Gavin vs Witter RbR: MY FIGHT REPORT POSTED

My fight report. Feedback welcome

Birmingham’s Frankie Gavin went some way to fulfilling his potential at London’s York Hall last night as he outpointed former ‘world’ champion Junior Witter, capturing the British Welterweight Title in the process.


Gavin, who became World Amateur Champion back in 2007, has had a mixed start to his professional career. Despite remaining unbeaten, he looked far from punch perfect against Curtis Woodhouse in 2011, and several high profile personal problems have caused long spells of inactivity. Regardless of his natural talent, many were picking Bradford’s Witter, a veteran of 48 fights, to outsmart his younger foe.


Things started well for the former WBC World Champion. After a cautious start, a good left hook caught Gavin coming in, opening a cut on the bridge of the unbeaten man’s nose. Witter, renowned for his unorthodox style, began to vary his attack in the second, often switching from orthodox to southpaw which seemed to confuse Gavin. A good flurry at the end of the round wasn’t enough to earn ‘Funtime Frankie’ the round.


Gavin, having picked up the pace, jabbed well in the third and began to find the target with more regularity, but the telling shots were still coming from Witter.


The turning point came in round four. Gavin, now by far the busier man, landed a good straight left to the body of Witter, who looked to spoil at every opportunity. Round 5 saw Gavin’s left hook finding the target with more regularity. Witter, however, was still making the fight awkward up close, spoiling Gavin’s work whenever possible.


By the 6th, Gavin was in full control as Witter’s output dropped further still. Witter slipped to the ground and looked dejected as he rose. A good straight left in the 7th seemed to stagger Witter who was warned for holding and turning his back on his opponent.


A straight left to the body followed by a right upstairs shook Witter once more in the 8th. A straight left sent him back to the ropes, but Gavin was unable to capitalise, although a good uppercut again caught Witter.


Two hard left hands to the body backed Witter up once more in the 9th. The champion was offering less with each passing round, and his negative tactics saw him deducted a point in the 10th for holding. It was all Gavin, although not much was landing clean.


Seemingly needing a knockout, Witter improved in rounds 11 and 12, catching Gavin with single, sporadic shots. But the classier work was still coming from the younger man. A double left hook to the body and head cemented Gavin’s dominance. As the bell rang, he raised his arms into the air as the pro-Gavin crowd celebrated. Dejectedly, Witter headed back to his corner.


Scores of 119-109, 117-112 and 117-110 confirmed what the crowd already knew. Frankie Gavin is the British Welterweight Champion.

A future Gavin opponent may be Oldham’s Ronnie Heffron, who moved to 11-0 (5 early) by out pointing Peter McDonagh (now 18-26) over eight rounds for the second time in four months. The bout, made at short notice, started well for Heffron as he dug in good hooks to the body with both hands. The body assault continued in the second. While the majority were blocked, many began to find the target, reddening the frame of McDonagh. A left-right combination at the bell seemingly buzzed the Bermondsey fighter for the first time.


The phone booth warfare continued in rounds 3 and 4. Heffron’s body attack was complimented with a good right uppercut. But McDonagh was having more success, finding Heffron on several occasions as he failed to move his head coming forward. By this time some of Heffron’s shots were falling below the belt, with referee Robert Williams warning the unbeaten fighter. Still, Heffron’s activity was winning him rounds.


Heffron was warned once more for low blows in round 5, with the referee failing to deduct a point. By round 6, Heffron’s blistering pace had dropped somewhat, and McDonagh caught his opponent with a lopping overhand right, the best punch of the stanza.


The final two rounds were excellent. With Heffron tiring, he was tagged coming in by a more confident McDonagh who continued to stand his ground. The Oldham man was caught halfway through the last by a wild right from McDonagh, but Heffron rallied late, landing a good straight right to edge the round.


To the surprise of many at ringside, referee Richard Williams’ scorecard was an incredibly close 77-76 in favour of Heffron. I had Heffron winning comfortably 78-74, although McDonagh’s showing will leave many wanting to see him in action again.




On the undercard, Craig Evans moved to 8-0 with a six round points win over the tough Ideh Ockuko. The free-flowing Welshmen scored a knockdown midway through the first round with a good short right hand, but was unable to finish his opponent. Evans continued to outclass Ockuko, who was again hurt in the 3rd by a straight left hand from the southpaw stance.


An accidental clash of heads midway through the 4th round opened a cut over Evans’ left eye, forcing the Welshmen to box the majority of the last two rounds on the back foot. Ockuko, however, could only manage a share of one round on referee Robert Williams’ scorecard as Evans ran out a 60-54 winner.




Gary Corcoran bulldozed his way through Surrey’s Ross Payne in the first round. Corcoran rushed out of his corner and threw power shots from the outset, with a right-left combination hurting Payne in the first minute. A right uppercut moments later forced Payne to take a knee in his corner. While the Surrey man got to his feet at 8, Corcoran, now 5-0 (2KOs), moved in for the kill. Several unanswered shots found the target before Ian John Lewis called a halt to the action with a minute left of the first round.




Things were just as straight forward for Cheshunt’s Charlie Hoy who won every round of his contest with Francis Croes. With Jimmy and Mark Tibbs in his corner, Hoy made a good start, reddening the face of Croes with a right hook in the opening stanza. A straight right hand shook Croes in the 4th, and by the 5th many in the crowd were calling for referee Richard Williams to call a halt to proceedings as a flurry of unanswered punches had Croes on shaky legs. Hoy was unable to force the stoppage in the last, but ran out a clear winner.




Jody Meikle lived up to his nametag as the clown of British boxing with an unorthodox display against Bushey prospect Miles Shinkwin. Meikle repeatedly dropped his hands and offered his chin to Shinkwin, who happily landed at will. Meikle continued to goad Shinkwin throughout the contest, lying on the ropes with his arms down. But such antics saw him lose all four rounds. Shinkwin improves to 2-0.




In another 4 rounder, John Dignum got back to winning ways, out pointing Joe Walsh in an ugly affair. Dignum, a 2011 ABA Champion, was frustrated by the mulling and spoiling tactics of Walsh. A straight left hand landed by Dignum in the last was the best punch of the forgettable fight.