#MTKFightNight Jay Harris vs. Ricardo Sandoval LIVE results
Our man Anish Parekh is reporting LIVE from ringside at this Friday's #MTKFightNight event – June 25 – featuring the IBF flyweight title final eliminator between Jay Harris and Ricardo Sandoval.
All the results in full below:
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Fight #1
4×3 Welterweight
INDER BASSI (2-1)
vs
CHRIS ADAWAY (10-70-4, 1KOs)
Inder Singh Bassi bounced back from a surprise first defeat to clearly outpoint a game Chris Adaway 40-36 on all scorecards.
The Basildon man utilised his superior reach, landing frequent hard jabs and confidently following them up with sharp combinations that stung Adaway.
Whilst the victory was never in doubt, Adaway still kept Bassi honest by landing the occasional hard counter, celebrating by raising his hand in jubilation.
However, Bassi can be satisfied with a good night’s work which gets his career back on track.
Fight #2
6×3 Featherweight
TYRONE MCCULLAGH (14-1, 6KOs)
vs
BRETT FIDOE (14-65-1, 6KOs)
It's a shock result, as journeyman Brett 'The Threat' Fidoe stops Tyrone McCullagh with a destructive third round TKO.
After 16 months of frustrating inactivity, 'White Chocolate' McCullagh returned to the ring against journeyman Brett Fidoe aiming to get back to winning ways after losing to Ryan Walsh in the Golden Contract Tournament.
Although few punches landed in the opening section of the contest, McCullagh boxed on his toes energetically and threw combinations with abandon, his lack of patience perhaps an indication of his enthusiasm to be back in the ring.
Relaxing a little in round two, the Irishman feinted to offset the pondering Fidoe and picked him off with his slick southpaw jab before finding a home for solid straight lefts.
Fidoe however, turned the tide of the bout in round three by landing a huge left hook which stunned McCullagh. ‘The Threat' smelt blood and exploded into life hunting a retreating, once-beaten former Celtic and WBO European super-bantamweight titlist around the ring and bludgeoning him with huge blows to the head.
The assault was relentless, resulting in a wilting McCullagh being splattered onto the canvas. Despite rising to his feet, the referee waved off the fight, handing West Midlander Fidoe a fine win – 15 in 85 bouts.
It's back to the drawing board for Derry's McCullagh, who promised fans a different style tonight, having worked on improvements in the gym with trainer Peter Taylor.
Fight #3
4×3 Flyweight
BLANE HYLAND (3-1)
vs
REISS TAYLOR (2-7, 1KO)
Blane Hyland returned after his first career defeat to unanimously outpoint tricky Reiss Taylor.
It sounds like the home fighter has brought a few friends with him as they give him a rowdy reception.
Liverpool's Blane Hyland was keeping the distance tight, waving his awkward southpaw left in Reiss 'Showy' Taylor's face, 30 from Birmingham, who is also a southpaw, but with very differing styles. At 5ft 1" Taylor made himself even smaller with a very squat stance, making him a smaller target and super tricky to hit.
The larger Hyland clearly took the first round by immediately asserting his authority by taking the centre of the ring and piercing through the defences of the diminutive Taylor with his southpaw jab.
The following round brought more success for Hyland who began bullying Taylor around the ring, continuing to release his unmissable jab and later surprising his foe with a thudding lead left. The scouser visibly enjoying himself as he smiled widely at the end of the round whilst his fans cheered encouragingly.
The contest continued in such vain with Hyland attempting to put his foot in the gas and landing with punishing punches to head and body. However, to Taylor's credit, he managed to be a tough enough target to hear the final bell only despite losing 40-36 on all scorecards.
Fight #4
6×3 Middleweight
JORDAN REYNOLDS (1-0)
vs
JAN ARDON (2-6)
Reynolds remains undefeated by unanimously outpointing Ardon 60-52.
Jordan Reynolds began the fight impressively, scoring a fine knockdown in the first round.
His Mancunian based Czech opponent courageously lifted himself to his feet and somehow survived the onslaught, even landing a swinging right hook which momentarily staggered the Luton man.
In the second round, it appeared that Ardon simply lacked the firepower or physicality to impose himself with Reynolds applying educated pressure to suffocate his adversary before connecting with well-considered combinations.
