Report by Gianluca Di Caro and Photos courtesy of Shootin’ It Photography
As Storm Amy battered the North West of England last weekend causing carnage and massive travel disruption in it’s wake TFM Boxing Promotions’ glamorous head honcho Mollie Edgington travelled from her base in Southend-on-Sea on the South coast to Liverpool where she had joined forces with Wirral Fight Clubs’ Sean Keshahoya to present an all action night of of International professional boxing at the Fusion Night Club.
The journey was clearly worth it as the event was a massive success despite last minute dramas caused by not only the appalling weather, but also delays in the UK visa system which prevented a couple of the fighters from overseas making the journey.
One of those that failed to make it to the UK in time was Ghana’s Leticia Amanua Ankrah (5-0-0) who was due to face Jade ‘Sniper’ Smith (3-0-0), however the plucky and very determined Ms Edgington and her matchmaker Giles Carter were not going to let a little thing like that get in the way and hit the phones on Friday to arrange a last minute replacement in India’s Rajwant Kaur (5-6-0).
However that wasn’t the end of the woes as Rajwant Kaur was in London and due to the travel chaos the journey took nearly eight hours and she only made it to Liverpool an hour or so before the event started, but at least she had made it and the fight would go ahead.
The opening round was a cracker, Sniper Smith, who clearly had been training and preparing for the seriously tough Ankrah fight, came out hard and fast working behind sensational solid jabs to control the proceedings forcefully. Kaur though used her experience to great effect and held her own against the endless barrage in the first.
More of the same from Sniper in the second, and eventually the full-on onslaught wore down the Indian lass who let her solid guard drop for just a fleeting ,moment which put her right in Sniper’s sights who instantly fired a big solid right to send Kaur to the canvas.
Kaur recovered but Sniper Smith had her target fully in her sights now and went into full attack mode, the resulting outcome was Kaur was down for a second time, this time though there was no way back and Referee Adrian Thorne declared the contest over on the one minute and forty five seconds mark.
Next up see Jamie Bramhall making his professional debut against Manchester’s John Spencer (1-42-0) in a four round Lightweight contest.
Wow, this was a great closely fought all action affair which see both protagonists going at it hammer and tongs for virtually the full four rounds. Referee Adrian Thorne scored the contest 40-37 in favour of the debuting Bramhall.
Wrexham’s Scott ‘Lefty’ Kearns, who was also making his pro debut, was next in action against tough Indian bruiser Bhinder Singh (1-4-0), and just like the previous Bramhall versus Spencer was a full on closely fought war for the full four rounds. Referee Adrian Thorne scored in favour of Kearns by a 40-37 points margin.
The fourth fight of the night featured another pro debut, this time Jordan O’Grady who faced India’s Sunil Kumar (4-8-1).
Just like the previous two contests this was a full on closely fought Battle Royale, and I do mean a Battle Royale in the literal sense.
First round was so close Referee Adrian Thorne scored it a draw. O’Grady got the nod on the second via a knockdown, then in the third it was Kumar that secured the round via a knockdown, so going into the fourth and final round it was all even 28-28 score, leaving everything down to the final round.
Kumar initially took control of the round with full on attacks to body and head, O’Grady mainly focused on countering with precision shots, which really paid dividends midway through the round when he landed a peach of a body shot to send the Indian lad to the canvas for a second time, and in doing so securing O’Grady the contest by stoppage on the one minute and thirty nine second mark.
The fifth fight of the night also featured a debuting fighter, Stockport’s Dylan ‘Dynamite’ Daniels who faced Belfast’s highly experienced and seriously tough Marty Kayes (12-67-1).
Right from the off Daniels went in hard and fast let rip with big lefts and rights, Kayes though is as savvy as they get and thwarted most attacks with great defensive work. That didn’t stop the all action Daniels going for it big time for virtually the full distance. After four all action rounds it was to Referee Adrian Thorne’s scorecard, which read 40-36 in favour of Dynamite Daniels.
