A packed, sold-out crowd at Mote Park in Maidstone witnessed a cracking five-fight card on the last weekend in February on the JE Promotions’ show, titled ‘The New Era’.
Promoter Joe Elfidh showed off his emerging talent from the county of Kent in his first event of 2017, featuring unbeaten prospects, a Southern Area title contender, and an exciting ex-England International.
Richard Harrison (2-13) W PTS v Darren Snow (4-10-1)
Surrey’s Harrison and Yorkshire’s Snow (4-10-1) kicked off the evening’s proceedings in a four-round light-heavyweight contest. Harrison, 31 from Chessington, prevailed on points, doubling his win count.
Luke Gibbo (1-0) W PTS v Ibrar Riyaz (4-114-4)
Former Team GB boxer Luke Gibbo kicked off his paid career with a shutout points win over seasoned veteran Ibrar Riyaz.
With over 80 amateur fights under his belt and more than a dozen appearances for England, Gibbo finally made his eagerly-awaited pro bow over four three-minute rounds at super-lightweight.
The 25-year-old from Bexleyheath came out to ear-splitting reception having sold over 200 tickets for his inauguration into the paid ranks.
In the opposing corner stood 31-year-old Blackburn-born Riyaz, appearing in his 123rd bout. The travelling fighter had experienced a whopping 600 rounds before he entered the ring against Gibbo, only stopped on three rare occasions during his eight-year-long career.
The home fighter immediately showed signs of his amateur pedigree, moving well and taking all four rounds in what was an assured and confident display, scored at 40-36 by the referee Lee Cook.
In the third round, there was a nasty clash of heads with the debutant coming off the worse with a deep gash over his right eye that required 11 stitches post-fight.
Despite the injury that will inevitably keep him out of training for six weeks, Gibbo plans to fight on the next show in Maidstone on May 6th and plans to drop down to lightweight.
Oli Edwards (5-0) TKO 3 v Scott Hillman (0-17)
Despite triumphing in his last fight in just 24 short seconds, the 22-year-old from the Invicta Gym in Sheerness exacted patience, chose his shots wisely, and put in an incredibly mature and intelligent performance.
The unbeaten middleweight established his jab and range early, patiently throwing single shots in the opening minutes until he began to make Hillman miss, subsequently punishing him each time he opened up.
In the closing minute, he began to let the right hand go and put together a few good combos whenever he backed his opponent up on the ropes.
In the second round, a crashing right hook visibly rocked Hillman and in the third round, Edwards upped his work rate sensing a stoppage on the cards.
Tired from the one-sided beat-down, Hillman backed up to the home fighter’s corner allowing Edwards to pepper shots in until the referee had seen enough and handed Hillman with the first stoppage in his paid career so far.
It was an intelligent, skilful, and mature display from the youngster to beat an opponent that had previously never been stopped in his 16-month-long professional career.
It was the 160-pounder’s second consecutive TKO win having blasted out former foe Laszlo Kovacs (9-4) in just 24-seconds in his last outing in October 2016.
Martin Hillman (9-3) W PTS v Kamil Jaworek (3-5)
It was an untidy fight between Sidcup’s Hillman and Polish opponent Jaworek, each fighter having a point deducted for holding.
The travelling fighter made it a hard night’s work for the Southern Area title contender by spoiling, consistently holding, and generally just making use of his awkward southpaw stance.
The 25-year-old featherweight from Sidcup kept going and managed to secure his ninth career-win on points.
Hillman will be looking to challenge for the Southern Area featherweight title next, having already experienced the 10-round championship contest at the weight above when he took on Boy Jones last November.
Chris Matthews (6-0) W PTS v Russ Midgley (1-14-2)
Unbeaten super-featherweight Chris Matthews continued his unbeaten streak with a points win over 34-year-old Russ Midgley from Yorkshire.
It was a good learning fight for the 130-pounder, who unfortunately came away with a cut on the underside of his chin due to a head clash. His opponent was also cut earlier on in the fight.
The fight would be best described as a good ol’ tear up with Matthews edging every round closely.
Promoter Joe Elfidh commented on the successful show, “It was a good atmosphere, packed crowd, and all the fighters had good fights coming away with another win on the record.
“There was an after-party at The Gallery in Maidstone town centre afterwards which all the fans with a ticket were given free entry to, which was good.
“Next show at Mote Park is already confirmed for May 6th.”
For tickets to the next show, visit https://www.facebook.com/JEsportsnetwork/ or call 07883 943994
JE Promotions would like to thank Kent Trade Frames – Campbell Nutrition – Invicta Gym and PR Manager Tim Rickson