Cunningham-Aston’s small hall title thriller

IT was one of the greatest small hall fights of all time – a contest so brutal and breath-taking it was dubbed the West Midlands’ own Ward-Gatti. Here, we give a ringside account of the Midlands title middleweight clash between Birmingham’s Craig Cunningham and Ryan “Tank” Aston, from Dudley. It was a fight of the ages, a fight not for the faint-hearted

Dudley Town Hall; May 21, 2016

Cunningham celebrates victory with his Eastside team

IT’S been lost in a stagnant sea of top level mismatches, but Ladywood’s Craig Cunningham and Black Country banger Ryan Aston have served-up a contest so brutal, so filled with fluctuating fortunes, it will be forever remembered by those privileged to be present.

While David Haye, Ricky Burns and Tony Bellew steamrollered overmatched and overhyped opponents on televised bills - Hayes’ demolition was fittingly consigned to “Dave” comedy channel, Cunningham and Aston served up the year’s greatest fight.

What’s more, the middleweights showed grace and sportsmanship in the epic’s aftermath, shunning the boorish, braggart behaviour that today’s fighters feel is a necessary part of selling their persona to the public.

 The Dudley Town Hall thriller, won by Cunningham in the sixth, has already been dubbed the Midlands’ equivalent of Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward I. It was an epic best watched through a curtain of fingers as each boxer took turns to lay down the pain.

Craig Cunningham…dangerous, underrated fighter

Quite frankly, Rocky Balboa has shown less commitment in a contest.

Southpaw Cunningham, now billed out of Oldbury, simply refused to melt under Aston’s white-hot pressure. He grabbed the early initiative, was almost broken by withering left hooks to the body, then summoned the stamina to close the show in the sixth.

Just as it seemed Cunningham had tamed his tormentor, Aston landed a sickening shot to the stomach that almost rescued victory from the jaws of defeat.

In the end, a huge left hook turned the home fighter’s legs to spaghetti and 28-year-old Cunningham was all over him, like the sauce. The brave Dudley fighter succumbed spectacularly, pitching face-first onto the canvas.

I caught-up with Cunningham - by day, a mechanic at Citroen, Small Heath Highway - immediately after the small hall classic. “I’m a counter-puncher,” he laughed, “but you’d never know it watching that fight.

Ryan Aston…muscled, dangerous Black Country banger

“Torn muscles, sore jaw...I certainly felt it next day. I still feel the body shot.

“I didn’t expect it to be fireworks early on, from the first round we went straight at it. With southpaws, you expect it to be a bit cagey. I felt the body shots, he hurt me and I knew I had to hold him off. Boxing wise, it wasn’t my best, but it was a great fight. His strength surprised me and I knew I had to go with him. I’m just glad we’re both OK.”

He added: “You’ll always get the haters, but I think I proved something.”

Cunningham proved he can gut it out with the best - and victory has lit a fire under his career. He now plans to boil down to light-middle (11 stone) and chase a British title.

“I’ve got a seven-year-old and a baby on the way,” he said. “Boxing is about making money for your family, that’s what drives me.”

For Aston, a superb amateur who represented England, defeat has placed a question mark over his top level career, a career now in crisis. Tipped for big things, he has been stopped in his last two contests and has fallen short in four title fights. 

The Dudley 25-year-old, now 18-4-2, has simply failed on the big occasions. Promoter PJ Rowson will have his work cut out to craft Ryan into a viable contender.

Yet he fought with passion and power against Cunningham, who has lost only one of 15 fights. Keen to erase the memory of his January wipe-out against highly regarded Ahmet Patterson, southpaw Aston began confidently, softening Cunningham’s belly with body shots.

But he ran into deep water in the second, a chopping right causing his knees to dip. 

Cunningham, defending his Midlands middleweight title, attempted to stem the storm in the third by boxing from the outside, but  sledgehammer blows to the midriff turned the contest into trench warfare.

Craig clearly felt a body shot in the fifth and  by the end of the session, his right eye was gashed and swollen.

In the sixth, another punch to the pit of the stomach left him open mouthed and ashen faced. It was delivered as Aston desperately tried to stem the tide of violence.

That one shot turned the fight into a battle for survival and both simply took turns to rock each other in a war of attrition.

Cunningham’s indomitable will prevailed, a sledgehammer left hook banishing the last dregs of beligerence from Aston’s body. Ryan, bleeding heavily from the nose, staggered, then crashed to the canvas like a statue falling from a plinth.

John Pegg, boss of Birmingham’s Eastside gym where Craig trains, said: “He was a bit hurt in the fifth, but I thought he’d gone in the sixth. Honestly, if it doesn’t get Midlands fight of the year I’d be very surprised.”

He added: “We don’t want a rematch and they don’t want a rematch. Aston needed oxygen at the end.”