Wisbech Heavyweight prospect Eli Frankham secures sensational victory over Indian star Arjun
On Saturday night Southend’s Mollie Edgington hosted her second ever professional boxing event, under the TFM Promotions banner, at the Basildon Sport and Leisure Club, and those in attendance were treated to an all action night of boxing that was set to culminate with the much anticipated eight round showdown between Wisbech unbeaten prospect Eli Frankham (5-0-0) and Indian #1 Arjun (6-2-0).
Both Frankham and Arjun have exceptional amateur pedigrees, both being former star athletes; in Arjun’s case he was a Wrestling Champion as well as a successful amateur boxer before progressing to the professional ranks.
Frankham’s boxing back story though is by far superior, his amateur record was 33 fights, 29 victories, and the accolades he accrued during this time include; two time open class Golden Gloves champion, Junior English Champion (ABA) and two BoxCup titles, however Frankham says his greatest achievement was securing a gold medal for England at the European Championships when just 14 years old.
So the scene is set, two highly accomplished athletes determined to make it to the top in the pro ranks set to lock horns in battle.
After some initial little feel out exchanges from both boxers Frankham went on the attack letting off a big left followed by a left, right, left combination. Arjun then landed a straight to Frankham’s body, Frankham responded with a big right and then a left to the body, followed with a left to the head and then a big right to the head.
Frankham’s next attack was very much in a similar vein and featured firstly a left, then a big right, then both fighters exchanged jabs followed by an incredibly fast left, right, left, right combination by Frankham and almost immediately another powerful combination.
Each time Arjun would come forward Frankham went straight on the attack, in this particular skirmish Frankham started with a jab followed by a quick combination to body and head, then as the round progressed the Wisbech man corralled Arjun towards a corner before letting rip with big combinations, forcing the Indian to cover up initially.
Arjun is as tough as they come, he then took the fight to Frankham, landing a couple of jabs, to which Frankham responded with a big left, followed by another stinging left, right combination before proceeding to once again put Arjun on the back-foot with powerful jabs followed by scintillating fast and powerful left, right combination just seconds before the bell.
Round two started with Frankham targeting Arjun’s body with big lefts followed by a double jab to the head, Arjun responds with a powerful jab, Frankham responded with another powerful double jab that sends the Arjun back towards the ropes where Frankham initially fires a stinging jab before letting rip with an Exocet of a right hand.
Arjun manages to move out of range initially but Frankham then comes in and fires another series of combinations, Arjun again steps out of range but Frankham is on him again letting rip with a couple of powerful jabs before firing a big right to the head. Arjun then manages to slip a big right from Frankham and moves to centre ring.
Frankham soon takes back control of centre ring and forces Arjun back toward the ropes with a couple of powerful jabs followed by a big right, Arjun then grabs hold, and does a couple of tapitty tap shots to Frankham’s side just before referee Adrian Thorne separated them.
Arjun then starts to walk Frankham back and just as he goes to throw a jab Frankham strikes first with a big left followed by an even more powerful right. With Frankham controlling centre ring Arjun initially comes forward and throws a big jab, Frankham responds with an even bigger one, before backing Arjun to the the ropes before firing off another powerful right to the body, Arjun then tries to move around his opponent, but Frankham is quick, he repositions and lets rip with another big combination.
Again Arjun attempts to reverse their roles and goes forward behind a cracking jab, only to receive an even more powerful jab straight back. Arjun responds in kind and Frankham returns the compliment once more. Arjun unfazed and again behind the jab attempts to back Frankham onto the ropes, Frankham is having none of it and fires off another powerful combination forcing the Indian back initially, just as the protagonists just started another exchange the bell rang to end round two.
Round three action opens with a double jab from Frankham followed by a straight left to the body and then another big left to the head followed by a powerful jab and then a big right to the body.
Frankham, with firm control of centre ring started to move Arjun back toward the ropes with powerful jabs, Arjun responds and had some initial success but then sensational ringcraft and movement from Frankham turned things back into his immediate control via a cracking step aside and a big left hook.
Arjun then got behind his jab in an attempt to back Frankham up, however Frankham just stood his ground and responded with a massive right that forced Arjun to step back, which opened the door for another couple of big jabs from Frankham, again the Indian responded in kind with a jab, but straight away Frankham came back with a big double left followed by a big left, right to the body.
Then just as Arjun threw another jab, Frankham anticipated the shot and let rip with a big double jab, followed by a straight left and big right to the body.
Arjun had managed to get a semblance of control of centre ring but each time he came forward Frankham lets rip with big powerful jabs to keep his opponent just where he wanted him before firing another big combination.
Arjun just didn’t back down, he just went forward behind a big jab once more, after a short clinch Frankham got the action gong again with a stinging jab followed by a powerful straight right to the body followed by some seriously powerful combinations to body and head.
With Arjun now backed into a corner, Frankham initially uses his jab to set up a big right followed by an equally powerful left, Arjun attempted to respond but Frankham just let rip with another powerful left.
The protagonists exchanged a few more jabs followed by a cracking uppercut from Frankham, again Arjun instigated a clinch until Adrian Thorne separated them just before the bell tolled to end the third stanza.
