Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/258814
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2014 Sport 22 BOXING MOTORSPORTS WILFRED SULTANA WINNING six of the seven fights on the night was undoubtedly a positive outing for the Maltese boxers and the cheerful local crowd at the well at- tended eighth event organised by the European Boxing Federation (EBF) and local promoter Paul Borg held last night (Friday) at the Dolman Re- sort Hotel in Qawra. The entertaining evening was made up of five Semi-Pro fights together with two Professional bouts which indeed proved the highlight of the evening. The results of the five Semi-Pro bouts, sanctioned by the European Boxing Federation, saw the only 'for- eign' victory on the night where in the Welterweight category Morgan Starkey overpowered Etienne Spiteri on points. The other four Semi-Pro fights all won by the local were (Super Middleweight) Christian Schembri vs Mark Hill (EBF}, (Heavyweight) Shaun 'Pasu' Attard vs Danny Gray (EBF), (Bantamweight) Lydon 'Be- qqu' Chircop vs Paul Gubb (EBF) and (Super Middleweight) Dione Galea vs James 'The Maverick' Montgomery (EBF). The above fights saw Maltese box- ers Lydon 'Beqqu' Chircop (Bantam- weight) and Dione Galea (Super Mid- dleweight) retain the EBF title of their respective category. The two Professional bouts be- tween Maltese and French boxers were indeed interesting, tough and somewhat controversial. These were sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Commission. For Tyrone 'El Terrible' Borg (Light Heavyweight) this was his first profes- sional fight which should have lasted six rounds of 2 minutes each. Howev- er French boxer Kader 'Super Saiyan' Ghada only survived the first round plus 2 minutes 11 seconds of the sec- ond round before he was out with a technical knock out - an encouraging debut for 'El Terrible' indeed. The last fight of the programme was certainly the climax of a rough night which for boxing lovers means 'stunning'. This other Maltese-French encoun- ter between 'Super' Steve Martin vs Jean Mooraiti (Welterweight) was really a tough rough fight with both boxers having their particular favour- able moments in the eight sessions by three minutes each round. A fight which kept all present on their toes with even the judges coming out with a split decision with saw 'Super' Steve winning by points in a close decision. The successful 'Unstoppable' box- ing night also included an exhibition fight between novice fighters Mat- thew Borg and Darren Scerri. Present on the night for the Malta Boxing Commission were Charlie Cordina, President, Marc James, Secretary General, Leif Naggnusson, Supervisor, and Claire Shepherd as MBC Recorder. Also present was James Ward Secretary and Match- maker of the European Boxing Fed- eration. The referees who controlled the fights were Charlie Cordina and Kris- tian Mintoff while Demis Tonna was Technical Coordinator. The main sponsors of 'The Unstop- pable' were Fortina Spa Resort, Gold- en Harvest, RE//MAX, TeamSport, Hell Energy Drink, Badass Burgers, Morocco Tobacco Shi-Sha, and Bar- celona Lounge. Good night for Maltese boxers Spectators' eyes were anxiously watching as boxers' eyes were hit hard at Friday's successful 'Unstoppable' Night of Boxing – Crucial moments from the tough rough fight between Maltese 'Super' Steve Martin (left) and Frenchman Jean Mooraiti (photo: Domenic Aquilina) Moto Enduro at Fawwara next Sunday ON Sunday 9th February ASMK organised the 8th Autocross event of the ASMK-Pasta Poiatti National Autocross Championship for Mal- tese and Gozo drivers at the ASMK Sports Complex at Ta Qali. A brief look into Sunday's 9th February Autocross event demon- strated the high degree of compe- tition for the National Champion- ship Lead. No one competitor won all his three Heats on the day. Yet, only Christian Mark Galea on his Fiat Ritmo, Melo Zammit on his Ford Escort and Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta won 2 from the 3 Heats on the day. Gordon Johnson on a Peugeot 205, Ryan Scerri on an Opel Corsa and Philip Joe Vella on a Vauxhall Nova also qualified for Class A Finals. Following 2 False Starts by Galea and Zammit then all made a very good start but Grech took the lead followed by Zammit and Galea close by. Unfortunately Johnson was forced to retire due to a broken drive shaft following a six car pack contact right after the first corner. On the 3rd Lap Scerri was also forced to retire and Vella took his place in no time. Grech did not re- sist the pressure from Zammit until later when Zammit took the lead to register his 4th win so far. Galea and Grech finished in 2nd and 3rd while Vella placed 4th in Class A. Class B also with six (6) Final- ists abreast to each other were lined with Vince Farrugia on his Volkswagen Polo, Andrew Pisani on a Vauxhall Nova, Joseph Martin on an Opel Corsa, Philip Grima on a Ford Escort 3, Duncan Delia and Christian Apap both on a Ford Fi- esta. Right from the start Andrew Pisani took the lead and negotiated the first corner without much dif- ficulties and ahead of Farrugia and Martin. Soon Delia was warmed by the race Referee for his contact on Apap who was also accidentally hit by Martin. Martin was already in 3rd place before the accident but later finished the race in 5th place. Pisani and Farrugia finished in the top two places of Class B The Gozo Autocross Class was also battled for the top title. Do- menic Zammit on his Alfa Sud, Joseph Agius on a Fiesta and Marvin Grima on an Opel Corsa all made a very good start on their 7 Lap Fi- nal Race. A few meters prior to the first corner Agius on the Fiesta hit Zammit but Agius was penalised by 3 points by the race Referee. Fol- lowing this Zammit lost his placing while Grima moved to the lead and accelerated hard to the Finish line. Though Zammit cut most of gap between him and Grima this latter crossed the Finish ahead of Zammit in 2nd Place. On Saturday 15th February AS- Mk will be organising the Class A and B Autocross finals from the Heats run on the 22nd December 2013. These Final races were post- poned due to the pre-scheduled time for the ASMK Car Demolition to start on time. Following Warm- up laps next Saturday the Class B finalists will line up on the Start Line at the strike of 3.00pm. Both Classes A and B are run on a 9 Laps schedule. The 3rd Enduro race is all set for next Sunday 16th February, 2014. Enduro, Trials and motocross rid- ers will be competing in three (3) classes on site held at a Quarry in Fawwara l/o Siggiewi. All necessary permits have been granted to this event. The 3.5 kilometer course will be marked with tape along the route laid on natural obstacles. Registra- tion on site opens at 9.00am and the race starts at 10.00am. This race is also open for non-members Christian Mark Galea in his Fiat Ritmo PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON MARTIN