Reynolds, who his dubbed ‘The Wanderer’ maintained his dominance over Ardon in the following rounds, as he began displaying more facets of his game – mixing attacks to the heads whilst pouding away with two-fisted blows to the body. He even pivoted and spun away balletically as his tough but limited opponent lunged in hopefully.
Despite looking outclassed Ardon never lost heart. He maintained his effort and had success in the 4th round by landing a solid straight left but those moments were few and far between.
More body shots were absorbed in the 5th by Ardon but he remained stubbornly resolute in the face of adversity.
By the sixth Reynolds ploughed forward in an attempt to conclude the fight in style. He almost achieved this by scoring another knockdown only for a determined Ardon to rise once more.
Nevertheless, Reynolds looked impressive in victory, demonstrating fine shot selection, an ability to cut off the ring and power that reverberated around the venue.
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Fight #5
12×3 British Light-Heavyweight Final Eliminator
HOSEA BURTON (25-2, 11KOs)
vs
LIAM CONROY (18-6-1, 9KOs)
Burton lands the hammer to KO Conroy.
An intriguing fight between two men coming off disappointing losses.
The first round is as expected – evenly poised.
‘The Hammer’ measured his man early on and attempted to keep his distance by landing early jabs and then finds a home for hard straight rights to the head. However, Conroy covers well and immediately replied with hooks to head and body before his opponent gets a chance to wheel away.
Early in the second Burton has success with simple 1-2’s with Conroy being troubled. remains patient and shows promise when he can push his opponent against the ropes where he can unleash crude but effective hooks. One big straight left wobbles Conroy towards the end of the round but he managed to hold on to hear the bell.
The third round was competitive with the pattern of the fight firmly in place. Conroy flailing his hooks and roughing up Burton against the ropes but the Manchester man still producing the more clinical and eye-catching work.
The pair traded power shots in the fourth as the action heated up and the contest finely in the balance.
Conroy looked confident in the fifth by increasing the pressure on Burton. In response ‘The Hammer’ showed intelligence by trying to change tack and bang to the body to stymy his charging opponent with frequent success.
However, midway through round six, Burton threw a fine three-punch combination with the final shot – a right hook – landing high on the head of his stricken foe who fell on his back and failed to beat the count.
Fight #6
10×3 Lightweight
GARY CULLY (12-0, 6KOs)
vs
VIOREL SIMION (22-5, 9KOs)
Gary Cully stops Viriol Simion in the third with a classy performance.
As the pair meet in the centre of the ring, the size disparity is quite surprising. Cully is a giant for the weight.
Cully uses his size to his advantage, landing early on with flurries of punches whilst slipping away from oncoming attacks.
In the second stanza, Cully begins to look comfortable. He showboats his blurring speed, firing away with blistering combinations before going on the backfoot and utilising a pretty decent Phillips Shell defense, slip and counter.
Even when the outgunned Simion landed, it failed to leave much of a dent on the Naas resident who continued to vary his attacks and impressively bossed the Romanian on the inside.
By the end of the third, Simion had had enough, surrendering on his stool and conceding victory to the irrepressible Irishman who will be looking towards greater challenges ahead. He said he wanted to stop Simion to make a statement and he certainly did that.
Fight #7
6×3 Super-Lightweight
PIERCE O'LEARY (6-0, 2KOs)
vs
JAN MARSALEK (8-3, 7KOs)
Pierce O'Leary ruthlessly KO's Marsalek in the 2nd round with a crunching left hook.
Ireland's O'Leary, trained by Alan Smith and Eddie Lamm, immediately sprung out of his corner, feinting from left to right and swiftly connected with a stiff right hand whilst evading a looping left hook.
A superb uppercut wobbled the knees of Marsalek in the second as ‘Big Bang' continued to impress before dramatically closing the show. As the two men engaged, it was O'Leary who landed first with a left hook, which dropped the Czech visitor.
Marsalek fell painfully on his head, which prompted medics to swiftly enter the ring and provided him with urgent attention.
After a few minutes of care, he was taken out of the ring in a stretcher to a round of applause from a concerned crowd who hope he makes a full recovery.
Fight #8
10×3 Vacant WBO International Bantamweight Title
PAUL BUTLER (32-2, 15KOs)
vs
WILLIBALDO GARCIA (12-4-1, 6KOs)
Paul Butler outclasses the game Garcia by a surprising split decision result with scores of 96-94, 97-92. Howard Foster oddly scored 95-94 in favour of Garcia despite a knockdown.
