Boxers Jade Grierson and Tom Cowling win on promoter Carl Greaves’ latest show at the Newark Showground

Local favourites Jade Grierson and Tom Cowling triumphed on a great night of boxing at the Newark Showground on Saturday.

A thousand fight fans packed into the Lady Eastwood Centre for promoter Carl Greaves’ latest show.

They saw Grierson win her six-round rematch against Vaida Masiokaite on points after the pair shared a draw at Grantham in September.

And they also witnessed a return to winning ways for Cowling as he beat journeyman Fernando Valencia in his first fight since missing out on the Midlands Area middleweight title to Troy Coleman.

Greaves and manager/trainer Dean Sugden will be working on a title fight for Grierson after an impressive performance against experienced welterweight Masiokaite extended her unbeaten record to 5-0-1.

“It was always going to be a close, competitive fight but Jade got her homework right,” said Greaves.

“With Dean Sugden, they executed a great game plan and it worked really well.

“Vaida was always in the fight, it was always very competitive but, all in all, Jade was edging it and landing the more eye-catching punches.

“It was a great win because Vaida’s very experienced, she’s been in with some of the best in the world, a lot of world champions, and she’s given them all a competitive fight.

“Me and Dean will sit down and see where we want to take Jade next.

“The next show in Newark will be on March 22 back at Lady Eastwood Centre, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be looking at getting her a title fight. That’s what she wants and me and Dean will hopefully deliver.

“We’ll see what title but with the women, you can move them a bit faster because there’s not that pool of fighters like there is with the men.

“We’re looking at the Commonwealth Silver, or even the European title that is held by Kirstie Bavington from Wolverhampton, so that would be easy enough to make.

“Financially it’s difficult without a TV promoter but with local backing, I’m sure we could make it work.”

Cowling, meanwhile, beat Valencia on points over four rounds on his return.

He was back in action just a couple of months on from that bruising title fight against Coleman, which he lost by just a point.

Greaves is hoping to secure a rematch with Coleman next year, ideally on television, following his success against Valencia, a Mexican living in Spain.

“He only did a four-rounder this time,” said Greaves.

“The main reason for that was he had a lot of work commitments and having such a hard fight last time, we didn’t want to push him too much.

“We just wanted to get him back to winning ways.

“Valencia gave him a good workout. It was great for Tom to get back in there and hopefully he’ll be back in the mix for more title fights in the new year.

“We’re going to try and push for a rematch with Troy Coleman, hopefully on a bigger platform, on the undercard of a TV show.

“I’ve got good connections with the major TV promoters, I’ve worked with them a lot in the past.

“I’ve always got fighters on the undercard, so I’m pretty sure I can speak to either Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren and get him on one of those bills.

“He’s had his learning fights now. He’s 13-1 and he’s a good fighter, people still haven’t seen the best of him.

“I know with a full camp and full preparation, if he has a couple of months off work, I’m sure he will get that win and head in the right direction.”

Boston cruiserweight Tom Pogson (6-0) topped the bill in an English title eliminator against Sherif Musah (3-0).

A close bout ended in a draw, with Pogson backed by an army of 300 fans.

“It was a 10-round war,” said Greaves. “It was a very gruelling contest, two unbeaten fighters putting everything on the line.

“It was probably the right result. Some people said they thought Tom edged it but he got put down in the first round which ended up costing him the fight.”

Summing up his latest show, Greaves added: “It was an absolutely fantastic night, a really good show.

“It was packed as well, so we had a great attendance, and the boxing delivered.”

Other results: Harvey Elding (3-0-1) beat Luke Fash (3-109-3) by KO; Jamie Behan (5-0) beat Joe Hardy (3-26) on points; Gabriela Strikaityte (debut) beat Kira Carter (0-11-1) on points; Ryan Williams (2-0) beat Lee Hallett (2-81-4) on points; Joe Ducker (11-9-2) beat Jake Smith (1-23-2) on points.