Dan Toward returned from his only career loss to score a stoppage against outgunned Connor Goulding in a junior middleweight six-rounder in Newcastle, England, on the undercard of Josh Kelly’s bout with Flavius Biea.
Toward, from Tyne and Wear, England, downed Goulding with a sharp right hook from his southpaw stance in the fifth. His opponent rose on steady legs, but as Goulding tried to fight back, he did so through a thick fog, and as Toward pounced, the referee – who could have intervened and not allowed Goulding back out after the knockdown – finally waved it off.
Toward is now 6-1 (5 KOs) and was returning from his lone defeat, which came via stoppage to Muzamiru Kakande in March. Goulding, of Liverpool, England, is now 5-4.
In a heavyweight six-rounder, “Magic” Matty Harris dropped Dan Garber twice on his way to a 60-52 decision win. Harris pounded Garber to the body in the fourth, which caused him to drop heavily, and Garber is now 9-6 (2 KOs). Harris improves to 9-1 (7 KOs).
Junior welterweight hope Ben Marksby dropped Nicholas Ariel Blanco and stopped him in three one-sided rounds.
Marksby landed a glorious short left hook that felled Blanco just before the bell to close the second round.
Blanco somewhat reluctantly rose from another knockdown early in the third but had no answer and was down a third and final time from a sweeping left hook to end matters at 2 minutes, 58 seconds of Round 3.
Marksby, of Darlington, England, is 12-0 (2 KOs), while Argentina’s Blanco is 12-4 (1 KO).
Lucas Roehrig, 5-0 (2 KOs), the cruiserweight prospect trained by former world super middleweight titleholder George Groves, won each round of six against France’s Sofiane Quoit, 7-4-2 (2 KOs).
Roehrig got working behind a busy left hand to start with and landed a right hand to the head and to the body. Roehrig was on top to the extent that – in a six-rounder – it seemed like Quoit could be stopped for the first time in his career.
Roehrig, 22 and from London, was able to fire right hands over the visitor’s jab in the second as he increased his dominance.
Quoit was gritty and kept marching forward, but his success was limited. The pattern was similar in the fourth, although both landed heavy left hooks near the end of the round, with Roehrig closing with a meaty right.
Credit to Quoit, who would not be deterred, but Roehrig was a convincing winner, 60-54 for the scoring referee.
A super middleweight eight-rounder between Niall Brown, of Stockport, England, and Matt McCallum saw Brown improve to 15-0 (5 KOs) with a 78-75 points decision win. McCallum, from Morpeth, England, fell to 8-5 (1 KO).
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
