A Night to Remember LIVE!
Chelsea great Jody Morris beat former Tottenham and Arsenal midfielder David Bentley by unanimous decision in a three-round charity boxing match on Saturday night. The pair headlined a five-fight card made up entirely of professional footballers, but produced the most exciting bout of the night. Bentley was quick out of the gate but faded fast, while Morris, the much smaller fighter, relied on technique and strategy to give himself an advantage.
Earlier in the evening, former Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny was brutally knocked out by Curtis Davies mere moments into the first bout of the night, before Leroy Lita beat David Noble, also by unanimous decision. He did, however, have the distinct advantage of holding a black belt in taekwondo. Anthony Gardner also got the better of Lee Trundle, while Marvin Elliott defeated Greg Halford in the night’s penultimate fight.
The event, organised by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack, was in support of four charities - Helping Hands, Willow, Sport In Mind, and Play Skill - with its fundraising target set at £500,000. Catch up with all the action from ‘A Night to Remember’ below with our dedicated blog, complete with expert insight and analysis!
A Night to Remember latest news
- Elliott leaves it late to beat Halford
- Gardner defeats Trundle in heavyweight clash
- Lita beats Noble by unanimous decision
- Davies drops Kenny
- Start time and ring walks
- How to watch: YouTube
- Full undercard
Morris vs Bentley
00:19 , Arthur FerridgeMorris wins it by unanimous decision!
Morris vs Bentley
00:15 , Arthur FerridgeThere’s the bell! Time, now, for the judges’ decision.
ROUND THREE: Morris vs Bentley
00:15 , Arthur FerridgeBentley lands a strong left hook on Morris, who stumbles away to fix his headgear, and responds with a jab to Bentley’s face.
Morris looks to be taking the lead here - his opponent is exhausted!
ROUND TWO: Morris vs Bentley
00:12 , Arthur FerridgeMorris seems to be edging this one as the second round comes to a close.
All to play for!
ROUND TWO: Morris vs Bentley
00:11 , Arthur FerridgeDOWN GOES BENTLEY!
Bentley takes a tumble early in the second round, and Morris smells blood. Can he capitalise on this?
ROUND ONE: Morris vs Bentley
00:09 , Arthur FerridgeThere’s the end of the first round, and its a galling one for those of a Chelsea - or a Jody Morris - persuasion.
Morris is struggling to deal with Bentley’s reach, but the former Spurs man faded fast as the first break approached.
ROUND ONE: Morris vs Bentley
00:08 , Arthur FerridgeBentley comes out with a series of massive swings. Looks as though most of them land. He’s out for blood in the early stages, but Morris is ducking and weaving. He just needs to withstand the early pressure.
ROUND ONE: Morris vs Bentley
00:07 , Arthur FerridgeThey’re off!
Bentley, the eternal showman, trades ‘My Way’ for ‘Rhythm of the Night’ and has a good little boogie en route to the ring.
Fair play to him. He is in his absolute element.
Our MC, however, looks baffled, bless him.
David Bentley walks out to commentary of a goal he scored for Tottenham against Arsenal. Poignant.
He soaks up the moment as he enters the ring with Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ booming.
Morris walks out first and looks lively, but I am disappointed to report he has not chosen ‘The Liquidator’ as his overture.
Could also have gone with ‘One Step Beyond’ or ‘Blue Day’, but no dice.
We do have some Jose Mourinho presser quotes spliced in, though, so that’s something for you Chelsea fans.
Time for the big one!
23:56 , Arthur FerridgeMorris and Bentley, our headline bout, comes next!
Elliott vs Halford
23:49 , Arthur FerridgeIt is another unanimous decision here, and this one goes in favour of Marvin Elliott!
ROUND THREE: Elliott vs Halford
23:47 , Arthur FerridgeElliott comes into the final round with an ‘only a win will do’ mentality - there is no mercy whatsoever for Halford.
That assault may well swing the judges’ decisions in his favour...
