On Friday night at the iconic York Hall in Bethnal Green, London William Storey, CEO of Rich Energy made his debut as a professional boxing promoter and boy oh boy did he do it in style.
Not content to just promote a basic small hall event featuring local boxers the Rich Energy head honcho decided to make a real statement by bringing American #1 and World #10 Heavyweight Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter (24-1-2) over to headline his first show against Wisbech’s unbeaten Eli ‘Fat Boy’ Frankham (9-0-0).
His choice of undercard fights completely bucked the trend also, by featuring established names, such as six time, five division World Champion Lee ‘Aberdeen Assassin’ McAllister (52-3-0), who faced Ghana’s Theophilus Tetteh (19-10-2), three time Scottish Champion Darren ‘Trayn Wreck’ Traynor (16-4-0), to face Chandigarh, India’s #2 ranked Sagar Chand (6-1-0), as well as a couple of future prospects in the newly crowned Professional Boxing Council (PBC) International Silver Champion Charley Leigh Brown (5-0-0) to face India’s Rajwant Kaur (5-8-0) and King’s Lynn’s George Juby (1-0-0), who was to take on Haryana, India’s Sunil Kumar (4-10-0).
But perhaps the most eyebrow raising decision Mr Storey had made was with regard to the event governing, licensing and sanctioning commission, with him preferring the event to be under the control of the British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA).
Many within the sport and the media had voiced the opinion that Hunter versus Frankham was a bit of a mismatch, well to a degree you can understand that, they hadn’t seen Frankham in action yet.
However as soon as the opening bell of this intriguing contest chimed and the action began they must have been choking on their words, as it clearly wasn’t, oh no, not in a million years could it be described that way, both protagonists went for it full on for the entire duration of the contest, each showcased their impressive ringcraft and pugilist skills, no it wasn’t a mismatch, it was a true gladiatorial style Battle Royale.
The opening round was all action from start to finish, and so closely fought that even the judges scorecards were split, with the two British judges Jeff Hinds and Adrian Thorne scoring the round to Hunter whilst the Maltese judge Charlie Cardona scoring in favour of Frankham.
The equally action packed second round was also so closely fought that once again the Judges scores were split, this time Jeff Hinds and Charlie Cardona scored the contest in favour of Frankham, whilst Adrian Thorne favoured Hunter.
Round three see Frankham begin to wrestle a semblance of control, yes as with the previous rounds it was an all action and a very closely fought affair, but without doubt Frankham was in the ascendency, as reflected by the judges scorecards, as Charlie Cardona and Adrian Thorne scored in favour of Frankham whilst Jeff Hinds scored the round a draw.
The same level of exquisite pugilistic fare initially in the fourth, with Frankham looking the stronger as the round progressed, however in the final seconds of the round that all changed when Hunter corralled Frankham onto the ropes and let rip with a sensational left hook followed by a massive right uppercut to send Frankham crashing to the canvas.
Frankham was unsteadily rising to his feet just as not only the final bell rang, but also as referee Roger Barnor waived the contest off. Frankham initially objected to the fight being stopped, but seemed to then be resigned to accept the decision, rightly so as it was a seriously nasty knock down, which see Frankham land awkwardly with his left leg tucked under him.
It was a great fight, without doubt the stock of both Michael Hunter and Eli Frankham should sky rocket, these warriors were spectacular and the fight was of similar levels to that of the incredible Michael Katsidis versus Graham Earl from back in the day.
The main support was a six round Super Middleweight contest between Lee ‘Aberdeen Assassin’ McAllister and Theophilus Tetteh.
Another cracking fight, not as all action as Hunter vs Frankham, but still a very, very watchable contest. The younger Ghanaian clearly seeking to impress, however no matter how hard he tried the canny Scot’s experience shone through, at times it was like McAllister was a cat playing with a cornered mouse. McAllister secured a clean sweep on Jeff Hinds and Charlie Cardona’s scorecards of 60-54, whilst Adrian Thorne scored the fourth a draw and as such his scorecard read 60-55.
The third fight of the night see Darren Traynor in action against Sagar Chand in a six round Super Lightweight contest. What a matchup, two all action fighters who had made it clear from the minute the match was made they were coming to win, I’m sure most of you know of Darren Traynor, who has been in so many wars over the years, including against Carl Frampton, but sure many do not know much about Sagar Chand, believe me this kid can fight and doesn’t shy away from a challenge, Throughout his career Chand has faced opponents with positive records, and on just his fourth pro outing travelled to Aberdeen, where he faced and beat two weight champion Paul Peers, who was 11-6-0 at the time.
Right from the opening bell Chand went in hard and fast, Traynor seemed a little surprised and struggled to gain any control and to make matters worse was sent to the canvas midway through the round.
Round two was very much in the same vein, with Chand seemingly able to pick his punches at will, whilst Traynor continued to struggle to gain any ground. Another good round for Chand.
More of the same in the third, however in the fourth it seemed to click for Traynor, who was getting much more success, so much so that two judges, Charlie Cardona and Roger Barnor, scored in his favour whilst Jeff Hinds scored the round to Chand.
Judges Charlie Cardona and Roger Barnor also scored the fifth for Traynor, whilst Jeff Hinds scored for Chand.
The sixth and final round was all Chand, he fought as if his life (or victory?) depended on it, he was so dominant it was no surprise that all three judges scored the round to him.
After six magnificent round the scorecards read – Jeff Hinds 53-60, Charlie Cardona 55-58 and Roger Barnor 55-58 presented a much unanimous much deserved victory for Sagar Chand.
Preceding Traynor versus Chand was a six round super lightweight contest between Charley Leigh Brown and Rajwant Kaur.
Definitely was a very good contest, made even more so due an interesting clash of styles, Brown is much taller and likes to box long, whilst Kaur likes to be on the inside, which made her a difficult target for the Aberdeen lass.
Brown is class though, she dug deep and found the way to neutralise the ever coming forward Kaur to secure virtually every round on the judges scorecards, which were Jeff Hinds 60-55 and both Charlie Cardona and Roger Barnor scored the contest 59-55 all in favour of Charley Leigh Brown.
The opening fight of the night was four round Middleweight contest between the stylish George Juby and tough all action battler Sunil Kumar. What a fight to open the card, wow it was an all out war, both Warriors going at it hammer and tongs, After four sensational rounds all four judges scored the contest in favour of George Juby by a 40-36 margin.
What a night, Mr Storey pulled off a real coup securing Michael ‘Bounty’ Hunter versus Eli ‘Fat Boy’ Frankham and those that attended or watched on stage player+ were treated to one helluva night of top class boxing.
Role on 28th February 2026, which is the date of the second William Storey promoted Rich Energy event. Further details to be announced soon.
Ringside report Gianluca Di Caro
Photos courtesy of Cadan Boynton and Andrew Colebrook
