Frank Maloney Promotions

Tony ‘Jaffa’ Jeffries’ fledgling career hit its first bump in the round at the Rainton Meadows Arena, Sunderland on Friday night after he battled to an eight-round draw with Michael Banbula.

Jeffries looked out-of-sorts from the get-go but had done enough early work to build up a lead going into the sixth round. Tony boxed the stanza under the assumption that the fight was scheduled for six-threes only for referee Andrew Wright to send the home fighter, who went to the ref for confirmation of the result, back to his corner at the round’s conclusion.

Jeffries was visibly discouraged, Banbula, who was in the same boat as the Olympian, adapted to the circumstances, carrying the final two rounds to earn himself a draw, 77-77, on the card of Wright. Tony, who suffered a cut to his left eye, was disappointed with the result; he admitted during the post-fight interview that he had gone into the fight nursing a tear to his right bicep. Jeffries’ father and manager, Phil, explained the circumstances surrounding the contest.

“Tony was injured in the lead to the fight and we couldn’t get him the sparring but we thought he was doing a six-rounder and would be Ok to appear on the show,” confirmed Phil.

“We were expecting a six-rounder as [promoter] Frank [Maloney] had sent all the paperwork to the BBBoC. So Tony goes over to the ref after six-rounds thinking the fight was over.”

He added: “My point of view is that the injury affected the sparring, ten rounds of sparring isn’t good for an eight round fight so we put him into the fight for the simple reason that he had worked for a fight and wanted to fight, and we thought it was six-rounds.”

Banbula, however, played a huge part in making it an uncomfortable night for the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist; Michael, 10-25-4, was 3-0 in his last three and ended the career of Tony Oakey with a ten-round points win in Portsmouth back on May 21st.

Phil was quick to give Banbula credit, admitting that his son had not boxed to the best of his ability. “There is no excuses, Tony wasn’t at his best – I’m his dad and will be the first to admit that,” stressed Jeffries.

“There are not many positives you can take from this apart from the fact that he came under duress. These opponents aren’t just coming to lose. As his manager, and his dad, I should have put my foot down a bit more and pulled him out the fight.

“You can’t turn the clock back, you have to get on with it, this is not a loss, it was a draw, so you have to get back into training and deal with it.”

Bobby Rimmer, who took up training duties ahead of Tony’s second pro fight, a stoppage win over Roy Meissner, was philosophical when asked about last night’s events. “The circumstances were, and I know that making excuses after the fact sounds daft, that I should have pulled the fight as soon as he got the bicep injury (in training). That is it,” declared the straight-talking trainer.

“We thought this was a fight Tony would win. Once the arm got hurt we moved it to a six-rounder and we thought he’d be Ok. Tony didn’t want to let anyone down and it has cost him dearly. I thought he won the fight – the draw was very harsh.”

He continued: “Everyone is saying Tony needs to calm down and take his time, and he did that earlier, but he couldn’t get his right hand off, he tried it a few times and it was hurting him.”

Ultimately, the trainer believes that they have taken some valuable lessons onboard. “I had thought that he would beat Banbula, especially over six rounds,” admitted Rimmer. “At the end of the day, that makes it my fault and I take responsibility for it. Of course, anything that teaches you lessons can make you stronger. It was a horrific night for us all and we’ll learn. If he’d fought for six-rounds then he wins handily and there is no criticism.

“Listen, everyone is entitled to an opinion, that is what it is about, people giving their opinion and criticisms, we are looking for constructive criticism and not just criticism that says nothing. We’ll learn from this and Tony will come back better and stronger next time,” predicted Bobby.

“I thought Tony showed great resilience and dug deep. Those extra rounds were a big thing and Tony did well to keep it together. I just had to get him through that fight. I did my best with the situation I had, and I thought it was good enough because, in my opinion, he won the fight.”

Promoter Frank Maloney clarified the confusion over the extra two rounds. “It was a mix up, there is nothing else to say,” insisted Maloney. “No matter what the situation was, whether it was a six or eight round fight, Tony didn’t box that well. We’ll look at that later on. There are other issues to discuss ahead of his next fight.

“Every fight is a learning fight. Tony has come through the last few fights against tough fighters and is taking on better opponents than most. It is best to have this now than later. The quality of his past three opponents has been better than most people take on: Nathan King, Matt Hainey and Banbula are good names.”

“Tony didn’t box that well but I didn’t agree with the decision”, stated Maloney, “I thought Tony won the fight. How the referee can score the first round a draw is beyond me. I can’t disagree with Banbula winning the last few rounds.”