Boxing legends at fight night

Three Midlands champions impressed their illustrious peers as the biggest parade of boxing stars packed out Birmingham's ICC.

Walsall's Martin Gethin, Stourport's Billy Smith and Mark Lloyd from Telford either retained or gained new belts in the prestigious Hope and Glory dinner show which was graced by 60 British-based champions.

With ex-world champions such as Nigel Benn, John Conteh, Alan Minter, Duke McKenzie, Ken Buchanan and John H Stracey among the 1,000-plus black tie guests, it would have been easy for the Wednesbury-based First Team trio to be overawed.

But each produced performances to be proud of in three of the closest contests you will ever see.

And in Lloyd's case, real guts and determination to win after being dropped for the first time in his short pro career.

Gethin added the Midlands welterweight title to his British Masters crown with a marginal points victory over feisty Derbyshire challenger Craig Johnson (Clay Cross).

Speed And Smith, dubbed Rocky after becoming Midlands light-welterweight champ following 24 successive defeats earlier in his career, retained his crown with a 97-96 verdict over Wolverhampton's Carl Allen, a late replacement for Coventry veteran Baz Carey.

As two experienced journeymen, Smith and Allen proved well matched, but Smith held the upper hand because of his superior hand speed and dominant left jab.

Allen's intelligent ringcraft meant he was never out of the fight however, and after both exchanged strong rights in the second, the Wolverhampton man stung Smith in the fourth with a straight right flush in the face.

With Smith two rounds ahead, Allen, who only took the fight at six days' notice, had a storming three minutes to take the ninth, but it was too little too late.

"With the shots he produced, I could have given up if I didn't have the heart because he left me dazed a few times," said Smith.

"It wasn't pretty but it was a win so I was happy to bounce back with a victory to keep my title."

Gethin just did enough to overcome Johnson, but there was little in it.

Johnson never stopped trying to pick holes in Gethin's rangier defence, taking the fourth with a flurry of punches after an even first three.

Tempers almost boiled over after Gethin returned fire in the fifth, Johnson catching his opponent with two punches after the bell when his guard was down.

On more than one occasion, the tidy Gethin failed to press home his advantage after getting on top.

He said: "I was trying to control the fight and just blast him out. I tried to work off my jab and work my way through the rounds instead of rushing into it.

"I always thought I'd done enough. I'm laid back and I know I could do more, but I always think I'm going to tire myself out too quickly, like I did in my previous fight."

Lloyd admitted he came through a boxing education in winning the international British Masters light-middleweight belt.

The 31-year-old plumber outpointed tough Ukrainian Vlodomir Borovski 96-94 over 10 gruelling rounds.

But he had to come through being dropped after a crushing right to the ribs left him to survive a count of nine in the fifth.

Bulky Borovski was only a late replacement for Nottingham challenger Adman Amar, but he proved to be Lloyd's biggest test of his nine-fight paid career as the Stirchley man was left with a swollen nose and a marked face.

"I was training for someone who stands off, but he was as strong as an ox and just kept coming forward non-stop," said Lloyd.

It was definitely a boxing education for me - I learned so much, including how to get up off the floor.

"He was definitely the strongest I have fought and he was really heavy-handed.

"He was awkward and kept throwing stupid shots, but that bloke could punch - he really hurt me with the one in the ribs that put me down.

"He didn't throw many shots, but every one was hard.

"The fight was definitely as hard as the English title would have been."

Lloyd won the first four rounds, but despite throwing plenty of leather, couldn't really penetrate his durable more experienced opponent.

After being dropped, Lloyd dug deep and threw more combinations to make a compelling second half of the fight, despite being pinned back by Borovski's hard, flailing jab.