If it hadn’t, he ends the bout with a brutal finisher, leaving Halford with a standing count. He comes back out, but there are only seconds remaining. We await the judges’ decision!
ROUND TWO: Elliott vs Halford
23:44 , Arthur FerridgeElliott batters Halford into the corner and it requires intervention from the referee.
Absolutely nothing to separate the pair here as we head into the third and final round.
ROUND ONE: Elliott vs Halford
23:41 , Arthur FerridgeAn absolutely vicious opening from Elliott, who goes for the kill immediately and leaves Halford rattled.
But he grows back into it and finishes the first round the stronger - an intriguing start!
ROUND ONE: Elliott vs Halford
23:38 , Arthur FerridgeAnd we’re off!
The penultimate fight of the evening...
23:33 , Arthur FerridgeJust two fights left to go now.
Marvin Elliott vs Greg Halford comes next...
And then it’s the big one!
Decision: Trundle vs Gardner
23:26 , Arthur FerridgeBy unanimous decision, Anthony Gardner defeats Lee Trundle! A superb effort from both fighters - absolute slugfest.
ROUND THREE: Trundle vs Gardner
23:24 , Arthur FerridgeThis looks to have slipped away from Lee Trundle here - he has nothing at all left.
He’s leaning heavily on Gardner as the final bell rings, and looks totally spent on return to his corner.
This is a close one to call, but I’d put my money on Gardner.
Jimmy Bullard speaks out
23:22 , Arthur FerridgeJimmy Bullard is interviewed between rounds and instructs Trundle to “knock the **** out of him.”
Fill in the blank for yourself, there.
ROUND TWO: Trundle vs Gardner
23:20 , Arthur FerridgeA rather languid affair in the second round here as both fighters look to be tiring.
Gardner is probably edging it, but both parties landed some mighty blows there.
ROUND ONE: Trundle vs Gardner
23:17 , Arthur FerridgeThe first round comes to a close, and Trundle is blowing hard. He came out of the gates fast and had Gardner struggling, but ran out of steam in short order.
Trundle vs Gardner
23:16 , Arthur FerridgeGardner takes an early fall, but he looks to have slipped more than anything.
He goes down again shortly after, though. No excuses that time...
ROUND ONE: Trundle vs Gardner
23:15 , Arthur FerridgeFight three of five will be a heavyweight bout - here we go!
Gardner walks out to a house remix of “Tears Dry on Their Own” by Amy Winehouse. A man of culture.
Next up...
23:08 , Arthur FerridgeFast approaching the midway point of the evening now.
It is Anthony Gardner and Lee Trundle!
DECISION: Lita vs Noble
22:59 , Arthur FerridgeAfter three frenetic rounds, Leroy Lita takes it by unanimous decision!
Lita vs Noble
22:58 , Arthur FerridgeNoble is parading around the ring with a hand in the air. He clearly fancies himself as the winner here.
Lita vs Noble
22:57 , Arthur FerridgeWe await the judges’ decision.
ROUND THREE: Lita vs Noble
22:56 , Arthur FerridgeToo tight to call, but you’d guess Noble has edged it in this third round...
ROUND THREE: Lita vs Noble
22:55 , Arthur FerridgeNoble crashes to the canvas early in the final round here. He takes a standing count, and on we go...
ROUND TWO: Lita vs Noble
22:54 , Arthur FerridgeLita loses his headguard again, and doesn’t look best pleased about it.
He has it replaced, and it is promptly knocked off for a third time. Noble gets a few blows to Lita’s head after the fact.
The second round is just as frenetic as the first, though, and sure enough Lita is back on the ropes sooner rather than later.
We will go the distance, though!
ROUND ONE: Lita vs Noble
22:48 , Arthur FerridgeBlood pours from the nose of David Noble as the first round comes to an end, but he lands a series of cracking blows on Lita before being sent back to his corner
ROUND ONE: Lita vs Noble
22:47 , Arthur FerridgeIt is another incredibly frenetic start as Lita rains blows on Noble, looking perfectly at home in the ring.
