Back in March, Patterson, from
East Dulwich, shut out tough Brummie Max Maxwell over eight rounds, and tonight’s
match was his first ten rounder - for the British Masters Welterweight title.
His opponent Miles surpassed
this distance in his last fight - a points loss over twelve to Adil Anwar in a
British light welterwight title eliminator. Prior to this, Miles had stopped
Drffield Troll Hunter Curtis Woodhouse in the fifth, and with a high KO ratio,
was not being taken lightly.
Patterson (10st 6lbs 9oz) kept
his right hand close to his chin and delivered a hard, quick jab, which proved
the difference in the opening round, as Miles (10st 6lbs 3oz) fell short with
his returns while trying to close Patterson down.
When Miles did manage to get
Patterson in his sights during the second session, he found the target with the
first punch of his flurry, but the highly mobile Patterson ducked and swung
around deftly to avoid the third and fourth shots, and returned in kind with
some meaty looking hooks.
Nothing to put Miles off,
though. The Nottingham southpaw had a better time with his jab early in the
third. He managed to cut off the ring quickly, but was a little bamboozled by
some of Patterson’s fierce counters, which were accurate and spiteful.
The fifth round started with
Patterson landing a quick succession of hooks before Miles delivered his best
work so far, pinning down his target in the corner albeit briefly. Miles pressure
was starting to bare a little fruit, and the sixth was fairly even, with more
eye catching shots coming from Patterson.
Patterson’s work from the back
foot looked stylish. At the start of the seventh, he landed four plumb shots in
succession. Miles didn’t wobble and kept on pressing forwards, but Patterson
has a range of very neat moves to keep opponents guessing. A well choreographed
sequence in the eighth saw Patterson land two quick hooks, followed by a hold,
then spinning around, returning to the back foot jab.
Both fighters showed decent
fitness levels going into the ninth as the pace remained brisk. Miles was
perhaps displaying more signs of tiredness, but was still unmoved by Patterson’s
well-timed shots, and the Nottingham fighter upped his game to make the final
round close.
Referee Ian John Lewis scored
the bout 98-93 for Patterson.
Just under the welterweight
limit, Patterson looks big and puts a fair amount of pop into his shots. Miles
had soaked these up for ten rounds, and had some swelling over the right eye to
show for it, but he made it a competitive fight and a great small hall bill
topper.
It’s disappointing that more
people didn’t stick around to catch the headline fight. On most small hall
shows, the audience is made from friends and family of the boxers on the card,
and their interest in the other fights on the bill tends to be minimal.
This is a shame, because
Patterson, trained by Martin Bowers at the Peacock Gym, is delightful to watch
and could be going places. Not only that, his entrance music, a slightly
reworded version of the XTC classic ‘Making Plans for Nigel’, is the best you’ll
hear on any circuit. (Source)
