Pat battles back for victory

AS USUAL, the bright prospects from Newham's TKO Gym featured on an entertaining Sunday show at York Hall, Bethnal Green, staged by promoter Miranda Carter's Left Jab Group.

Feature fighter Pat McAleese had to weather an early storm against tough Welsh rival Geraint Harvey, but battled back to shake his weary rival in the later rounds.

The TKO Gym crowd-pleaser made it eight straight victories when he rallied in style to take the 59-56 points verdict.

Making his paid debut, Tony Conquest left no doubt about his superiority over south Londoner Bobby Scott, winning all four rounds on the official scorecard. After reaching third place in the UK amateur ratings, he is setting his sights on making it to the top as a pro.

He controlled the action with accurate attacks against a stone- heavier rival with seven pro fights on his record, including three defeats.

Switch-hitting effectively, Conquest piled up the points against Scott, who was staggered in the final round by solid rights, but survived until the final bell.

Referee Richie Davies scored Conquest a 40-36 winner, and he could be back on the October 4 show to be staged by Haymaker promotions.

There were also wins on the York Hall show for Conquest's two stablemates, under the guidance of manager Richard Clarke and trainer Jason Rowland.

Light-heavyweight Billy Slater slammed a points win over Welshman Jamie Ambler (Aberystwyth). He had to soak up some early punches from his taller rival, but blasted through to land powerful hooks to take a 39-37 points verdict.

Light-middleweight John 'Wayne' Hibbert hammered a second- round win over outgunned Andrew Patterson.

Ex-England schoolboy international Hibbert powered solid shots to record his second stoppage win.

TKO's Matt Jack and tough Cross Hands rival Adam Wilcox punched out a slam-bang draw on a good bill put together by matchmaker Roy Hilder.