Boxing: Kenny passes his title test

DESPITE clear signs of ring rust and suffering a cut eyebrow, Edinburgh super-middleweight Kenny Anderson still had enough in his armoury to outpoint Gambian opponent, Patrick Mendy, by 78-75pts over eight rounds at Glasgow's St Andrew's Sporting Club last night.

It was a hard-earned victory that keeps Anderson – whose injury periodically wept blood from round one onwards – on course for his British title eliminator against Liverpool's Carl Dilks in May.

Anderson's manager, Barry McGuigan, admitted: "Kenny was clearly ring rusty after a year without a fight but I was pleased how in the early rounds he executed my orders to throw triple left jabs at chest level to catch Mendy's bobbing head as he tried to come in under Anderson's jab.

"That's what gave Anderson his early lead. Plus the follow-up right hands to the jaw and ribs that rocked Mendy from time to time.

"Also, when you consider that Mendy opened up a cut over Anderson's left eye that Kenny sustained three weeks ago in sparring and he had blood seeping into his eye for long spells during the contest then overall, it was a satisfying performance by Kenny – if not an outstanding one."

And winner Anderson agreed, saying: "Nobody – least of all me – is going to claim that was a vintage performance because I was definitely ring rusty and Mendy hurt me a couple of times with stiff left hooks.

"Towards the end of the fight, blood from my cut eyebrow was interfering with my peripheral vision on my left side and Mendy capitalised on that. He was a tough guy all right, as strong as a bull, even in the last round."

Meanwhile, Mendy's manager Jim Evans conceded: "Anderson won the fight okay. In the early rounds, Anderson's double jab and body shots broke up my man Mendy's rhythm but, nevertheless, he still gave Anderson a good, hard, fight."

Meanwhile, two Eastern title hopes crashed out of the Commonwealth Federation Games in Delhi.

Leith Victoria heavyweight Steve Simmons lost by 9-3 to Kenyan Ali Ajowi in their quarter-final clash although Simmons claimed: "Before the bout I felt slightly unwell but I was so fired up and determined to fight that I went ahead with the bout and tried to repeat an earlier win I scored over Ajowi in the World championships last year, but now I've been told that I actually have food poisoning and that I shouldn't have entered the ring."

Similarly, there was disappointment for Lochend southpaw lightweight Josh Taylor, who was outpointed by Indian Jai Bhagwan by 6-1-a scoreline hotly disputed by the Lochend boxer, who claimed: "I dropped the guy in the first round with a body shot and the referee then cautioned me for a low blow when it was a perfectly legitimate punch."