Next up was a contest between two pro debuting fighters, Wrexham based Pawel ‘Polish Power’ Cichonski versus Stoke-on-Trent’s Alex ‘Banger’ Barber, in a four round Light Heavyweight contest.
What a cracking all action contest to start the second half of the event, these two lads put on one hell of a fight, crazy as it may sound even better than those that preceded it, and they were all genuinely fantastic fights.
Each round was so closely fought that it was hard to split them, however it was Cichonski who enjoyed the sweet taste of victory, due in part to knockdowns in the third and fourth rounds. After four scintillating rounds Referee Adrian Thorne’s scorecard read 40-35 in favour of Pawel ‘Polish Power’ Cichonski.
The seventh fight of the night featured Bolton’s seriously slick Peter ‘Pretty Boy’ Booth (2-0-0) against India’s Sandeep Kumar (6-8-0).
Right from the opening bell it looked like yet another all action war was initiated and it was, for as long as it lasted, which was just two minutes and fourteen seconds, as the fight was waved off on the ringside doctors advice following a knockdown that came after Booth let rip with a massive onslaught of huge left and rights after backing the Indian lad on to the ropes. Whilst Kumar did make it to his feet in time, he had clearly sustained an arm or shoulder injury and was in quite some pain.
The next fight should have been a match up between Guildford’s sensational unbeaten William Hill (5-0-0) against India’s Mukesh Kumar (5-2-1), however Kumar didn’t receive his visa in time so in steps Blackpool’s Kyle Boothman (0-3-0) at very late notice.
Again it was a cracking all action affair, both lads really went for it right from the off. Boothman is as tough as they come as Hill has won four of his previous fight by way of stoppage, yet Boothman was very much in the fight until the final bell. Referee Adrian Thorne scored the bout 40-36 in favour of William Hill.
Penultimate fight of the night pitted Birkenhead’s debuting Dava Wilko against Nottingham’s Andy ‘Bad Boy’ Goy (0-6-0).
The opening round was closely fought, both lads really went for it, Wilko secured the round but only just and he probably knew it as when he came out in the second he really went up through the gears and pilled the pressure on, no surprise due to the ferocity of Wilko’s attacks that Goy crumpled to the canvas early on, Bad Boy made it to his feet and the fight was restarted, Wilko wasn’t going to leave anything to chance and went straight back in hard and fast and shortly after landed a peach of a shot to send Goy down a second time. This time though referee Adrian Thorne decided Goy was not fit to continue and stopped the contest dead on the one minute mark.
Headline fight of the night was due to pit Wisbech’s sensational unbeaten Eli Frankham (7-0-0) against Accra, Ghana’s Agoe Ashong (13-4-0), however due to aforementioned visa issues Ashong failed to make it to the UK and worse still trying to secure a replacement opponent at such short notice was proving to be a headache for event matchmaker Giles Carter, however with some help from co-promoter Sean Keshahoya did mange to secure Simon Edwards.
Frankham is seriously class, he’s slick and really packs massive punching power, in many ways he reminds me of two time IBF Cruiserweight World Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham in his prime. Yeah he’s that good, so kudos to Edwards for stepping up to the plate at such short notice.
The opening round was unsurprisingly more or less an exhibition of Frankham’s ringcraft and boxing skills, although saying that Edwards was game and up for the fight.
As the round progressed into the final minute Frankham was backing Edwards up and let rip with a lightning fast combination that culminated with a precision pin point perfect left hook, Edwards was out cold even before he crashed to the canvas, referee Adrian Thorne immediately went to Edwards aid and got him in the recovery position just as the doctor and paramedics arrived at the prone boxer’s side. I’m pleased to report that Edwards is OK – for the record, the time of the stoppage was two minutes and thirty four seconds of the first round.
What a night of pugilistic action, and for those that missed it well it’s been announced that Mollie Edgington and Sean Keshahoya will be presenting a second instalment at the Fusion in Liverpool on Saturday 6th December 2025.
