Froch scores Impressive Win
By Iain Dolan at Ringside (May 28, 2006)
All Photos © Karl Stubbs
Carl Froch (11st 13 1/4 lbs) scored an impressive win over a quality opponent in Brian Magee (11st 13 1/4lbs) at York Hall last night but still posed a few questions about his unique style. Froch, out of his bizarre, hands low, chin tucked in stance started fast and dropped Magee with a stiff right uppercut in the opening round. Magee, fighting southpaw has been on the floor before though and was unfazed and rallied with a flurry of his own late in the round but was on the receiving end of a hook from each of Carl's hands which bloodied his nose in the 2nd. Brian again rallied in the 3rd and 4th as the action swung back and forth. Magee enjoyed some success with a string of left hooks of his own during some furious exchanges in the 5th which marked Froch under his right eye.

Brian landed again in the 6th causing Carl to wobble his legs in an "I'm not hurt" gesture but Magee was getting through with plenty as well as Carl. Magee seemed to be in the ascendancy in the 7th and 8th which were scrappy rounds thanks to the righty/lefty stances and Froch appeared to be getting frustrated. In the 9th a hook to the ribs from Froch had Magee down again, but again Brian rose and rejoined the fray apparently none the worse for wear. Another scrappy round in the 10th saw Carl warned for hitting on the break which could have warranted a point deducted but any debate about that was made irrelevant in the 11th when Froch ended the fight with a brutal right uppercut that caused Brian to fall forwards onto the canvas and referee Richie Davies to call a halt without even taking up a count.

Froch showed a lot of class immediately after the fight by gesturing to his sizable army of fans down from Nottingham to temper their celebrations until the prone Magee was safely back on his stool and breathing easily. A nice touch from a man who's often been criticised for his arrogance in the ring. So what of Froch's performance? It's still hard to say. He still got hit too much, he still looked world class in patches and still looked frustratingly un-interested at times. In fact, he looked the same as he always does. However, this time it was against a much higher calibre of opponent than he'd mixed with previously so who knows how far this strange style and undoubted talent can take him.

Chief Support was Gary "Hot Stuff" Woolcombe (10st 13lbs) taking on Gilbert Eastman for the Southern Area Light Middle scheduled for 10 rounds. A cagey opening saw both fighters looking for openings but both fighting out of high and tight guards. Woolcombe took the centre of the ring early on and snapped out punches with both hands while Eastman looked to counter. The pair exchanged right hooks in the 3rd with Gary just having the better of things as the tight defence of both was hard to break down. The next two rounds continued in a similar vein with Gary doing the cleaner work but Gilbert perhaps landing the more hurtful shots including a left uppercut towards the end of the 5th. Eastman also finished the 6th strongly with a flurry on the bell. Woolcombe came out with more purpose in the 7th and a combination pushed Gilbert back onto the ropes at which point the referee inexplicably stepped in and stopped it. Gary landed several un-answered punches over about 5 seconds but at no point was Eastman even stunned. I'm all for erring on the side of caution when stopping fights but this one seemed extremely premature. In the bar afterwards, veteran fight fan Tom Kilcoyne said it was a shocking decision and he was there to support Gary Woolcombe on the night.

One of the highlights of the evening was incredibly vocal support for Albanian Kreshnick Qato (12st 6lbs) as he took on late sub Simon Lucas over four threes. It seemed as though every Albanian in London had turned up to shout and sing themselves hoarse over the 15 minutes afforded them. Qato bossed the fight for the most part and although Lucas had come to fight too never looked as though he thought he could win. A fairly comfortable 40-36 was awarded to Qato to the delight of the assembled hordes.

Elsewhere on the card. Wolverhampton's Gary Reid (9st 11lbs) stopped comebacking Leo O'Reilly in 2 rounds, dropping Leo twice in the first and then stopping him in the next round after scoring almost at will with the right hook.

Ex European Champ Tontcho Tonchev (9st 11lbs) earned a 69-56 over Jon Honney (10st) in 6 rounds and Wayne Goddard (10st 9lbs) a closer 39-38 over Omar Gumatti (11st4lbs) over four. Prospect Goddard, also sold quite a few tickets for only his 3rd fight.

A good show from Frank Maloney and a cracking atmosphere in York Hall again. Froch marches on and it will be intriguing to see how far he can go
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Iain at: doyley10@yahoo.com
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