Scotland were guilty of seriously underestimating the quality of opposition from the island of Cyprus in the representative international boxing match held in the magnificent venue that is the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on Friday the 9th of February. If they haven’t underestimated the quality then the boxer’s records had lost something in translation from the Cypriots, as this match up ended with a 4-4 result with one exhibition match (due to weight differences) on a 9 bout show. This match was part of a double header for the men from the Mediterranean, with the second leg being held this coming Sunday in Kinross. Having swapped the warmth of the Mediterranean for the cold snow of the North of Scotland, the Cypriot team were not about to be caught cold in the ring and showed a great deal of quality throughout their team. The last bout of the night was the one which had the crowd roaring their approval, if only because it was necessary for Scott Ross of Inverness to salvage Scottish pride with a victory to bring the show to a close and level the scores. Ross did this in no uncertain fashion as he used his longer reach to hurt Kyriacos Yiagkou with clubbing shots and giving the Cypriot standing counts in the 1st and 3rd rounds. Yiagkou though, was game and boxed through to the final bell when lesser men would have crumpled under the force of the shots.
Scotland Cyprus
Frank Docherty (Inverness) won pts Angelos Filippou
Joe Ham (Dennistoun) lost pts Akis Tsakalides
John Thomson (Dennistoun) won pts Kyriacos Sakarides
Blair Wilson (Peterhead) won pts Tasos Gkiosou
Steven Palmer (Inverness) lost pts Andreas Kouzapas
David Nash (Lochside) lost pts Andreas Jatjistyllis
Douglas Kane (Inverness) exhibition Michalis Filippou
Don McCulloch (Lochside) lost pts Giorgis Danatsides
Scott Ross (Inverness) won pts Kyriacos Yiagkou
The Cypriot team will have enjoyed the hospitality laid on by host club Inverness City and their coach, Liverpool born Laurie Redfern. The Scots team too will have gained by some of them boxing against opponents who were far superior to that which their records showed, and the team who box in the second leg of this trip in Kinross will be much wiser.
If complacency or naivety had been the hallmark of the opening leg of this two match representative International on the part of the selectors, then no such attitude of laissez faire was present in the second of the two matches. Friday had shown what the Cypriot team had to offer by way of boxers with good schooling in all aspects of the sport. Kinross Boxing Academy hosted the second show which was open to the public as opposed to the wine and dine. A sell-out crowd were treated to 9 bouts and another exhibition. Pick of the afternoon’s bouts was the one between Danny King and Kyriacos Sakarides which ebbed and flowed throughout with both boys having periods of ascendancy. However, in the end Sakarides redressed his earlier defeat in Inverness with counter punches which were crisp and accurate. For drama you couldn’t have asked for more than the bout which featured Ryan Warden and Akis Tsakalides in the 2nd bout of the card. The opening round was fought at a pace which could never be sustained over the bout with both lads throwing leather which was blurred by the speed. Notwithstanding the speed they were both catching their opponents with the blows delivered. The need to conserve energy for the later rounds was rendered superfluous, as within 5 seconds of the start of the 2nd round Tsakalides caught Warden with a superb left hook to the chin. The referee recognising that the young Kinross boxer was sparked out, dispensed with the count and called the doctor in attendance. Fortunately Ryan was not hurt, rather he was shocked at the bolt that had hit him from out of the blue. He’d recovered by the time the presentations were made.
Scotland Cyprus
Frank Docherty (Inverness) won pts Angelos Filippou
Ryan Warden (Kinross) lost KO rd2 Akis Tsakalides
Sean Eng (Gilmerton) won pts Andreas Jatjistyllis
Alasdair Hardie (Leith Vic) won pts Tasos Gkiozou
Danny King (Madison) lost pts Kyriacos Sakarides
Ally Gonzales (Kinross) won pts Christos Antoniou
Michael McKenzie (Leith) won pts Giorgis Danatsides
Ross McMurdie (Newarthill) won pts Kyriacos Yiagkou
Dave Nelson (Kinross) exhibition Andreas Kouzapas
David Drummond (Kinross) won pts Michalis Filippou
Cristian Avaris the coach, chief second and manager of the Cypriot team has already established his friendship with many of the coaches throughout Scotland and will undoubtedly be back again soon.