HATIM AND DILLON DELIVER: FULL REPORT

all pictures courtesy Lewis Moore: Instagram & X

It’s been a while since I’ve sat at York Hall. It’s been even longer since I wrote a report for Southpaw Jab. But the old lady is still as welcoming as ever. There’s some familiar faces, I belong here. Anyway, to the action!

Historically Goodwin Boxing have always put on entertaining events and Box Mania 13 looked like a call back to when they had a monopoly on the local area talent; the card originally had four title fights and an eliminator. When some of them fell through as they inevitably do, it still left the show boasting a Commonwealth Youth Middleweight Title fight and a British and Commonwealth Lightweight Title eliminator featuring a former Lonsdale Belt holder

The main event was a British and Commonwealth Lightweight eliminator between unbeaten Ahmed 'Havoc' Hatim and former British champion Liam Dillon. Well, it was an eliminator for on man- Dillon came in 4lbs over the lightweight limit resulting in him not having the opportunity to, if victorious, become the mandatory for both belts. But a crack at both was still on the line for Southern Area champion Hatim.

That didn’t stop Dillon from turning up for a scrap. Trust me, you’ll wish you’d been in attendance for this one.

Dillon was out of the blocks like a Tasmanian devil, overwhelming his less experienced opponent who was drawn into Dillon’s style of fight. The rounds were tight and many were “pick ‘em” rounds - if you preferred the cleaner work you’d have sided with Hatim, if you wanted the volume of work and aggression, you’d have sided with Dillion. Myself, I’d went towards the latter, with Dillion putting an early marker on the fight.

It took Hatim four rounds to get a strong foothold in the fight - but that doesn’t mean he was four rounds behind, just that it took until then for him to fight his fight, rather than Dillon’s. That’s when the tide turned. Hatim took control and started landing the cleaner shots in bunches while making Dillon’s work miss or land on the arms and shoulders. It also helped that Dillon looked tired after his early flurry.

If you thought that made it one way traffic for the rest of the fight, you’d be wrong. The veteran in the ring on the night, with seven title fights, Dillon rallied in the mid rounds and put Hatim under pressure again, bringing my scorecard level after eight and making the championship rounds compelling viewing. 

Dillon didn’t stop marching forward, Hatim didn’t stop with his now higher more accurate work rate and a lot of these rounds were again open to preference. By the tenth and eleventh, I had it that Dillon needed a knockout to win. A nasty cut to Dillion’s eye had the doctor busy (and also had my new razor storm hoodie blood splattered!) and it brought the feverish levels of York Hall to a new level. Dillon knew he was on his last shot to win the bout.

High pressure and living with his forehead against Hatim’s chest, Dillon went for broke, but Hatim was smart, rolling and evading Dillions attacks and keeping his work going. At the end of the twelfth York Hall stood and applauded the two warriors who had just given us a small hall classic.

Hatim rightly won with a unanimous decision, but Dillon’s come forward style showed on one scorecard which only had him a point behind. Ahmed Hatim was visibly emotional at the result, dropping to his knees and looking to the heavens. It’s nice and refreshing to see a fighter so humbled and excited to have a shot at our domestic and Commonwealth belts, something too many just see as a stepping stone. Hatim remains unbeaten at 12-0-0 (3) and Dillon’s defeat drops his record to 15-4-1 (3). Dillon has lost four of his last six, albeit all at a high level.

Chief support was Joel Bartell versus Rasheed Adeyemo, who on paper with his 16-1-0 (9) record going in looked like a big test for 8-1-0 (4) Bartell in this contest for the Commonwealth Youth Middleweight Title. 

It was an entertaining fight, with Adeyemo starting the fight with the confidence of a 16-1 fighter would carry. To begin with Bartell was reaching and over extending, leaving himself open to counters from Adeyemo who did take advantage of these openings, even if it wasn’t enough to win him the rounds.

Maybe Bartell was a little in awe of the prospect of picking up a Commonwealth strap but it took him a few rounds to settle and really get into his rhythm, but when he did there was only one man in the fight. Adeyemo complained about a foot injury after a huge barrage from Bartell, which the former Nigerian champion did well to stand up to, but with the apparent injury, the writing was on the wall.

Bartell didn’t rush and kept his composure and patience, something some might have wanted him to throw out of the window, but he boxed clever and wore his opponent down. Adeyemo took a knee in the neutral corner but gestured that it was a low blow. Sorry to say Rasheed, if your genitals are where Bartell’s punches landed you need to go see a doctor my friend.

Answering the count at eight but reluctant to raise his hands when the refs asked, Adeyemo had to use some tricks to see his way to the end of the round - spitting out his gum shield to get a breather. The Lagos fighter came out for the start of the next round but he shouldn’t have bothered; as soon as Bartell went to attack he took a knee, going back to the apparent foot injury (I wonder if his genitals are there as well) forcing the ref to call it off.

That’s not the way Bartell would have wanted to win his new shiny title but he was the deserving winner and can look on to bigger fights and better opposition to help him develop as a pro.

On the undercard Giorgio Isaila blew away Khya Preston, who with a record of 1-1-0 (0) probably didn’t know what he was walking into against a heavy handed Isaila. York Hall was rocking when Isaila was in the ring and he didn’t disappoint his fans with a brilliant performance to get another stoppage finish on his now 8-0-0 (5) ledger.

“Mean” Dean Gardner looked to take the frustration of his Southern Area Super Lightweight Title fight with Denis Denikajev being cancelled, fighting late replacement Eduardo Sanchez. I’d never seen Gardner fight before but my goodness I look forward to watching him again.

Baring a remarkable resemblance to Roberto Duran, he boxed like the Mexican icon as well. A fighter who could fight in a phone box who was forward thinking, not taking a step back. Whether this was pure frustration or his actual style will have to be seen for this writer, but he’d have to work on his defence if he wants to fight for titles at a higher level than the area strap. Wherever his career takes him he will be in entertaining fights and I’d actually like to see Gardner versus Liam Dillon at Super-Lightweight. Please Steve Goodwin. Make it happen!

There was a debut win for Cillian Mills against Jordan Grannum, which could have been a potential banana skin. Grannum is no mug and can cause the upset easily if given the chance, but Mills fought well and looked sharp through this first bout in the pro ranks. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Piotr Mirga was out as well after his title fight was cancelled and looked ever inch the fighter ready for title fights, winning on points against Engel Gomez. Balraj Khara got a win against the ever popular Robbie Chapman. It wasn’t easy work for Khara, with Chapman's slippery defence forcing Khara to miss many times. 

Overall a great show - a proper throwback to what I remember Goodwin shows to be. I enjoyed it, and I’ll hopefully be back to the next Goodwin show to see more of this entertainment.