Warrior MJ hits the 100 fight milestone

MJ Hall after being honoured at Dudley Town Hall

ONE of Britain’s busiest fighters, MJ Hall, was honoured at Dudley Town Hall last night after joining the select ranks of boxing’s centenarians.

The Brierley Hill southpaw received a certificate after notching up his 100th contest on the Ijaz Ahmed-Marcel Braithwaite British title undercard.

Unfortunately, the 30-year-old couldn’t mark the milestone with a rare win. He has had his hand raised in victory on only three occasions (two draws), but is a very hard man to budge: only six opponents have prevented him from hearing the final bell in a career that stretches back to 2017.

MJ has been the salvation of many promoters by taking contests at short notice. He’s one of boxing’s unsung heroes.

Predictably, Hall lost every session of his four rounder with Cannock’s aggressive Zach Evans, but fought with more ambition than usually displayed.

Light-middle Evans made a pleasing debut, drilling MJ with body punches and piling on the pressure.

Hall was forced to the ropes and by the third his nose was bleeding heavily. He gamely endured the flak until the final bell.

It’s early days, but Evans looks an exciting addition to the pro ranks.

MJ is respected throughout the game – and that’s illustrated by the flood of tributes on his facebook page.

I particularly liked the comment from tough Birmingham pro Kane Baker:

“My brother, proud of you. MJ’s son used to wait for him to come home and would ask, ‘did we win, dad?’ Nah, son, but we got paid. One hundred fights later and Mini MJ knows the score.

“Here’s to the next 100 and just a warning. If you see me cornering MJ, you’re ****ed because I’m sending him out to win.”

Zach Evans….made a pleasing debut