Noble is on the ropes early on as his headguard slips.
ROUND ONE: Lita vs Noble
22:46 , Arthur FerridgeHere we go... fight two!
FIGHT TWO: Leroy Lita vs David Noble
22:43 , Arthur FerridgeThe taekwondo black belt Leroy Lita makes his way to the ring listening to a soundtrack of commentary of his own goals. Cold, to be fair to him.
David Noble does the same!
Curtis Davies reviews his win
22:37 , Arthur Ferridge“Really pleased. It's all for charity, but I enjoyed that win. I could have been the one on the canvas if he landed a big right hand, but that’s the game. I think it should have been stopped a lot earlier.”
Sweet Caroline
22:35 , Arthur FerridgeWhat better way to kill time between fights than with a singalong?
Our fearless MC is serenading the crowd with a rendition of the anthem Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond.
George Groves arrives in the ring to present Davies with his belt.
Kenny staggers into the middle to receive a bit of recognition, and that is that for fight one.
Paddy Kenny is sat in his corner wearing an oxygen mask.
Davies vs Kenny
22:30 , Arthur FerridgeAfter an interminable wait for our first fight, it’s all over in about 90 seconds!
Davies sends Kenny tumbling to the canvas before the first round is out, and that should be that.
Davies vs Kenny
22:29 , Arthur FerridgeDOWN GOES KENNY!
Davies vs Kenny
22:28 , Arthur FerridgeIt is a frenetic start to our first fight - Davies comes out all guns blazing and has the much heavier Kenny reeling already!
He takes an eight count moments into the bout.
ROUND ONE: Davies vs Kenny
22:27 , Arthur FerridgeFight one of five is underway!
Curtis Davies has just been introduced as manager of Birmingham City, but that is, of course, Chris Davies.
Paddy Kenny walks in with an interesting mix behind him.
It starts as an Irish folk song, then fades into a Pitbull song, naturally.
It is a very, very long walk for Curtis Davies from the balcony to the ring.
“I hope he moves a bit quicker when the punches are thrown,” says our fearless MC.
Great point, really. Not much in the way of urgency from Davies.
Our first fighters are introduced!
22:20 , Arthur FerridgeCurtis Davies and Paddy Kenny will be our first fight of the evening!
Tonight's referee
22:18 , Arthur FerridgeFormer pro boxer Wayne Alexander will serve as tonight’s referee.
The judges... again!
22:16 , Arthur FerridgeOur MC is introducing the three judges again, in case you forgot.
Ten bells for Ricky Hatton
22:15 , Arthur FerridgeA moment of quiet in honour of Ricky Hatton, who sadly passed away last month.
Tonight's judges
22:12 , Arthur FerridgeJohnny Nelson, Steve Bunce, and Darren Barker will be our judges this evening.
As our honourable MC attempts to introduce the support staff, he is having a bit of a time trying to wrangle what one would imagine is a pretty lubricated crowd. He’s not having a massive amount of success.
Here we go!
22:09 , Arthur FerridgeOur MC takes to the ring! Wheels are in motion.
Start time update
22:07 , Arthur FerridgeAn Instagram comment from tonight’s organisers says our first fight will be underway at around 10.20pm.
To get you in the mood...
22:04 , Arthur FerridgeHere’s a taster of tonight’s action!
Looking at the silent auction
21:50 , Arthur FerridgeTonight is, of course, a fundraiser, and there are some corkers up for grabs in the silent auction.
You could go golfing with Jimmy Bullard, watch England vs Serbia at Wembley next month, or even have a boxing lesson with former world champion George Groves.
You can bid on these prizes and more here.
Ray Parlour on what tonight means...
21:30 , Arthur FerridgeRay Parlour knows everyone getting in the ring tonight will be desperate to win.
Asked how important bragging rights would be, he said: “You don’t want to get knocked out first punch. Promise you now, if you’re a footballer, you hate losing. Here, you’re on your own, it’s down to you.”
