Fight Island are hosting one of the biggest boxing events for 2024 at the Ta’ Qali Basketball Pavilion on Friday.
The event is set to feature two major title bouts that see Gail Diacono facing Claire Sammut for the MBA women’s national title while in the main fight of the night Steve Martin takes on his former protege Lydon Chircop for the MBA welterweight crown.
Stay with us to follow all the action from Ta’ Qali…
Welcome to all boxing lovers for what promises to be an exhilarating night of action at the basketball pavilion. The match card includes ten fights that are all sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Association. Boxing pundit Mark Wilson Smith has joined our team, Valhmor Camilleri and Gianluca Lia, and will take us throughout night and provide all the drama from this exciting event.
FIGHT CARD RESULTS:
Dyson Schembri beats John Reilley by first round KO.
Jesred Piscopo beats Zack Calleja by unanimous decision.
Bradley Mula beats Callum Goodison by unanimous decision.
Darren Brajmla beats Daniel Blade by unanimous decision.
Scott ‘Flakey’ Schembri beats Igor Korovin by majority decision – 2 judges ruled in his favour with the third calling it a draw.
Julian Pace beats Andriy John by fourth-round technical KO.
Haithem Laamouz beats Paul Johnson as the latter’s corner threw in the towel.
Scott Dixon beat Kearon Thomas by KO in round three.
Gail Diacono wins Malta women’s national title belt by unanimous decision on Claire Sammut.
Steve Martin beat Lydon Chircop by unanimous decision to take Welterweight title.
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01.30am That’s it for tonight thank you for staying with us in this four-hour marathon. Stay tuned to sport.timesofmalta.com as we will provide a review of all the action and reaction. Good night.
01.24am In the end it was Steve Martin who prevailed via a unanimous decision to take MBA Welterweight title. A well deserved win for Super Steve.
01.22am Both boxers landed some good shots through but the tenth and final round followed a similar pattern to the rest of the fight, that is Lydon throwing often but Steve blocking and having more success despite throwing fewer shots.
01.18am Lydon landed some nice hooks to Steve’s body and continued to dance around the ring showing some great stamina. As in previous rounds, Steve controlled the centre of the ring and looked very composed in picking his shots.
01.14am Lydon had some success in the eighth round but Steve was still able to land some telling right hooks to the body and some straight rights as well. Still, a better round for Lydon but still Steve’s.
01.10am A good exchange at the end of the seventh round, saw both boxers landing cleanly in an exciting moment for the fans. But then the bout descended into more grappling with the referee having to separate them as the bell sounded.
01.06am Steve Martin had good success with the right hand, landing hooks to the body and head of Lydon. Lydon is still full of life and shows no signs of slowing down but must figure out a way to get through Steve’s defence or it will not be his night.
01.02am Similar to the previous round, Steve Martin is asserting his control and is looking very comfortable. It’s fair to say he could move up a gear or two. Another round for Martin.
12.58am Steve Martin is now increasing his work rate, throwing more punches and finding great success with his accuracy. Lydon is still moving well but is having difficulty getting through Steve’s defence. This was again Steve’s round.
12.54am Lydon increased his work rate but many of his shots landed on Steve’s gloves. While Steve threw less shots, he had greater accuracy and had more significant shots. The round ended with both boxers grappling and Lydon pushed to the ground. It was Steve Martin’s round.
12.50am Steve Martin is controlling the centre of the ring while Lydon is showing good footwork and circles around the perimeter. Slightly more action than the first round with some good exchanges at close range. No real significant blows and another close round.
12.43am A very tentative first round as both boxers seized each other up. Not much in the way of action, just a few short exchanges with the only punch of note being a right hook to the body by Steve Martin.
12.40am Now the big fight everyone was waiting for is next as Steve Martin takes on Lydon Chircop for the MBA Welterweight crown.
12.28am Great debut for Gail Diacono winning with a unanimous decision the MBA women’s lightweight national title. She looked every inch the professional and certainly, she has a promising future ahead of her. Credit for Claire Sammut for never giving up and always coming forward and closing the gap. She showed great determination from start to finish.
