First off, wanted to say credit to Sam Webb and Matthew Hall. I was sat next to Webb's family but had money on a Hall points decision. So, i had to keep myself shctum. I know the general scored the fight for Hall, but from being pretty close to ringside I had it 115-113 for Sam Webb. Alot of Hall's work was being blocked up close by Webb, who was never hurt at any point and he made Hall look silly at times with his movement and jabbing. Hall, did do more work in the first half of the fight, but after a while Webb predicted every attack and soaked it up with ease, while hitting nice counter shots. In that last round, Hall was ready to go and had to really soak it up, he was wilting pretty badly. How on earth did Dave Parris score the fight that differently, but at least the right man won, and it's good to see this forum sees it the way it was. Billy Joe Saunders VS Tony Hill - This was a blink and you miss job, good stoppage and my god can BJS punch! it wasn't the power, it was the accuracy and handspeed. Hill just couldn't defend himself and didn't choose to hold. Great win for him, hard to see where Hill goes from here. Andreas Evangelou VS Jamie Kelly This was a great undercard fight! it's such a shame the cameras missed this. Kelly is actually a pretty hard puncher, and a couple of meaty left hooks had Evangelou hurt badly and clinging for dear life. It was scored a draw in the end, after Evangelou piled the pressure on in the last round and was close to stopping Kelly. I think a rematch over 8 rounds would be a great fight. Bradley Skeete VS Ross Payne Tweeted him before the match, seems like a gent. As for his boxing i know not many like his style but tonight his straight punches were brutally accurate, and it's actually aesthetically pleasing to watch. He doesn't waste punches and his jab is superb. Great right hand to the temple to finish things, BOOOM. Bradley Saunders VS BUM - Nothing to see here, both opponents were awful. Good knockouts but Saunders opponent wanted out as soon as he got hit with a light hook. Buglione VS Bum (read above but more with a harder hook) Dean Bryne VS Terry Holmes Big blow for ****** in some ways, Bryne is a counter-puncher that can't defend himself. He started bright but faded badly again, Terry Holmes slowed him down with body punches and Bryne didn't bother using the jab, he just basically let Holmes onto him. Good job for the ref to ignore the towell call, Bryne seems a very light puncher and very easy to hit. Holmes looked good, and it will be interesting to see if ****** snaps him up. All in all, a weird night of fights. I hope ****** gives Buglione and Saunders some young British fighters, they're too good to be facing eastern european journeyman.
Sounds good mate. I had booked tickets at ringside but begrudged paying the price without the advertised world title fight so got a refund. What was the Albert Hall like? Looked about half full on tv
It's a good venue, it was full by the time the main event happened. Many people came in late and didn't bother to watch Bryne/Evangelou/Skeete etc. It just needs better fights, there was a group of Buglione fans making it a raucious atmosphere. I think they abused Richard Keys at one point with the "walking in a sexist wonderland". I'm from Southampton, so when the main event happened a few of us cheered for Hill, but were drowned out by a BJS crowd. Everyone suddenly was in there seats. I think it was 90% full. It would be good if it was used again, there was one hilarious moment when a Hill fan said "COME ON TONY HE'S ****" To which a couple of blondeys looked back and shouted "NO HE'S NOT YOU *****" Then seconds later, Hill is getting stopped.:rofl
did you record it? If so, I strongly urge you to watch the fans abusing Keys, ****ing funny ****. I'm from Southampton too mate. Live in freemantle.
It really is a great venue. I'm an old **** and my first "real" top class card was watching my hero (getting battered) Ernie Lopez, Stracey, Minter, Kev Finnegan....John L Gardner even. 14 years old. it was fantastic
Yeah I know Freemantle, usually play a few footy teams from down there. I'm from Portswood, land of Students and Poles, and attractive eastern european women. Wish i had sky mate! i'll have to find it on youtube. Are you a saints fan? Great day if you are, going up!. :happy
yeah great venue. saw the stereophonics there. :yep **** awful for a main event the saunders fight though. :bart
don't expect better. but when it's an albert hall headliner u think he'd try and put something decent together. or at least saunders in a real tester. but as i say i don't expect any better. :yep
I went last night too. It's a great venue. I hope there will be more boxing there soon, The show turned out to be quite good. Even the Saunders main event, for a 30 second stoppage it was pretty good ! Seriously, BJS is a proper talent. As sainstmike said, the speed and accuracy of his punching was superb. The kid might go far. I thought Terry Holmes v Deane Byrne was a good fight. I prefered it to Hall v Webb. Hall v Webb was competitive, but I thought Webb was a clear winner. Webb's punching became cleaner and sharper as the fight went on, Hall was busy but ineffective for the most part. Frank Buglioni and Bradley Saunders fought pointless mismatches. Bradley Skeete's 1st round KO was credible, a terrific shot put Ross Payne down. The RAH bar was serving Asahi Japanese beer, bottle or draught. This content is protected Never seen it before. It's not bad.
Albert Hall - great venue 'up west'. As it said in the programme York Hall is the Blue Collar home of boxing where as the Albert Hall is the Royal Ascot. If you sit in one of the boxes you can drink while watching and they will deliver food to the box too. Staff there keep the boxes shut so you can leave your stuff in them and no oiks can get in. Attendance - at a stretch it was almost half full and that is at a stretch. Downstairs was pretty full - so it must have looked good on the tv but about a third of the boxes were empty and the large cheap area way at the top was 95% empty. The sides of the arena are steep so everyone gets a good view. As it was pouring with rain I assume people didn't hang around and annoy the residents (who had got boxing banned there for 10 years). A good atmosphere when things got exciting last night. When it gets full it will be fantastic. OK - so not a great success last night but credit to ****** he has got boxing back there
Nice one mate. Hopefully they do some more cards at the venue, I'd definitely like to go. What did you make of Buglioni's fans? Funny ****ers!
