On Friday 29th March 2013 at Meadowbank, Edinburgh, Amateur Boxing Scotland held the Scottish Senior Championship finals.
Before the show started I was in the VIP room having a wee catch up and a fresh orange with my old friend Dick McTaggart M.B.E. and my dad was there briefly but due to a phone call had to leave, it was great listening to them both talking with great fondness about their amateur days. I brought up the subject on how they used to do exhibitions with each other due to the fact nobody would fight them, my dad said to Dick, “ Aye, a stopped doing exhibitions with you because you were always spitting water on me”, Dick could not contain his laughter. I got someone to take a picture of me standing between arguably Britain’s best amateur and professional boxers. After my dad left Dick went on to tell me more than a few stories about when they were great friends fighting for Scotland. He told me when he and my dad won their respective British Amateur Title’s, five Scotsmen in total won British Titles that night, you don’t see that kind of thing happening these days. He continued, when my dad won the Bronze Medal in the European Championships in Berlin, losing to eventual winner and current Olympic Champion Stanislav Stepashkin, Dick conceded he never got in the medals, he went on to say he never did well behind the Iron Curtain. Dick really opened my eyes when he told me he fought at the Olympics in Rome 1960 winning a Bronze, where a fellow Olympian Cassius Marcellus Clay won Gold and in Dicks opinion Clay should have won the Val Baker award for the best boxer , he’s better known as Muhammad Ali. Dick had won that award four years earlier at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
I walked into the Meadowbank boxing arena with Dick, shaking hands with a few of the boxers then I got shown my way to a ringside seat. It looked like a capacity crowd; you could feel the excitement from the crowd in anticipation of the glorious night that lay ahead.
52kg Liban Elmi, Glasgow Phoenix V Ryan McCutcheon, Clovenstone.
Elmi was by far the taller man and with a much greater reach advantage, his tactics were obviously to keep McCutcheon right on the end of his jab and combinations, however, Ryan McCutcheon was a fast, slick mover getting inside his man with some accurate punches, he moved around the ring as sharp and gracefully as a young Kenny Buchanan. There was not much between the men after two rounds then McCutcheon stepped up a few gears and moved that fast it looked like he was going to set the canvas on fire, he was a very clever boxer throwing punches at will and dominated the last round. The judges scored the contest 13-8 in favour of Ryan McCutcheon. It was McCutcheon’s first year in the seniors and he won the District Title and Scottish Title at the first time of asking.
56kg Joe Ham, Hayfield V Kevin Skey, Lochend.
Kevin Skey squared up to a formidable opponent in Joe Ham. Skey was working away to the body along with straight punches to the head, Ham came back with a variety of punches and it looked like a very even contest. As the fight progressed Skey dug deep and stuck to his game plan while Ham looked comfortable dancing around with loose arms matching his man in every department. After the first two rounds it was equal on the scorecards so it was down to the last round. Ham put the foot on the pedal and clearly out boxed Skey in the final round. Skey returned to his corner shaking his head. The judges scored the contest 18-11 in favour of Joe Ham.
60kg Robbie McKechnie, Greenock V Charlie Flynn, Glasgow Phoenix.
On paper, this fight had the makings of a good fight but fights are not fought on paper and it turned out to be the Charlie Flynn show. Flynn, using a very stand-up stance throwing shots to the head and body never took a backward step; the 19 year old boy really caught my eye as he seemed to wear his opponent down from the opening bell. McKechnie received two standing counts in the 2nd courtesy of a straight right and a left hook and in the 3rd round Flynn threw a devastating punch that left the referee with no choice but to stop the fight in the last round. Charlie Flynn wins by stoppage in the 3rd round.
64kg Jason Easton, Craigmillar V Lewis Benson, Lochend.
Two local boys were next into the ring and the atmosphere was electric, the noise level had cranked up that much you could hardly hear yourself think. Easton was getting through with big right hands to the head while Benson was cleverly working to the head and body with his superior reach advantage. It was fireworks in the 2nd round, at one point Easton threw a solid right hand catching Benson clean on the head and for that moment I got the impression Benson was aware he was close to the ropes because he fell back using the ropes to launch himself into a counter attack. Easton had been slightly ahead on points after each of the first two rounds but midway through the last round Benson found that little bit extra and more importantly his punches were connecting with everything he did. After a very good contest the referee scored the contest 16-14 in favour of Lewis Benson.
69kg Connor Law, Glenrothes V Don Brown, Greenock.
The both boys were southpaws which is something rare to see. This fight was all about Connor Law, he dominated the fight from the opening bell using good body movement that allowed him to throw clean accurate punches that were getting through the defence of Brown. Brown did have some success to a certain extent but Connor Law was by far the cleverer boxer, picking his man off with neat solid punches that reflected in the scoring after each round. In the 3rd round Law caught his man with a big left hook and Brown did well to stay on his feet. The referee scored the contest 17-5 in favour of Connor Law.
75kg Kieran Smith, Springhill V Aston Brown, Lochend.
Aston Brown had recently made the Great Britain Podium Boxing Team and had fought for the British Lionhearts over 5 rounds of boxing using the professional scoring system against a tough Mexico Guerreros. Aston had fought his way through the Scottish Championships and would have easily been excused for not fighting in the Scottish Finals but this man is proud to be Scottish and endeavoured to achieve his goal. Both boxers put up a good show throwing some heavy leather. Brown looked very strong but it was a hard one to predict. The referee scored the contest 12-11 in favour of Aston Brown.
81kg Scott Forrest, Springhill V Jack Knorz, Byron.
Knorz came out looking cagey but Scott Forrest looked well up for the job. After Forrest launched into a two handed attack Knorz seemed to turn his back and the referee immediately went into a standing 8 count. During the second round Knorz got a public warning for bending over followed by another standing 8 count from a body shot. It was beginning to look like a very one sided contest. It was remarkable Knorz came out for the 3rd. After another standing count in the last round the writing was on the wall, however, the fight commenced but after a second standing count in the last round Knorz corner threw the towel in and the referee immediately stopped the contest in the 3rd round. Scott Forrest wins by stoppage in the 3rd round.
91kg Michael Warner, Springhill V Steven Stephen Lavelle, Hayfield.
This was a pretty even contest; both boxers were trying to land clean shots but were doing a good job covering up. I had Lavelle marginally ahead after the first round but the scorecard had Warner in front. There was a lot of tying up, blocking and holding in this contest but I still felt Lavelle was landing the cleaner shots, he landed a good left hook before the bell but the scorecard after the second round still had Warner in front. Lavelle did step up his work rate in the last round and the referee scored the contest 9-8 in favour of Stephen Lavelle.
91+kg Ross Henderson, Springhill V Daniel Gollan, Heriot Watt.
Ross Henderson is a giant of a man who towered above his opponent Daniel Gollan. Henderson worked behind a good jab in the first round while Gollan had to slip underneath to counter and by the end of the first Henderson was bringing in the straight left-right whereas Gollan looked like he was struggling to get through against man mountain Henderson. In the 2nd Henderson was persevering with straights to the head and left screw shots that were not accomplishing the desired effect, Gollan slipped left and right throwing angled shots. In the last round Henderson was putting his punches together and landing with dramatic effect, he hit Gollan with a blistering body shot that could almost be felt sitting in the fourth row. The referee scored the contest 17-11 in favour of Ross Henderson.
Amateur Boxing Scotland not only put on a good show, it was well organised. Dick McTaggart received a lifetime achievement award for his dedication and commitment to amateur boxing. And using the old cliché the official announcer said “every one of the boys that took part in the finals are all winners”.
By Raymond Fraser Buchanan
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