12.24am Sammut’s best round of the fight so far. She landed often on the body of Diacono and was able to close the gap much better this time round. Sammut even landed a one-two combination to the face of Diacono. Diacono seemed to slow down slightly but still controlled the fight on the backfoot, landing the jab when she needed to. Close round but maybe Diacono just edged it.
12.21am Diacono is obviously becoming more confident and using her left and right hooks more often. It looks like Sammut has a real mountain to climb to turn this fight around. Diacono looks on her way…
12.19am Apart from a strong left hook from Claire Sammut, it was all Gail Diacono with her displaying a great range of punches. Diacono’s left jab lands with relative ease but she also made good use of her right uppercut in that round. Another comfortable in the bank for Gail Diacono.
12.15am Sammut is showing a lot of resilience and continues to press forward. But this is becoming very one-sided with Diacono resorting to showboating a couple of times during the round. Another round for Diacono.
12.12am Much like round two, Diacono dominated and landed some heavy blows. Sammut’s head was rocked on many occasions and referee Edwin Micallef would be taking a close look to see how much longer this fight should continue.
12.10am In round two, although Sammut had more success closing the gap and landing some shots, she was taking too many blows on the way in. Diacono is able to control the distance, land often and get out of range again. She is looking more experienced than someone making her professional debut. Another round for Diacono.
12.08am Diacono used size and reach advantage to keep Sammut at bay. She landed frequently while Sammut struggled to close the distance and land anything of note. Round One to the impressive Diacono.
12.06am The eight-round fight is under way….
12.05am Approaching the ring now is Gail Diacono. It would be a great achievement if she wins the Maltese title belt on her professional debut.
12.00am Now we are entering into the main events of the night and coming up on the ring Claire Sammut who is bidding to win the women’s MBA national title belt. Sammut had 12 professional bout and is far more experienced than her opponent who is making her professional debut tonight.
11.55pm Scott Dixon wins by knock out in round three as Kearon Thomas drops to 28 defeats.
11.50pm Haithem Laamouz impresses with first-round knock out of Paul Johnson
11.30pm Scott Dixon and Kearon Thomas is next on the fight card.
11.27pm Laamouz controlled the centre of the ring with Johnson fighting on the backfoot. Both boxers seemed tentative with little landing from either of them. However, the fight came to life towards the end of the first round when Laamouz dropped Johnson. While the referee was counting, the Irishman’s corner threw in the tower bringing the fight to a sudden end.
11.15pm A 15-minute break going on right now as we prepare for the Laamouz-Johnson fight.
10.55pm Julian Pace with a strong finish to his bout against Andriy John.
10.53pm Haitheem Laamouz, former Mediterranen and European Union champion, is up next. Paul Johnson from the Republic of Ireland is his opponent.
10.50pm Round four was a repeat of round three with Pace dominating and landing some powerful shots. John was looking physically shook up as the round progressed before referee Michael Brown jumped in to save him from further punishment, bringing the fight to an end resulting in a Pace’s win by technical KO.
10.48pm Pace was the clear winner of round three. John kept a good work rate to begin with but seemed to tire as the round went on. Pace was landing often and cleanly, and John is now showing the effects of some punches.
10.43pm A good and competitive round. Both boxers landed often in various exchanges. Pace upped his work rate and threw more often in this round. Fair to call this round a draw.
10.39pm John was definitely the more active boxer in the first round. He looked composed and landed often, however Pace had a strong spell in the middle of the first round where he pinned John in the corner and unleashed a barrage. John landed more punches but Pace’s punches were more damaging.
10.35pm Scott ‘Flakey’ Schembri and Igor Korovin was a balanced affair.
10.31pm Julian Pace and Andriy John is the upcoming fight.
10.27pm And the winner by majority is Scott ‘Flakey’ Schembri.