Round four action begins with Frankham, behind the jab, backing Arjun towards the ropes once more before letting rip with a big powerful right that sends the Indian of balance initially, Frankham then follows up with a big right, a stinging left to the body and big right to the head.
Frankham then focused on the head with two big jabs before letting rip with massive left, right, Arjun responded with a left, right of his own, Frankham then shot out an arcing left and another powerful combination, Arjun responded with a right, Frankham immediately fires a big left, then another and then another big arcing left to the head.
Arjun again positioned himself centre ring and attempted to put Frankham on the back foot, Frankham just calmly used his jab before firing a beautiful uppercut, Arjun responds with a double handed flurry but Frankham just walked through before firing another big right, followed by a left to the body and a right to the head and then repeated the same combination of punches and a left to body followed by a bigger left to the head, which he followed up with a left and a big right.
The pair then exchanged a couple of jabs before Frankham slipped in a cracking left to the body, a big right to the head and a massive uppercut, that if had landed I’m sure would have finished the fight there and then.
Frankham then fires a big right and another left to the body, which again he immediately repeated not once but twice in quick succession that sent Arjun back towards the ropes once more, Arjun threw a couple of lefts in an attempt to slow Frankham’s forward trajectory, Frankham, still moving forward, just covered up before responding with a massive right, Arjun stood his ground and threw a tidy double handed combination. Frankham then started to get behind his jab to push his opponent back towards the ropes, but Arjun was having none of it and used his jab and ringcraft to gain control of centre ring.
Frankham wasn’t fazed by this one iota and let rip with a cracking left to which Arjun responded with a big right, immediately Frankham see an opening and fired a big right just as the bell rang to end the round.
In the opening seconds of the fifth Frankham send a left to the body then a right to the head, before moving forward to back Arjun into a corner and letting rip with a big right to the body, Arjun responds with a right of his own, only to immediately cover up as Frankham fires a left, right combination to the body.
Arjun responds with a solid right to which Frankham responds with a big right of his own. Frankham then gets behind his jab to line his opponent up for a massive left, right flurry to the body followed by a solid right to the head and a left to the body.
Arjun shrugged them off and moved forward behind his jab, Frankham just stood his ground and fired a big stinging left and right combination, Arjun again instigates a clinch, no surprise really as they were big shots from the Wisbech man.
Frankham then got behind his jab, firing four before Arjun responds with a right, which didn’t land but instead left an opening that Frankham was not going to ignore and he responds with a solid right.
Frankham keeps up the pressure with a stinging left to the body followed by a big right to the head and a big left, right combination to the body. Arjun moves away initially but no matter as wherever he goes Frankham is right there in front of him and fires a big right to the head that send the Indian’s head back, Frankham then firs a heavy left, Arjun walked straight through and throws a couple of air jabs before going into a clinch.
On the restart Frankham throws a left to body, right to the head and immediately a straight right to the body, Arjun responds with a double jab, Frankham does a little shimmy and fires a big straight right to the head, then another left, right, left, Arjun continues his forward movement, Frankham sidesteps Arjun’s jab, however the Indian once more instigated a clinch.
Almost immediately after the referee signals fight on, Frankham send a big left into his opponents face, followed by a straight right to the body, Arjun responds with a left to the body of his own followed by a right, Frankham slips the incoming shot and fires a cracking right that clearly hurt his opponent as Arjun immediately went into a clinch again.
As the stanza continued Frankham throws a sweet uppercut followed by a big right to head and left to the body, Arjun responds with a sharp uppercut but then instigates another clinch.
No sooner does Referee Adrian Thorne separate them Frankham throws a big right, Arjun responds with a big right of his own, however Frankham savviness came into play as the Wisbech man slips under the shot and just as he goes to thrown a right of his own the bell chimes to end round five.
Round six starts with Frankham getting behind his jab to line up a massive overhand right, which Arjun just managed to avoid landing, Arjun then gets behind his jab and what follows is a short jabbing contest punctuated with some big shots and then a big left, right from the Wisbech man.
Frankham then once more got behind his jab, before letting rip a three punch left handed flurry, Arjun once again positioned himself centre ring and began to hang out some jabs as he walked Frankham back towards the ropes and letting rip with a big right, Frankham side stepped and throws a jab followed by a big right to the head, followed by a left, right, left to the head.
Arjun was clearly hurt but showed plenty of bravado as he beats his chest and beckons Frankham in, Frankham responds with a left, right, then a big right straight in the Indian’s face, then another, then another, Arjun stands his ground and fires a big right of his own, Frankham responds with a big left, right, left and culminating in a big right to the head. Arjun backs up the Wisbech man but before can get his shot off receives a sharp left to the face, Frankham then moves around and as Arjun comes in again lets rip with a massive right to the head, Arjun responds with a jab and receives a left to the head in reply, then another big left, right, left combination.
Arjun then throws a lovely jab, only to receive an even better one in reply, so throws another before grabbing hold of the Wisbech man. Once Adrian Thorne separates them Frankham throws a heavy right to the body, Arjun responds with a jab but only to receive a big right hook to the head that really rocked him and forced him to once again grab and hold on to the Wisbech man.
