fight, with Noble claiming the decision.

Maxi Hughes (11-1-1, 1 KO) claimed his first career stoppage beating Hungarian, Imre Nagy (8-4), with a third round onslaught causing referee Howard Foster to stop the fight. Performing at super featherweight for the first time after moving down from lightweight, southpaw Hughes has been sparring with Gavin Rees and Lee Selby whilst working with Welsh trainer Gary Lockett. His only career defeat came at the hands of Scotty Cardle last year at lightweight and he will be targeting a shot at the British title this year.

“There’s only one Jamie Hughes” chanted his fans as he made his ring entrance to take on local Sheffield fighter Lee Duncan (5-8-2). Light heavyweight, Hughes (5-0, 1 KO), won the bout on points 49-46 after it was stopped in the fifth round following an accidental clash of heads leaving Hughes badly cut. Frustrated early by the awkward Duncan, Hughes had started to take over from the third round after utilizing his jab and the fight looked as though it would continue in that vein.

Haroon Khan (4-0, 1 KO), the younger brother of former World Champion Amir Khan cruised to a 40-36 win, beating Francis Croes (1-22, 1 KO) in a super flyweight bout. Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist, Khan, showed a similar style to that of his elder brother with speed and movement and is targeting the English title this year.

Rod Smith (6-0, 2 KOs) hit the canvas in the first round only to rally to beat the durable Max Maxwell (16-36-3, 3 KOs) over six rounds at middleweight to win 59-55. Smith came into the fight following an impressive win over Liam Cameron in December and is looking to step up his sparring to prepare for sterner tests down the line.

Atif Shafiq (9-0, 1 KO) from the famous Ingle gym in Sheffield, extended his unbeaten record against tough Latvian, Pavels Senkovs (4-68-5, 3 KOs) who has only ever been stopped on cuts, with a unanimous points win over four rounds. Campaigning at lightweight, the Rotherham born fighter Shafiq is still a baby in boxing terms at only 20-years-old but will be looking to add power to his impressive technical ability in the future.

Welterweight Ryan Fields (2-1) of Derbyshire beat veteran journeyman Carl Allen (19-112-7, 5 KOs) with a convincing points victory to win 40-36. At just 21-years-old, Fields showed he is developing good power during the bout and is expected to return to the ring in March.

The boxing fans of Yorkshire went home happy after being treated to another great evening of entertainment from the ever growing promotional stable of promoter Dave Coldwell and Coldwell Promotions.

-Ashley Knott / @AshSKnott

-Contributor to www.BehindTheGloves.com