Wisdom from Johnny Nelson
21:28 , Arthur FerridgeJohnny Nelson was never going to miss an occasion like this, and he has a message for those stepping between the ropes later on.
“You’ve got footballers here who play football, trying to play boxing. You can’t play boxing. You try to play boxing, you get knocked out.”
Wise words indeed, Mr Nelson.
Steve Bunce on the night's proceedings
21:20 , Arthur FerridgeBoxing legend Steve Bunce says he is pleased the fighters are taking this as seriously as they are.
He said: “Their faces are drawn, they look like boxers! I’ve seen a picture of Lee Trundle and it looks like his younger cousin, the fit one.
“This event should raise fortunes!”
Remains unclear exactly when our first fighters will be stepping into the ring, but it shouldn’t be too much longer now.
Peter Crouch on his boxing prospects
20:52 , Arthur FerridgePeter Crouch is asked whether he will ever get in the ring at an event like this.
Here’s what he had to say: “No, I’m a bit of a strange one. I’m a 6ft7in featherweight. It's a difficult thing to match up. I think I’d struggle, but my reach is good. Maybe I could stand in a corner and just jab.
“I’ve never had a fight in my life, so huge respect to those guys that have.”
Live stream viewers are now being treated to a clip of Bentley showing off his shaven legs, set to what I believe is a Fontaines DC song.
If that doesn’t get you in the mood for a bit of a scrap, what will?
Bentley fires shots
20:41 , Arthur FerridgeBentley has promised Morris a “good hiding.”
Fighting talk - can he deliver?
Bentley's only Arsenal appearances
20:38 , Arthur FerridgeDavid Bentley has a pretty sweet line high up on his resume, which is that he featured in Arsenal’s invincible campaign.
He only played once in the Premier League, featuring in a 1-1 draw away to Portsmouth towards the end of the campaign.
And later, he added a goal in the FA Cup as the Gunners beat Middlesbrough.
Not a bad way to kick-off his career.
We seem to be running a tad behind schedule.
Based on the original timetabling, tonight’s fights were meant to start at 8.20pm.
And yet, here we are. Updates as soon as we have them!
Last time we saw Jody Morris...
20:15 , Arthur FerridgeThe former Chelsea player and coach was rolling back the years in a legends match at Stamford Bridge!
He played the first half as Chelsea were unfortunately beaten by Liverpool Legends, by way of Ryan Babel’s late strike.
Tonight's running order
20:05 , Arthur FerridgeHere’s all the events going on at Grosvenor House tonight.
Presumably, if you are reading this blog, you join me in missing out on the drinks reception and three-course dinner, but worry not - the entertainment begins shortly!
The boxing should be underway within a half hour.
Fight format
19:55 , Arthur FerridgeTonight’s fight will comprise of three two-minute rounds. Short and sweet.
Fighters will also wear headgear.
This event is white collar, and, thus, is not officially sanctioned by England Boxing according to the Guardian.
Referees and proper medical personnel will also be on hand, and all fighters have been trained by accomplished coaches.
Marvin Elliott vs Greg Halford
19:45 , Arthur FerridgeGreg Halford would probably have an easier time naming venues he hasn’t played at in his career than those he has.
He has made just shy of 700 career appearances, and can now check the Grosvenor House Marriott off his list, something I’m sure he’s been waiting to do for a long time...
His only career silverware came with Hashtag United, winning the Isthmian League North Division in 2022-23. He will hope to create another viral moment of sorts tonight.
He lines up opposite former Jamaica international Marvin Elliott, once of Bristol City and Crawley Town.
He took a career break between 2014 and 2017 to work as a stockbroker, and retired in 2017 after a spell with non-league Kingstonian.
Paddy Kenny vs Curtis Davies
19:35 , Arthur FerridgeSeven-time Republic of Ireland international Paddy Kenny won the Championship with Queen’s Park Rangers in 2010-11, but how will he fare in the ring on return to west London tonight?
