Doe Jnr makes it 3-0 with Mooney victory

Dean Doe - flashy and confident - with manager Spencer McCracken

DEAN Doe Jnr’s ring apprenticeship continued to be served smoothly at Cannock Chase Leisure Centre on Saturday night.

The flashy teenager went over old ground in the night’s curtain-raiser, gaining his second shut-out, four round victory over Worcester’s Michael Mooney, a 40-year-old veteran of 131 contests.

Age has not made “Mad Man” Mooney’s antics any less eccentric. He bellowed during the contest, grinned at the crowd and talked to Stourport’s Doe.

I have a lot of time for the boxer, now coming to the close of a proud career. The game needs characters and Mooney is a character – and then some.

Doe, still only 19, shrugged off the showmanship, showed impressive hand-speed and worked the body well to register his third straight win.

He let go with both hands from the start, introduced uppercuts. Mooney (10st 2lbs) did connect with a left hook of his own in the second, then had to take a succession of body shots.

By the third, Doe (10st 3lbs) had found a higher gear and began unleashing hard right hands. A right hook dug into Mooney’s ribs in the last, which sparked a conversation from the journeyman.

Doe took every round – 40-36 on Chris Dean’s card, Mooney was never really troubled.

Dean is a young man with a lot going for him. He possesses blistering speed, has a model’s looks and enjoys sizeable support from the travelling community.

He also comes from a family with a rich boxing tradition. Brett Fidoe, one of the best journeymen in the business, is a cousin. So is big punching Boy Jones and experienced Worcester light-middle Harry Butler is also a relative.

It’s too early to predict how far Doe, now unbeaten in three, can go, but’s he’s going in the right direction. Manager Spencer McCracken Snr is, understandably, in no rush, he wants the lad to fully develop a pro style.

“I like switch-hitting,” Dean previously told me. “I used to be a little tapper – tap, tap, move and go. The McCrackens like fighters, so I stand my ground more, I like to get involved more. I’m only young, I’m still maturing and Spencer says he can feel the power coming. He’s says we’ll take things steady because I’m only young.”

Doe goes by the ring-name “Dangerous” - that title is something still to be earned. He has tripwire reflexes, but does not yet hit with the authority to be classed dangerous.

That, no doubt, is something McCracken’s working on.