With myself being off from university for a couple of weeks, I felt it was nice to take a break from covering university sports and instead do a little post on a major North East boxing event. I’m of course talking about the fight between Stuart Hall and Martin Ward.
It was set to be a historic night for North East boxing! For the first time in history, two boxers hailing from the North East would fight for a World boxing Championship… more specifically the IBF Bantamweight Championship.
The champion Stuart Hall, born in Darlington, took on the Durham-born challenger Martin Ward at the Metro Radio arena in Newcastle for the right to be called World Champion. It was a night to remember for North-East boxing as with similar records, a close encounter was to be expected. The anticipation was building as the region and the nation feasted its eyes on these two local fighters with something to prove on the big stage.
BBC Tees’ Rob Law and Andy Bell were holding it down at ringside with the rest of the press as these two made their way to the ring. When the bell rang, fists were flying from both competitors. It was really anyone’s for the taking. But a clash of heads put the brakes on this battle.
At the end of the first round, Ward had received a nasty cut but still seemed raring to go for the second round. However, it wasn’t long until the ref decided to stop the match. The fight was declared a technical draw as fans and boxers were enraged.
It was still a monumental occasion for the North East. There’s reason to have a gripe though. It’ll be a long time before a rematch is able to take place. With Ward unlikely to be ready for any quick rematches due to facial injuries, both Ward and Hall both need to make mandatory title defences which could take a long time to make happen. After which, both boxers may be moving on to different things. So seeing a match like this again may be a while away.
Also, Ward AND Hall are gonna be a little steamed. Hall would have wanted the chance to knock off Ward in a legitimate fashion and Ward obviously misses out on the World Title. However, I do think it still sends a big statement to the rest of the nation of the fact that two North-East boxers were able to get in such a state of success and that led to a match like taking place in the first place. And despite this fight, Hall and Ward both still have the tools to make it in further in boxing. But let’s all hope for a rematch despite such an anti-climactic finish.
Related Articles
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/mar/30/stuart-hall-ibf-bantamweight-title-martin-ward
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/boxing/martin-ward-deserves-another-crack-6897843
Courtside Teesside 