MTK Global: A Sunday in Maidstone

MTK Global: A Sunday in Maidstone

By Oliver McManus

MTK Global promoted their maiden show in Maidstone this Sunday with a six fight card stacked with local talent. Headliner Shaquille Day had to pull out of his title defense against Jez Smith but the show went on regardless.

Basildon’s Lewis Adams took on Sidcup’s DP Carr for the Southern Area super featherweight title vacated by Liam Dillon.

Adams waited patiently for his opponent to enter the ring and a packed crowd at Mote Park waited in anticipation. Carr, fighting out of iBox Gym, looked full of confidence as the pair met in the middle but it was Adams who was tetchier with the jab. The Essex fighter flicked out his left arm on a number of occasions as he looked to gauge the distance.

Carr moved with purpose and was snappy with his strides; one step back taking him out of harm’s way and a step forward positioning him in the pocket. Both fighters were scruffy with their opening work but the contest did look to be evenly matched. Adams favoured a more shuffling stance, rocking on the balls of his feet; Carr felt the more confident.

Sidcup’s super feather walked Adams down in the third but his opponent responded well to roll his shoulders and fight with freedom. Most of Adams’ punches were caught by the glove of Carr, or fell just short, but there was a regularity to his work.

Into the halfway stage and the contest remained on an even kilter with neither man pulling ahead and stamping their authority over the bout.

For both men this was their second contest of 2019 and perhaps their trepidation to fully commit can be attributed to that.

There was a notable lack of clinches, pleasingly, as they fought clean and close. Adams had a strong sixth round and epitomised the saying ‘take a punch to land a punch’; Carr connected with a good left hook but Adams continued to plough forward. A spirted sixth round that saw both men take a whack to the chin.

The crowd were receptive to the fight and cheered loudly at each sign of success. This was, after all, the biggest night of boxing in Maidstone since October 6th, 2000; Lehlo Ledwaba defended his IBF Super Bantamweight world title on that Friday night.

Spurred on from the higher-paced sixth round there was an equally tenacious seventh. The pair still engaged in a tit-for-tat style of fight but were landing with increased frequency. As the rounds drew to a close there was a distinct increase of urgency to the pair. Adams it was, you felt, who needed to conjure up and that fed in their styles, too,

Carr persevered with an eager jab and was half a step ahead of the younger man. The initial zing in the step of the home fighter remained as he moved in all directions – counter-clockwise at first before turning on his heel and marching Adams into the corner. He looked assured in his own work: comfortable that he was doing enough.

The tenth and final round was fought in befittingly gung-ho style to round off what had been a short but sweet six fight card in Maidstone. DP Carr deservedly getting the nod from, referee and sole arbiter, Jeff Hinds by a margin of 96-95 much to the jubilation of the local crowd.

Martin McDonagh walked to the ring to the sounds of ‘The Wild Rover’ and immediately looked to pile pressure on Lee Connelly.

This lightweight contest was scheduled for six though Connelly had been stopped inside one round on his last outing: against Mark Chamberlain. McDonagh started fast and peppered shots towards his opponent; venomous body shots were flung in as Connelly began to shuffle backwards. The tempo quietened but McDonagh remained the aggressor; his flash variety of punches doing well to distract from his fluorescent lime and sparkly blue shorts. 60-54 to McDonagh who bounces back from defeat, to Daniel Egbunike, without a fuss.

“There’s only one Bradley Haxell” rang out as the 24 year old picked up his fourth victory as a professional. The lightweight boxed well to out-point Michael Mooney; he looked light on his feet and cut the ring off nicely.

Haxell played with angles and height well as he occasionally dipped the knees. He remained ardently focussed throughout the four rounds and was the most consolidated fighter from the undercard. Haxell took it 40-36 to continue his unbeaten run.

James Hawley opened the night with a routine victory over the ever awkward Victor Edagha. Hawley did well to avoid the leading head of Edagha and looked comfortable throughout the four rounds. 40-36 for the Bromley fighter who moves to 4-0.

There was an equally relaxed afternoon for Lenny Fuller as he beat MJ Hall, 40-36 on Jeff Hinds scorecard. The Maidstone man was in his first fight since losing in the final of Ultimate Boxxer and didn’t put a foot wrong on his return to winning ways.

Local welterweight Jack Ewbank navigated his way past Fonz Alexander to secure his fourth professional victory. The fight was relatively tepid with neither man finding a fluid rhythm; Alexander fought on the front-foot and was willing to be aggressive – the 105 losses on his record speak little of his style. Ewbank looked sheepish in parts but dealt with the challenge adequately enough for Ian John Lewis to score it 60-54 in his favour.

Photo Credit: MTK Global