WELSH light-middleweight prospect Tom “Dazzlin” Doran looks set to make his ring return on the November 26 Newport bill, where recently-crowned British super-featherweight champion Gary Buckland makes a quick first defence of his new belt against an opponent to be named.
In Doran’s last contest in May, he stopped tough contender Max Maxwell in the first round in what was considered a premature stoppage by the majority of spectators. Doran, 10-0 (3), seemed to let the boisterous atmosphere affect his performance as he stood right in front of the Birmingham warhorse and shipped some hefty shots; one of which made the off-balance Connah’s Quay fighter touch down briefly in the opening seconds. Tom showed heart in turning the fight around, returning fire with quality shots to have Maxwell reeling a short-time later. Referee Howard Foster stepped in with Doran poised to finish Maxwell on the ropes. Yet when the fight was waved-off, Maxwell angrily objected to the stoppage, storming out of the ring and later questioning the handling of the bout that had more excitement and drama in two and-a-half minutes than most ten-rounders.
The Welsh star was looking to put that fight behind him with a contest on the Buckland-Sykes bill up in Sheffield last month, yet was forced to cancel with an injured hand (now healed). Doran is hoping to be matched in Newport with his original opponent Jez Wilson, who scored an impressive first round knock-out over Jay Morris on the Sheffield undercard.
Wilson’s team had questioned 24-year-old Tom’s motives for cancelling the fight, claiming the Welshman was running scared of 8-1-1 (5) Wilson. It’s a claim dismissed by Tom’s trainer Shane Thomas, “I heard what Wilson’s people were saying, but we don’t talk sh*t in our camp. We’ll do our talking in the ring. Tom was gutted the fight was cancelled and is very keen to fight Jez Wilson in Newport.”
Shotton boss Thomas also had some views on the Maxwell fight, believing some of the criticism of his fighter was unfair, “you could call the stoppage a bit premature but Maxwell was ‘gone’, he was only going to get hit more by Tom” insisted Shane.
Former pro fighter Shane also firmly believes we’ve yet to see the best of his unbeaten star, “he fought Maxwell and played to the crowd a bit, he hadn’t fought at Deeside for a while, had sold a lot of tickets and didn’t box to orders.”
Shane concludes “the kid’s got so much talent and has that power; he’s going to go far believe me.”
If the fight goes ahead for November, Doran will be coming back off six months inactivity; a long time for a young pro. The former four-time Welsh ABA champion hasn’t fought many contenders yet in his short career but has gained in confidence from sparring current British champion Prince Aaron up in the Hatton’s Manchester gym. Beating a decent foe like Wilson would be a big step in the right direction to a possible British title shot next summer for the promising stylist.
Photo Credit Tom Doran Facebook
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