Skeldon wins again at the Civic

Joe Skeldon's comeback took another positive turn as he battled to a 37-33 points win over Mark Phillips in the highlight of the undercard at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

The Tipton fighter, going up a gear at Light-Heavyweight, found a formidable foe in the experienced Welshman, in only his second bout back after a near 10-year absence.

It was Skeldon who was always looking to fight on the offensive. As early as the first round he was laying in the barbs. In the second round Phillips did well to stay up after he was caught with a crunching headshot completely by surprise.

The third and fourth round saw Phillips' again try to keep the more powerful Skeldon at bay and he got to the final bell - only to lose on points.

Skeldon said: "When Phillips was inside he was very strong, so he was a tough guy to face. I will learn a lot from that fight. People forget that I only had a few bouts before I retired, so fights like this are lessons for me.

"The crowd were absolutely great again. They are fantastic people. I take my hat off to the guys. I am enjoying myself more and more everytime I get into that ring.

"It is what I was born to do."

There was no end of drama in the main event either, as Wolverhampton's own Steve Saville topped the Civic card in a compelling brawl with Bristol's Chris Long.

Both fighters flew out of the starting blocks and Saville's full on style let his opponent know he was there to be shot at. Long had come to punch and could take it as well. How he managed to stay on his feet after Saville square chinned him in the first round remains a mystery.

It was in the third round that it got really interesting, with Saville cut above the eye after a head shot. You wouldn't have known and, as the final ball sounded, both fighters were still unleashing a flurry of body shots on each other.

Saville said: "He was a tough kid and a strong opponent. It was a great night for me, even though I was cut. To come out and hear the crowd chanting my name like that was out of this world."

Dudley's Chris Male enjoyed a winning start to life as a pro, as he beat Telford's Shaun Walton in a 40-36 points win.

No mug by any means, Walton did not make it easy, although Male was the far more mobile of the two and got the duke he deserved.

Male said: "I felt really good and sharp. He was a very durable opponent."

The other debutant, Wolverhampton's Chris Lewis, was also victorious, in a 40-37 points win over a hugely experienced foe in Peter Buckley.

Against perhaps one of the best defensive boxers around, Lewis sought to chip away at his opponent, with Buckley doing well to stay up after being caught with a flurry of punches on the ropes in the final round.

Lewis said: "He was a tough test. I learned a lot from that fight. I feel that I can take lots of pointers from my first bout."

Elsewhere on the card, Telford's Kieron Gray beat Davey Jones by 40-37, Wolverhampton's Russell Colley beat Chris Brophy by 60-54 and Wolverhampton's Lyndsey Scragg beat Bulgaria's Galina Gumilska by 60-54.

Walsall's Martin Gethin was also on hand to show off his newly-won English Lightweight title.