Life In The Old Del Yet

After events on Saturday evening up in Manchester, I think we all now have to agree that there is life in the old Del yet.

Dear Old Derek rolled back the years against Otto Wallin and pretty much dominated from start to finish. His energy levels were incredible with the way he continued to apply pressure.

There have been many sustained periods across his most recent fights where he has retreated to the ropes and propped himself up while drawing the fire from his opponents. There was none of this on Saturday and he was very much the aggressor.

It is a well deserved final fling for British boxing’s folk hero and I think he was truly moved by how many people turned out for him and the support he received inside the magnificent new Co-op Live Arena, which was booming with a crowd of well over 14,000.

What is next for Derek? We’ll have to wait and see because he does need a good, long rest at the moment. He is in a strong position with the IBF so he does have options, but the heavyweight landscape is a very changeable terrain at the present time, so we shouldn’t rush into anything.

What I do know is that Derek must get to 50 and then declare. These fights take a lot out of boxers and Derek has had a great run. Remember, I said he should have called it a day a couple of years ago, but a fighter knows when his or her time is up. Reaching 50 must be the finish line though.

It wasn’t just Derek who packed in the fans at the Co-op. Jack Rafferty and Zak Miller brought amazing support with them and rewarded their fans with fine victories.

Jack was massively impressive against a strong challenger in Reece MacMillan to retain his British, Commonwealth and WBC belts. For someone who calls himself The Demolition Man for good reason, he is now showing great control in his performances and breaking his opponents down patiently.

I am a fan of Jack and there are big fights ahead for him.

It was fine night’s work for the pupils of Steve Maylett’s Finest Gym, with Zak also becoming British and Commonwealth featherweight champion by virtue of defeating the previously unbeaten Masood Abdulah.

The featherweight scene is becoming congested and that is the way we like it. We’ve got Nathaniel Collins fighting Lee McGregor up in Scotland in May and, of course, our world champion Nick Ball defending against TJ Doheny on March 15, so Zak has put himself in an interesting mix.

I was sad to see Nathan Heaney suffer another loss in his return fight after losing his British title and, reading between the lines of his social media post, he appears to be considering his future in the sport.

What I will say is that Nathan is an absolute gentleman and has been a pleasure to deal with right from the start. He has enjoyed many memorable nights and exceeded the expectations of many.

I will certainly never forget his British title triumph over Denzel Bentley. When you see how much success means to fighters it makes my job worthwhile and brings me so much pleasure.

Whatever Nathan decides to do there will always be a place for him at Queensberry.

I have to admit to being a little bit underwhelmed with the performance of Zach Parker on Saturday. Yes he was up against a late opponent after his big fight against Willy Hutchinson fell through and yes he was hampered and distracted by a nasty cut, but I feel that Zach needs to find his spark again that has been missing in his last few fights.

There is an edge missing from recent performances and he needs to rediscover it and get back to being the spiteful operator we rate so highly.

To close off, I would like to put on record my thanks to the many, many thousands who bought tickets and turned out in Manchester on Saturday. You generated a fantastic atmosphere and made it a very special night.