On This Day: October 11th
2010: Tommy McCarthy and Steven Ward guaranteed light heavy and heavy silver at the Cmmonwealth Games in New Delhi. McCarthy defeated Kenyan Joshua Ndere (9:4) after wins over Reece Papauni (7:2) of New Zealand and Tanzanian Leonard Odilo Machichi (11:1). Big Tommy was beaten (1:8) by Scot Callum Johnson.
McCarthy’s fellow Belfast man Ward defeated Scot Stephen Simmons (6:1) to make the final in India. In the earlier rounds Ward had beaten Aussie John Squillace (7:4) and home fighter Manpreet Singh (11:10). Ward would be stopped in the final by England’s Simon Vallily.
1997: Belfast’s Mark Winters outpointed Liverpudlian Carl Wright at the Sheffield Arena to claim the vacant British light welterweight crown. Winters took the fight on a scorecards by a margin of 119.5-116. Ulsterman Winters would defend the belt successfully once against Bernard Paul before losing it to Jason Rowland. Wright required emergency life-saving surgery on a brain clot after the clash and would never fight again.
1952: Tom Meli outpointed Garnett Denny in a Belfast derby at the King’s Hall to win the BBBoC Northern Irish light heavyweight title. Meli had won the middleweight equivalent less than a year previously.
1952: On the same card in the Titanic City, Banbridge’s Billy Bunty Adamson outpointed Belfast man Mickey O’Neill for the vacant Northern Irish welterweight belt.