10.26pm We are now waiting on the judges result…
10.25pm At the start of the fourth round and at the halfway point, there was a flurry of punches with both boxers landing cleanly. It’s fair to say that Schembri came out on top during exchanges. That was probably enough to win him the round.
10.21pm Schembri was the better fighter in round three. Definitely still a scrappy encounter but Schembri was landing more often as his opponents seems to be tiring. Some decent shots landed by both boxers.
10.17pm After round two, Schembri started well but it was Gorovin who had the best shot of the fight so far – a straight right that physically shook Schembri and caused his knees to slightly buckle. Schembri came back with some nice hooks to the body but overall Gorovin is landing more often despite having a wild style.
10.16pm Schembri looks the more composed fighter of the two but most of his shots seems to be landing on his opponent’s gloves. However, he did land a strong right hook before the first round bell. Gorovin has landed some nice right hooks to the body but at times looks very uneasy on his feet.
10.15pm Darren Brajmla looked the better fighter against Daniel Blade.
10.10pm One of the faces behind ‘Fight Island’, Scott ‘Flakey’ Schembri will take on Russia’s Igor Korovin in the upcoming fight.
10.05pm Certainly it was not pretty but it had the crowd on its feet. Brajmla, who has been training at the Vikings gym, looked the more accomplished fighter. He was landing more often and with more telling shots. He put his opponent down in the third round and continued to dominate as Blade showed signs of fatigue. Brajmla deserved his points victory at the end.
9.50pm We are back in action with Daniel Blade taking on Darren Brajmla in three-round amateur fight.
9.45pm Malik Zinad (22-1), who recently fought superstar Dimitrii Bivol in Riyadh, has been spotted ringside. The Libyan boxer resides in Pieta’.
9.35pm Mula flexed his muscles in the third and fourth round against Goodison. This photo is a clear proof…
9.30pm After three fights, we now head to a 15-minute break before the action resumes in Ta’ Qali.
9.25pm After the fourth and final round, Mula won with unanimous decision. He continued in round three as he started in round two, upping the pressure and landing more cleanly. He almost stopped Goodison in the dying seconds of the third round but he was saved by the bell. In the fourth round, Mula continued to dominate and scored a knockdown midway through the round with a left hook to the body. Goodison beat the count but looked out of ideas as Mula cruised to a unanimous points decision.
9.20pm Meanwhile, Goodison started well against Mula, fighting on the backfoot and was very elusive either taking shots on the gloves or slipping out of the way. However, in the second round, Mula upped the pace and started to land some clean shots and had more success with hooks to the body before unleashing a barrage of jabs and straight rights to a slightly dazed Goodison. After two rounds, you could give it a round each.
9.10pm Jesred Piscopo with a strong display in the second fight of the night.
9.05pm Up next, we have Malta’s Bradley Mula fighting with Callum Goodison from the United Kingdom.
9.01pm After four rounds, Piscopo was the well-deserved winner although Calleja showed a greater variety of punches. Calleja’s only real significant shot was an overhand right in the second round. Piscopo enjoyed greater success in the third round where he landed clean hooks to the head while some of his overhand rights were a little wild but at the end he was the better fighter.
9pm With one round left, Piscopo has been aggressive from the start, pressing forward and always making the fight happen. He has shown better footwork than his opponent however his punching has been limited to almost left and right hooks to the head with nothing going to the body.
8.53pm Dyson Schembri knocked down John Reilley in the first round, putting on a commanding display.
8.51pm Piscopo trains at the renowned Ying Yang gym run by Noel Mercieca and has won multiple amateur and semi-pro tournaments across Europe. Let’s see how he fares in this boxing fight.
8.50pm The next fight sees Jesred Piscopo, a decorated Maltese kickboxer with multiple titles, taking on Zack Calleja.
8.45pm Fans are eagerly looking forward to the main event of the night Steve Martin vs Lydon Chircop, but the night started with a bang as Dyson Schembri scored a first round knockout over against John Reilley. The bout lasted just 51 seconds with the Maltese declared winner of the first fight of the night.
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