Second pro win for Frank
Paul John Coulter • Published 3 Oct 2012 14:00
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VICTORY: Frank Monkhouse is declared the winner by points over Danny Dontchev.
A BOXER from Greenock rounded off a super weekend for Scottish boxing by claiming his second professional win in a row.
Welterweight boxer Frank Monkhouse, who used to train with local coach Danny Lee at his Bawhirley Road gym, secured a comfortable points victory over tough Bulgarian fighter Danny Dontchev.
Frank, 27, secured his second pro win at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, last weekend on the same night Ricky Burns, Scott Harrison and fellow Greenock boxer John Simpson all recorded victories.
The Morton diehard, who has the club's badge tattooed on his arm, knocked the tough Bulgarian down with a right hook to the body early in the first round and had him rocked in the third round.
But the Greenock man did not jump in and try to finish him, bearing in mind how dangerous he can be when backed against the ropes.
Instead, the Morton fanatic stuck to the game plan set out by his trainer Ben Doughty in the run up to the fight, and used his boxing skills to keep Dontchev at distance and take a convincing points verdict.
Frank told the Tele: "It was great to get another win and keep my early run going.
"Danny is very experienced and has been in the ring with some top fighters and given them a real test - including Commonwealth Games silver medalist Bradley Saunders.
"I felt I could have stopped him but I'm happy to get the rounds under my belt, more experience, and stretch my record to 2-0."
He added: "I found the fight a lot tougher than my debut in June but I put in the training and got lots of quality sparring at the Trad TKO Gym in Canning Town and it paid off in the end.
"It was a tougher opponent and I saw real improvement in my own performance to match that so I'm really happy with how things are going so far."
Now Frank is back in training and aiming to secure a hat-trick of wins to keep the momentum going.
He said: "I took a couple of days out of the gym to recover but was back in training again last week and looking forward to the next one.
"My coach Ben Doughty and manager Spencer Fearon were hoping to have me fighting again in around eight weeks time but ideally I'd like to get two more in before Christmas.
"It's difficult to train hard without a target so I need to be kept busy and hopefully that will happen."
The fight also helped Frank realise one of his goals.
He said: "It was always one of my ambitions to fight at the York Hall - it is the home of British boxing and has a really unique atmosphere.
"But hopefully I will get on a show up in Scotland sometime soon.
"The sport is thriving there and I want to get my name involved.
"I get lots of messages from my friends and followers asking when I'll be boxing there."
Another large support of friends and family travelled down from Greenock to cheer Frank on in London and he says that certainly made a big difference to his chances.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 03 Oct 12
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