SWINDON’S Ryan Martin was held to an exciting 77-77 point draw over eight-threes on Lee Every’s tally against Ohio kain Iremiren in headlining a Nielson Promotion’s card at the Oasis Leisure Centre.

Ryan took the opening session on my card as he punished the unorthodox Eltham opponent with repeated rights over a casually-low left hand. The warning signs were out early for Ryan however, as Iremiren was strong, sharp and positive. He took the initiative to walk in and land first over the next two sessions that were hard to score.

Boxing from a wide stance and with a straight back, Ohio found frequent success midway when the pair traded by launching ripping and slashing combinations that Ryan struggled to navigate.

Both men deserve credit for putting on a grandstand finish which saw ferocious exchanges over the last half. Iremiren was effective with the uppercut from centre ring and although Ryan rallied hard to try and turn the tide, I had Ohio winning by two points at the finish.

Bec Connolly, also from Swindon, bounced back to winning ways as she edged Pole Bojana Libiszewska 39-38 on Jeff Hinds’ slate over four-twos.

Both ladies were eager and aggressive with Connolly quick to try and close the gap. The pair frequently smothered their work and ended up far too close to each other to deliver effective scoring shots, but Connolly’s more controlled attacks over the first two was the deciding factor.

Stourbridge’s evergreen Kevin McCauley needed his experience to get through a four-threes shutout loss to Stroud’s Max Mudway on Every’s tally.

Max systematically built wave after wave of offence and the veteran was forced to fight his way off the ropes and out of the corners. Kevin used his full repertoire of distraction and survival techniques but the Jon Pitman-trained prospect gave him precious little leeway.

In the evening’s only six-threes, Farnborough’s Andre Grant was given a tough workout by Hull’s Luke Fash before he emerged with a 58-56 win adjudicated by Every.

Andre started well and took the opening two rounds, but the compact and determined Fash grew in stature throughout the fight. Eventually, Luke had Grant backing up as he was able to catch a lot of the incoming traffic on the gloves.

Witney’s Bradley Townsend was likewise provided with a decent test as Devon’s determined Des Newton appeared to push him extremely close over four-threes but was then adjudged to have lost each session on Hinds’ card.

Townsend usually is able to stay a step ahead of opponents with his excellent reactions, speed and skills but Newton is an underrated pressure fighter and he forced Bradley to fight every second of each round in a contest with plenty of needle as both wanted to mark their dominance.

In another four-threes refereed by Hinds, Swindon’s Jensen Irving shut out Dan Sabastonelli from Weston-Super-Mare over four-threes.

Irving exhibited a lot of quality for a two-fight novice. He took lovely little defensive steps back to make Dan miss and his concentration throughout was superb. Sabastonelli played his part and never stopped trying but was second best throughout.

Lee Every took control of two further four-threes. Swindon heavy Phil Williams registered a home win as he bested Grantham’s out-of-shape but durable Miles Willington by 39-37.

Phil was able to sustain a far better workrate as he sensibly targeted Miles’ hefty midriff. After a good spell of body work in the third, Willington started scoring with a selection of uppercuts and body shots and Phil used his experience to take a walk and reset.

Swindon super-middle “Sniper” Sam Smith warmed up for a mooted Southern Area title tilt in November as he edged out Latvian Edgars Sneidze by 39-38.

Smith found his range before the visitor in the opener, but had a defensive lapse and ate a string of right hands in the next. Edgars went low several times over the last two rounds and Sam kept his composure to work off the jab and get the win.

Finally, Ronnie Davis-trained debutant Johnny Ward from Chippenham floored Latvian Raimonds Sneidze in both the first and third stanzas to take a wide 40-35 decision on Hinds’ ledger.

A hard left to the body in the opener had a delayed effect to deck Raimonds and he did well to recover. Ward, a southpaw, looked dangerous and skilful throughout and floored Sneidze again with a left to the head at the end of the third to pull away on the cards.

The Verdict Martin and Iremiren deliver a top-of-the-bill barnburner.

FULL RESULTS
Ryan Martin (150lbs), 13-2-1 (5), drew 8 Ohio kain Iremiren (150lbs), 4-1-2; Bec Connolly (136lbs), 3-6, Bojana Libiszewska (138lbs), 5-36 (1); Max Mudway (159lbs), 3-0, w pts 4 Kevin McCauley (162lbs), 15-198-12; Andre Grant (131lbs), 7-0 (1), w pts 4 Luke Fash (133lbs), 2-54-2; Bradley Townsend (149lbs), 7-0, w pts 4 Des Newton (149lbs), 8-9 (2); Jensen Irving 2-0, (151lbs) w pts 4 Dan Sabastonelli (151lbs), 1-2; Phil Williams (235lbs), 3-16-1 (1), w pts 4 Miles Willington (272lbs), 1-7 (1); Sam Smith (169lbs), 8-2 (1), w pts 4 Edgars Sneidze (175lbs), 6-28 (6); Johnny Ward (172lbs), 1-0, w pts 4 Raimonds Sneidze (174lbs), 13-49-2 (9).