BCB’s James Beech’s latest Lord Lonsdale attempt ended in defeat last weekend following his seventh round stoppage loss to Nathaniel Collins for the vacant British featherweight title.
Bloxwich’s Beech was caught with a perfect left hand to the body to stop in his tracks and deny him the British, and Commonwealth, strap.
“Jim had his moments,” explained trainer, Pete Hickenbottom to fightcity.uk. “But he doesn’t have the power at that level. I wish he had the same power as his dad (James Beech Snr had 31 fights in a career stretching from 1999 to 2008) who could hit with the right hand.
“There were niggling injuries coming into this one, but that’s wear and tear – Jim’s been boxing since he was six.
“The plan was to box Collins for three rounds, but everything we worked on, Jim done the opposite. It happens. He was always a step in front of Jim. From the second round I knew we were up against it, there’s not a lot you can say.
“At the end of the sixth, Jim’s ear swelled up – it was black and blue – and I said I was going to pull him out at the end of the next round if he didn’t do something.
“It was a bolo type uppercut that finished it. Jim threw a right hand at the same time and Collins connected first. It crippled Jim.
“He’s philosophical about it. He said, ‘unless you roll the dice, you don’t know’.
“The atmosphere was intimidating – a bit of a Braveheart job, but Collins and his family were very nice people.”
