Micky Coveney

It was a night of mixed success for the old and new campaigners on the Queensbury Promotions show at York Hall on Thursday with 12-year pro Mickey Coveney dropping a verdict, but second bout boys Tom Baker and Charlie Hoy clinching clear points wins.

It was a night of mixed success for the old and new campaigners on the Queensbury Promotions show at York Hall on Thursday with 12-year pro Mickey Coveney dropping a verdict, but second bout boys Tom Baker and Charlie Hoy clinching clear points wins.

The 30-year-old fight-anywhere Coveney has seen recent action in Ireland and France, but was given no easy test on his return to home territory when he faced Stephen ‘The Rock’ Ormond, a talented Dubliner who has lost just one of his 13 pro contests, including a seventh-round win over the Peacock Gym fighter.

Coveney gave a better display in the return, joining in the tough exchanges in typical style and for all his efforts Ormond never looked like repeating the stoppage success.

However, the ‘Rock’ dominated the action for most of the way and although always brave, the loser went down to a 100-92 defeat on the official scorecard of referee Ken Curtis.

Middleweight Baker’s second pro win was a four-round points verdict over tough Wiltshire rival Dan Blackwell who took solid shots in every round, but hit back with his own powerful punches.

However, the former double ABA finalist added aggression to his usual effective jabbing and was good value for the points decision at the final bell.

Hoy, like Baker, trained by the father and son duo Jimmy and Mark Tibbs at the TKO Gym in Canning Town, gave several inches in height to his Bulgarian rival Galin Paunov, but scored enough shots at close quarters to make sure of the clear decision.

The lean Bulgrian flyweight survived a knockdown to last the distance, but Hoy’s two-fisted attacks controlled the clash as he took a 40-35 points verdict from referee Ken Curtis at the end of the four rounder.

Trainer Jason Rowland’s prospect, Mitchell Smith, also slammed his second pro success on the show, outpointing tough Dan Carr, while hard-hitting newcomer Joey Taylor blasted out Michael Stupart inside a round.

Feature fight on the night saw Merseysider Paul Butler retain his record in a battle of unbeaten fighters when he outpointed Ashley Sexton over 10 tough rounds, winning 98-92 on referee Robert Williams’ scorecard.