Once separated Frankham got behind his jab, Arjun responds in kind just as Frankham lands yet another big right, and another bodyshop, Arjun then powers forward throwing a big shot that misses by millimetre or two, Frankham then responds with some huge shots that rock the Indian lad so much so that Adrian Thorne steps in and just as he is about to stop the fight, the bell tolls for the end of the sixth.
Initially there was a discussion between Arjun’s corner and the officials, as it was clear that Referee Adrian Thorne was rightfully stepping in to stop the fight literally as the bell rung. Both Arjun and his coach accepted the decision of the referee to stop the fight without argument.
Phew what a fight, these two warriors are something special, however it really showcased Frankham, who is without doubt a world class operator already and I’m confident to say will be a future Champion.
Promoter Mollie Edgington put together a short highlight reel – see below
Prior to Frankham vs Arjun was a four round Super Middleweight contest between William Hill (2-0-0 (2 KO)) against Belfasts Marty Kayes (11-62-1).
What a cracking fight, Hill an all action fighter against one of the most tough and durable fighters around in Kayes, when I say durable, Kayes has only been stopped once and that was against the World Class Iain Weaver.
The fight itself was a little one sided, with Hill on the attack mainly, but Kayes wasn’t just covering up, oh no he was up for the fight and on occasion took the fight to Hill. After four entertaining rounds Referee Adrian Thorne scored the contest 40-36 in favour of Hill.
The fourth fight of the night see flyweight Lynsey Perrin (2-0-0) in a six rounder against late replacement Tilly Jones, who stepped up last minute to face the unbeaten Perrin after her original opponent Kamaljeet Kaur, whose flight from India was massively delayed following the Air India crash just a few days earlier.
Have to say she may have been a late replacement, but boy oh boy Jones was as game as they come, often taking the fight to Perrin.
Perrin won the first round, the second was drawn, Perrin secured the third , and another drawn round in the fourth, unfortunately that’s how far the highly entertaining fight went as Jones’ corner informed referee Adrian Thorne that she would not becoming out for the fifth, no reason was stated, she didn’t’t appear to have any injury, however the contest was fought at a frantic pace.
The third fight of the night see Aberdeen’s David McDonald (2-1-0) take on Nottingham’s Andy Goy (0-5-0) in a four round Heavyweight contest.
Initially it was a very competitive fight with both combatants slugging it out, then about a minute or so in McDonald landed a peach of an uppercut to send Goy to the canvas. Goy looked a bit annoyed as he raised to his feet, easily beating the count, and on the restart took the fight to McDonald and a cracking battle was developing but came to a crashing halt as McDonald threw a pinpoint perfect shot to the Nottingham man’s chin, Goy was slow getting up of the canvas causing concern to referee Adrian Thorne who then waved the fight off on the two minute fifty eight second mark of the first round.
The second fight of the night was a four round flyweight contest between Sheffield’s debuting Jade ‘Sniper’ Smith and Burton-on-Trent’s Chloe Elizabeth Smith (0-3-1).
Jade Smith, a former Regimental Boxing Team Captain, is a two time Silver Medalist and a National Development Finalist For The British Army Boxing Team 2019, came out hard and fast, initially overwhelming Chloe Smith, however Chloe soon settled down and a cracking fight began to develop.
Jade Smith, who had secured both of the first two rounds, stepped it up in the third putting Chloe on the back foot for almost the entire first half of the round, Chloe did manage to get some shots off but it was mainly one way traffic. Around the one minute thirty second mark Jade backed Chloe into her own corner and let rip with a heavy handed flurry of shots that rocked Chloe, who was forced to cover up and eventually on the one minute and forty eight second mark Referee stepped in and waved the fight off, as the shots were all going just one way.
Great debut by Jade Smith, who definitely impressed and is a genuine future prospect in the division.
Those that attended Mollie Edgington’s first event, that was held at the Arlington Ballroom in Leigh-on-Sea back in March, would have already been aware that Mollie approaches things a little differently to most in the sport and probably wasn’t too surprised that the opening fight of the night would feature a former six time, five division World Champion, in Lee ‘The Aberdeen Assassin’ McAllister (51-3-0) against a rising Indian prospect Manish (8-3-1) in a four round Middleweight contest.
Manish definitely was up for it, taking the fight to McAllister, however McAllister is one class act and although Manish was constantly coming forward he could barely land a glove on the savvy Scotsman, who just picked off his opponent at will for virtually the entire duration of the first two rounds.
When the two protagonists came out for the third McAllister took centre ring and ‘played’ with his opponent for about thirty seconds or so and then stepped in to land a couple of cracking shots to slow his highly mobile opponent before letting rip with a lightning fast pin point accurate body shot to send Manish to the canvas, the Indian lad made it to his feet in six but as soon as he tried to straighten up, collapsed to the canvas once more and clearly in a lot of pain, leaving referee Adrian Thorne no option but to wave the contest off on the forty one second mark.
What can I say, congratulations to Mollie Edgington for producing a such great fight night, and to her matchmaker Giles Carter for excellent matching, between them they really made the show something special.
