Clean sweep as year of success comes to an end for JE boxers

It was the third show for JE Promotions, headed by former pro Joe Elfidh, at the 750-capacity venue and the last event of 2016 to round off a successful year for the Kent-based promotional outfit.

The International Glory night saw the arena packed full of fans and the entertainment delivered in all five well-matched fights.

A trim looking Darren Snow, 34, from Dinnington, boxed well behind his jab for the opening round against Richard Harrison, a fighter that could throw punches in bunches well but without weight or venom behind them.

The fight caught fire at the start of the second with Harrison coming out fighting but the popular local fighter known as the ‘Road Warrior’ responded well.

Twice in the closing minute, Snowy unleashed a volley of unanswered punches on the light-heavyweight from Surrey.

Harrison did manage to land a few right hooks to the body and uppercuts during the round.

The penultimate round began a bit scrappy and Snow’s straight shots were much more damaging than Harrison’s tippy-tappy attempts.

The last minute of the four-round contest saw Snow produce the best punch of the fight – a solid left hook rocking Harrison’s head back.

Snow, a former unlicensed champion, took his foot of the gas in the third and allowed Harrison to march forward, both fighters looking a little ragged already, but Snow still deployed the jab effectively.

Harrison had turned up to have a real go, but Snow took the decision at 39-37 and has now won all three of his fights at the North Notts Arena.

Richard Thomas, the eldest of the fighting Thomas brothers, started his bout with Curtis Gargano tentatively, throwing single shots for the first half of the opener.

As Gargano came forward and attempted to land some of his own, Thomas came to life and opened up with right hands and uppercuts.

Gargano sensibly used lateral movement in the second round and generally had more success with Thomas not busy enough during the three minutes to take the round.

Thomas looked to keep his opposite number on the end of his shots in the third round and it worked for the first half, but Gargano managed to rough him up and close the gap to stop his boxing skills in the final third.

Gargano looked to bob and weave his way in to throw big bombs on Thomas in the final round, sensing the possibility of causing an upset, and managed to land a few right hooks to the body.

Thomas missed wildly at times and didn’t look like the home fighter during the closing round, so the 32-year-old from Lancashire looked a little bewildered as the scores were announced at 39-38 to local lad Thomas by referee Kevin Parker.

Nathan Thomas, the younger of the Thomas siblings, entered into his first bout as the home fighter, three years on from his debut at the York Hall.

The 27-year-old started brightly and looked sharp and elusive against Scott Hillman, boxing intelligently from range, occasionally switching to a southpaw stance.

It was much of the same in the second round which was unfortunately uneventful.

Hillman came out looking for a fight in the third round and peppered in several body shots, landing with a good left hook on the two-minute mark.

Thomas fired back with plenty of shots, but Hillman was the one forcing the pace.

The 35-year-old from Sussex tried to adopt the same tactics in the final round and lay it on Thomas but was outboxed comfortably this time.

The travelling fighter did get some success and managed to catch the Doncaster man on the ropes more than once but it wasn’t enough as Thomas prevailed at 40-37, his first win as a pro and potentially the start of promising things to come.

The 18-year-old Sahib ‘Saby’ Mann, from Derby, had an explosive debut win over Daniel Mickleburgh last July with a third round knockout.

And Lithuanian Simas Volosinas couldn’t get anywhere near to his man, resorting to wild swings from distance but countered crisply each time.

The journeying fighter from Panevezys tried to close the gap and upped his head movement but Mann was too sharp and toyed with him at times.

The youngster, who was in full control, was guilty of throwing too many single shots and coasting.

It was a classy performance from Mann in the final round as he demonstrated clever footwork and neat one-twos. Volosinas failed to land a single punch in the closing three minutes.

The 40-36 points result to Mann doubled his win tally in what was a very clinical presentation and incredibly one-sided contest.

Lightweight debutant David Zubrzycki made his pro bow against Margate’s Ricky Leach.

The Leeds-born former unlicensed star is a busy fighter with good movement who throws punches from angles.

‘Baby David’ outlanded ‘Slik Rik’ in every round but was caught occasionally when unloading shots.

In the third round, Zubrzycki settled down and was more patient and economical with his shots. The last 30 seconds of the round saw a good left hook land on the cheek of Leach.

Leach fired back with some good body shots in the last round and also snapped Zubrzycki’s head back with jabs more than once.

The home fighter was not busy enough and failed to capitalise whenever his man was on the ropes, perhaps down to fitness as he looked a little ragged towards the end.

The last round was shared between them as official Kevin Parker ruled at 40-37 to Zubrzycki, kicking off his career with a hard-fought but well-earned win.

For tickets for the next show visit https://www.facebook.com/JEsportsnetwork/ or call 07539 171160.

Follow JE Promotions on Twitter @JESportsNetwork