It was party time and the people of Aberdeen were so friendly I felt gratified how welcome they made you feel, it was an honour and a privilege to be amongst such worthy hosts. The hall was shaped like a thrupenny bit with a balcony all around and the noise level started to crank up, the atmosphere was tremendous and a joy to behold, the Beach Ballroom was certainly the place to be if you were in Aberdeen on Saturday night. The announcer belted out “Welcome to the cauldron”.
The first boxers to make their way to the ring were local Polish man Marek Laskowski and Tamworth’s Matt Seawright in a Light-Welterweight contest set at 10st 4lbs over 6 x 2 min rounds. Seawright looked pumped up, bouncing around and raring to go whereas Laskowski looked more cool, calm and relaxed. At the start of the fight both boxers looked a bit tentative, Seawright throwing haymakers without any joy and southpaw Laskowski worked his way in behind the straight right jab. Laskowski started to put punches together noticeably landing some big left hands, Seawright’s work was looking untidy by the 3rd while Laskowski was really warming to the task and finding his range, getting through with some solid punches, apart from a brief exchange in the last round he was in cruise control and it was an easy decision for the referee to make. The contest was scored 60-54 in favour of Marek Laskowski.
Next up was a 6 x 2 min round Welterweight contest set at 10st 9lbs over between Brighton boxer Kevin McCauley and The Assassin’s little brother Mathew ‘The Hawk’ McAllister who came in to a rapturous applause with the hall erupting and singing along to ‘The bonnie banks of Loch Lomond’. While stretching off McAllister was as much as sitting on the canvas before the bell rang then launched himself at McCauley who let go a combination of punches, McAllister threw a straight right then mostly delivered left hooks to the body and head, smiling throughout. After an even exchange of punches McCauley was grinning tenaciously at his man, McAllister returned the gesture in kind with nice left hand work and the crowd began to chant songs in tune to the tempo of the fight. McCauley wrestled his man to the ground but it did not affect the work rate of McAllister, he merely tapped his man on the break smiling while like a Cheshire cat, he frustrated McCauley with almost everything he done but his opponent was not for budging. McCauley had put up a fight but in the latter stages ‘The Hawk’ was bossing the fight landing accurate shots to the head, the crowd were singing in harmony like a choir and due to the seat I chose to sit in I got sprayed in the face with water and accidentally got spat on. The referee scored the contest 59-55 in favour of Mathew McAllister who remains unbeaten.
The following fight was a super-Featherweight contest at 9st 6lbs where Aberdeen’s Darren Traynor was up against Sid Razak over 6 x 2 minute rounds. Traynor had been out of action for a year due to a hand injury but came out throwing multiple combinations that led on to finishing with double left hook's to the head, the sheer volume of punches were outstanding using fast hands and tidy footwork. As the rounds progressed Traynor was relentless with his work rate, Sid Razak had little resolve and threw nothing of notability, however, he did start to stalk his man round the ring in the 5th but the mobility and class of Traynor gave him very little opportunity to land any telling shots. Traynor’s pace slowed down a touch as the fight came to a climax in the last round and Razak had his best round of the fight but it was too little too late, Traynor easily out boxed his man and made it look like a stroll in the park, he worked hard throughout the fight and kept his unbeaten status as the referee scored the contest 60-54 in favour of Darren Traynor.
Top of the bill was an International Welterweight contest at 10st 7lbs over 6 x 3 minute rounds featuring Lee ‘The Aberdeen Assassin’ McAllister and Slovakian opponent Ivan ‘The Little Dragon’ Godor. McAllister made his way to the ring with a medley of songs including The A Team theme song, Let’s get ready to rumble and The Proclaimer’s 500 Miles, the crowd were in great spirit, everyone was standing, dancing, cheering and singing along. The atmosphere was electric and the people in attendance were having a ball. Lee McAllister had been out of action for 14 months and this was his homecoming. After the formal announcements the opening bell rang, it was a tentative start to the contest where both boxers were reluctant to fully commit themselves. McAllister was content with finding his range with the jab, he connected with a good left hook, back on the jab and continued to work to the head. Godor tried to touch gloves at the start of the 2nd but McAllister rightly refused and just laughed with contempt. Godor did little to improve his slow start and McAllister landed a banging left hook that rocked his man back a few shaky steps but never went in for the kill. He was following Godor like a shadow as if he was looking to take his man out with a single shot. By the 3rd round McAllister was totally in command of a barely existent Godor, after another solid shot to the body, once again he let his man off the hook. At the end of the round Godor tried to tie up McAllister but was thrown to the canvas by a shrug of the shoulder. McAllister was winning the fight comfortably, smiling throughout at Godor who was nodding back and pawing out a jab. The fight was pretty much one way traffic, McAllister looked very strong in the last round, Godor came forward before the final bell where the boxers did engage in an exchange of punches after which McAllister jolted his man again then the bell rang. Referee Kenny Pringle gave every round to Lee McAllister and scored the contest 60-54.
It was a great night in Aberdeen, the people in attendance were both courteous and well mannered and it was a pleasure to experience a night in the cauldron of the Beach Ballroom.
After such a long time out the boxing ring it was nice to see Lee get six rounds under his belt, so I surmise the message McAllister put out was that ‘The Assassin is Back’.
By Raymond Fraser Buchanan
Photography by George Mackie
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