Despite hitting him with every punch in the book, Paul Butler must be wondering whether Garcia was made of steel as he withstood a knockdown and countless power shots to hear the final bell.
Butler quickly found a home for his left hook, accurately landing at will and flooring his opponent in the opener. Garcia bravely rose to his feet and somehow withstood further punishment.
Garcia showed super-human grit in round three by not only eating two huge left hooks but then replying by trying to rough Butler up against the ropes with his own hooks. Loading up, he swung time and time again, but Butler caught them on the gloves and began attacking a tired Garcia with thudding hooks to the body.
The tenacious Garcia once again showed immense heart and had some success, landing with an uppercut in early in round 4 only for Butler to constantly reassert himself, culminating in more left hooks which stunned the visitor and knocked his mouth guard flying moments before the bell sounded.
By round five, the gulf in class was becoming uncomfortable to watch with Butler putting on something of an exhibition. Jabs, hooks, body punches… all landing with furious frequency, whilst the limited Mexican somehow convinced his body to hold-up and fight on.
In round seven, Butler appeared slightly frustrated with his unrelenting opponent and decided to stand his ground to throw caution to the wind and trade power punches in an effort to end matters. Despite having success with the tactic, still couldn’t put Garcia away.
They stood toe-to-toe and gave all they had until the final bell in round 10. Fighting to a stand still to the delight of the crowd.
Whilst Butler clearly won the fight, he was made to work by a plucky challenger who impressed everyone with his resilience and fighting heart. Unfortunately, this was over-shadowed by the woeful scoring by Howard Foster.
Fight #9
12×3 IBF Flyweight Final Eliminator
JAY HARRIS (18-1, 9KOs)
vs
RICARDO SANDOVAL (18-1, 13KOs)
They started off fairly tentatively, sizing each other up, each trying to establish their range and rhythm, but it’s the American that had the first bit of success by landing with a solid jab and straight right. Soon after he lands two left hooks to the body that echo around the venue, which Harris absorbs well.
Little was known of the American prior to the bout but Harris quickly learned that he was in with an educated operator with fluid movement, speed, and a varied punch selection.
The third round provided some tremendous action with both men taking turns to land telling blows in an effort to assert control of the fight. Harris breached the slick defence of Sandoval with a uppercut, whilst the visitor had notable success with shots to the body.
Round four was a clear one for Harris as he boxed expertly off the back foot especially. He began to understand his opponent's rhythm, time his attacks and counter with effective flurries before pedalling away to avoid punishment. However, Sandoval did remind him that he was still dangerous with a crunching hook at the end of the round.
Sandoval came out lively in round five, perhaps realising he had lost the previous round. The Californian starts far more aggressive and is applying added pressure as the clock ticks on, but after landing a solid right hand in the corner, he slows slightly and Harris comes back with his own shots. Sandoval started the round well but allowed Harris to come back in. The Welshman slips a jab and blocks all remaining punches from the American in the closing seconds, making it a hard round to score for the judges. Sandoval has never been past the eighth round, so is Harris's game plan to take him into deep waters here?
The sixth stanza is fought at range to begin with. As more than one right hand lands, Harris begins to appear marked up under his left eye. It's a lively contest, Harris utilising his sharp jabs, but Sandoval lands yet another right hand to the head of Harris in the closing seconds of the round.
Spencer Fearon has the fight scored evens going into the seventh. There's drama after a minute in, as Ricardo goes diving in and meets a strong shot from Harris flush and looks to either wobble under the power or just waver slightly off-balance, but Harris is enthused and jumps in to hurt him further, copping yet another right hand as he wades in. Sandoval recovers well and is successful once more with his own work, yet another right hook landing clean again. A big left hook gets through when Harris is on the ropes and he smothers the home fighter and manages to score another right hand.
Harris is cut by round eight, but is firmly on the front foot, hunting 'El Nino' down. However, midway through a left hook to the body downs Harris, who takes the full count to recover. Harris goes down again from a sickening left hook to the same sweet spot and this time he can't beat the referee's count. Ricardo missed with a left hook to the head when in close, then pivoted round quickly to reshape and land a left hook to the body instead, it was a clever, quick and destructive finish.
Sandoval has now earned his shot at IBF World flyweight champion Sunny Edwards, but has to wait his turn as the champion has another mandatory opponent to get through first.
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