Champ Minaaz is pride of town

THE MIDLAND BOXING BEAT WITH MIKE LOCKLEY

- 

NEPAL and Nuneaton have a boxing champ after Minaaz Gurung lifted the Midlands super-lightweight belt in a coming of age battle.

On a superb Saturday show at Chase Leisure Centre, Cannock - and promoter Scott Murray should be congratulated for the quality of the card - Gurung halted Joe Underwood Hughes in six for the vacant title.

The Nottingham man rose almost immediately after being floored by a right in Gurung's corner and was furious with referee Chris Dean's intervention.

I felt Mr Dean got it spot on.

Hughes had been dropped heavily by a left hook in the fifth and was under heavy pressure when the ball rang.

Gurung, taking part in only his sixth fight, felled Hughes again with his first solid shot of the next session. That showed brave Hughes had still not recovered and with only 17 seconds of the round gone, he faced minutes of sustained punishment.

He played his part in a scintillating scheduled 10-rounder, however, a contest with the twists and turns that make for a thriller.

And I believed he was poised to stamp his authority on the fight before Gurung came out guns blazing in the fifth.

Bleeding from the nose, he caught Gurung cleanly with clusters of straight punches and seemed to be growing into the battle. Then the bomb dropped.

The new champ, having his first fight since November and pitched into his first championship distance contest, has rough edges to smooth, but possesses a real warrior spirit. What's more, he loves a tear-up.