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Fight Night Live Report: Martin McDonagh Retains Southern Area Title

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 30th April 2023.

Martin McDonagh beats Ben Smith

Martin McDonagh and Ben Smith fought ten tense and title-worthy rounds in London to top the bill of the second Fight Night Live promotion.

McDonagh won the belt here at York Hall in September of last year with a tenth round stoppage over Connor Marsden. This is his third contest at lightweight after fighting around 140lb since the beginning of his career, crediting a good camp and a new nutritionist as the keys to finding his best weight. Smith, the dance partner for his first defence, entered the ring unbeaten – all over the distance – but couldn’t boast the same level of competition as the champion.

Smith started strong, finding a home for the right hand almost at will. McDonagh was undeterred, making it his business to fire back and keep the challenger from finding a comfortable rhythm. As he grew into the fight, buoyed by the York Hall support, McDonagh was timing Smith well from his southpaw stance. It was Smith’s first time past six rounds and his early success dwindled somewhat to let the champion edge ahead. He was there until the final bell though, coping with the step-up to extra rounds well and giving an excellent account of himself.

Although neither man looked close to going down, McDonagh had a success in a swarming round nine and showed some extra grit that clearly looked good to the ringside judge. Many had it a draw, others either way with suitable arguments to back their decision up. On the one scorecard that mattered, McDonagh took it 96-94, keeping the belt in a well-matched, well-paced Southern Area scrap.

Elsewhere on the card, England NAC finalist, Roni Rea Dean, was welcomed to the featherweight pro ranks by Slovakia’s Klaudia Fenrenczi in a fire fight from the first. Dean was determined to put on a show and had a bloodied nose in the third for her troubles. The fourth was a messier affair, both holding rather than trading, but Dean landed a big shot on the bell. She moved well ahead in the fifth as Fenrenczi started to tire. The Slovakian was still giving it her all in the final round though, delighting the crowd and giving Dean the chance to showcase some incredible grit. She took it on the cards, perhaps a little wider than Fenrenczi deserved.

After five straight wins at 130lb, Robert Caswell made his lightweight debut against Nicaragua’s Cristian Narvaez. He worked the body well and showed a solid jab helped along by nice feints. A six-round unanimous decision.

Martin Foru – a Dutch super middleweight fighting out of London – danced to the ring to face Poland’s Patryk Polasik. Foru fancied an early night, pawing out a jab to meet Polasik and throwing a short right hand at his first available opportunity. It dropped the Pole, whose attempt to stand and continue was futile.

Michael Webber Kane dominated Stockport’s Sam Melville over six rounds before producing two thudding right hooks to end it early. The finish saw him move to 8-0 at 135lb and with his first stoppage victory – appropriate celebrations came after ringside doctors made sure Melville had recovered.

Featherweight Amy Andrew faced Cristina Busuioc over four rounds and came away with the decision victory. Brandan Olbrechts returned to the ring following a first-round stoppage over Jamie Quinn against durable journeyman, Lee Hallet. Olbrechts took all four rounds on the scorecard and progressed to 5-0 in the lightweight division. Tom Simmons moved to 4-0 in the heavyweight ranks with a points victory over Rhys Kaney – known as ‘The Fat Ballerina.’