20/09/2026
My review from Manchesterās matchroom show 19/9/26 brown vs hedges Matchroom Boxing.
Another visit to the Co-op Live for us, we usually park at Ashton-Under-Lyne and get the tram to the Etihad campus (I highly advise this route as the tram going back to Ashton afterwards is always loads quieter than going back into Manchester) however I had a late kick off at football yesterday so we couldnāt get there as early as we wouldāve liked. Ā£25 later and we managed to park at the arena (rip off)
We arrived and straight to our seats with 2 minutes to spare as Emily Whitworth started the show vs Beata Dudek. Beata has featured on my write ups before as she made life a little difficult for Molly McCann in Nottingham but nothing looked difficult for Emily here as she cruised to a 60-54 victory. Emily is now 5-0 as a pro.
Next up Garan Croft vs Mohammed Graich and we had fireworks, we managed around half of a round before the fight was over, a stoppage win for Garan who now holds a 7-0 professional record.
Jack Power vs Victor Lonascu and another super impressive performance from Jack winning every round to move to 9-0 as a pro and big credit to Victor who took some clean shots, he was really tough and will definitely have a headache today!
Next was Tom Rafferty vs Liam Walsh. I last watched Tom on the Liverpool card which also had Jack Power on and I was very impressed, I then met him in Manchester at the weigh in for his brother Jacks fight. They were both so friendly we instantly became fans. One for the highlight reel as Tom delivered a huge KO in round 2, thankfully Liam was ok and able to leave the arena on his feet. Tom had an issue in round 1 when his hair came out and was going in his eyes, Tom if you need a hairdresser in your corner just let me know! 18-0 now with 8 stoppages, 5 of those coming in his last 7 fights!
Last of the prelims was local fighter Alfie Middlemiss vs Christopher Mondongo. A really good performance from Alfie, my 2nd time watching him and he seems to be improving but thatās hardly surprising being in Jamie Moores gym! Christopher sat on his stool at the end of round 4 and didnāt get up to start round 5. Alfie now 7-0 with his first stoppage.
A small break before the main event started and that meant 1 thing, snack time. Chicken and pizza is all thatās on the menu at the co op, luckily I like both š
Main event time and it was Joe Howarth vs Corey OāRegan for the Vacant English title. Iāve seen Joe fight so many times, managed by Dave Allen who manages to get his fighters onto so many cards. Joe actually fought for this title a few fights ago but came up against a top operator in Visioli, Iāve never seen Corey fight but surely this will be an easier fight for Joe was what I thought. Joe fights on the front foot, constantly pressuring and doesnāt give his opponents any time to settle but Corey was boxing really well on the back foot and put in a classy performance. I gave Joe a round or 2 more than the judges but canāt argue with the result. Well done Corey!
Next we had Kieron Conway vs Mark Jeffers. I donāt know either fighter really, I watched Conway lose to George Liddard last year as it was on the same card as Tiah-Mai Ayton and Shannon Ryan vs Chloe Watson. This was his first fight since then and he soon found out it wasnāt going to be an easy one vs Jeffers! Also coming back from almost a year out after losing to W***y Hutchinson Jeffers put in a classy display, landing heavy shots throughout his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Shabaz Masoud vs Ckari Cani Minsilla. Plenty of fans in the arena for Shabaz who I had never seen box until he beat Peter McGrail last time out, his opponent entered the ring to lots of boos wearing his Argentina shirt and he seemed to resemble the football team resorting to dirty tactics early on but he couldnāt stop Shabaz landing no matter what he tried. Shabaz was too big, too quick, too strong and too accurate. He won every single minute of every single round.
Main event time Pat Brown vs John Hedges. Many ppl said this could be a big challenge for Pat, Pat had other ideas. We all know Pat can hit hard but this showed us he could also box. He didnāt rush in, he picked his shots well and looked like a fighter with more than 19 rounds of professional experience. Eventually in round 6 he caught John with a body shot that sent him down. John climbed to his feet but it wasnāt long before he was caught to the body again and this time he couldnāt get up. A British title to add to the collection for Pat who will surely be winning plenty more titles in the future.
All in all a really good show as always. Next week we head to Birmingham for Liam Davies vs Nathaniel Collins, see you all there! Lily š„ ā¤ļø