Funnily enough, the former goalkeeper is shorter than his opposite man, centre-back Curtis Davies, formerly of West Brom, Aston Villa, and Leicester City, among other clubs.
He had made well over 600 professional appearances by the time he hung up his boots in 2024, calling time on his career with Cheltenham Town.
Leroy Lita vs David Noble
19:25 , Arthur FerridgeThis is one of the card’s more intriguing matchups, as Leroy Lita sports a black belt in taekwondo.
His playing career has spanned 23 years and, as of spring, was ongoing with Barwell FC of the coveted Southern League Premier Division Central.
David Noble has evidently heard about Lita’s martial arts credentials, saying ahead of the fight that he would fight “just to hear the last bell.”
Lee Trundle vs Anthony Gardner
19:15 , Arthur FerridgeThe journeyman Lee Trundle was still playing football this year.
Now 49, he had a spell with Welsh side Trefelin BGC, scoring 19 goals in 27 appearances. Clearly still got something in the legs, then, but how’s his jab?
The former Wrexham, Preston, and Leeds man will face Anthony Gardner - all 6ft5in of him.
The towering Spurs centre-back has no silverware to show for his 329 senior appearances, but could sort himself a belt tonight.
David Bentley vs Jody Morris
19:05 , Arthur FerridgeLet’s run down tonight’s fights then, shall we? David Bentley and Jody Morris top the bill.
Bentley, formerly of Arsenal and Tottenham, retired from football at age 29, and is both taller and younger than Morris, which must count for something, right?
Morris has been trained by former world champion Darren Barker, though, so maybe he’s in with a shout.
Tonight's beneficiaries
18:55 , Arthur FerridgeA Night to Remember benefits four charities. Here’s what they’re all about:
Play Skill is based out of Hertfordshire and helps young children with physical and learning disabilities find specialist play and therapy sessions.
Sport in Mind promotes sport as a means of mitigating mental health challenges.
Helping Hands is an anti-homelessness and poverty charity in Leamington Spa which focuses on helping those it works with to “rebuild their lives and regain independence.”
Willow provides ‘Special Days’ for seriously ill young adults up and down the UK.
Standard Sport in conversation with Graham Stack
18:45 , Arthur FerridgeStandard Sport sat down with Graham Stack in September to discuss ‘A Night to Remember.”
He told Simon Collings of planning the event: “I love football, I really do, but I am enjoying this so much. I’ve got a spring in my step.
“But I do want to make this really clear, I am not a boxing promoter by any stretch of the imagination!
“I have got a lot of help on board now, because I was actually doing everything myself. Today I’ve been on the phone with the boys, asking them what they want on their shorts, what size head guard they need. The detail that has gone into this has been huge.”
Bentley vs Morris prediction
18:35 , Arthur FerridgeGraham Stack has gone on record in saying that Saturday’s bouts are “not about the result in the ring, but the results outside of it”.
But there is no reason to think there won’t be a certain London derby flavour as former Chelsea star Morris and ex-Tottenham man Bentley face off.
The cards may well fall in Bentley’s favour, for two reasons. First, he has youth on his side, being five years Morris’ junior. He also has a physical advantage, being four inches taller than his opponent, a factor which may well give him the edge.
Bentley to win.
Undercard in full
18:25 , Arthur FerridgeHeadline: David Bentley vs Jody Morris
Marvin Elliott vs Greg Halford
Paddy Kenny vs Curtis Davies
Leroy Lita vs David Noble
Lee Trundle vs Anthony Gardner
Order TBC
How to watch
18:15 , Arthur FerridgeLive stream: The event will be broadcast live and for free on Saturday night on the Boxing News YouTube channel.
Good evening
18:03 , Arthur FerridgeHello, and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of ‘A Night to Remember’.
Ten former footballers take to the ring this evening in a bid to raise money for four incredible charities. Jody Morris and David Bentley headline the affair in a bout with a splash of London derby flavour. Will the Grosvenor House Marriott be painted blue or white?
Follow along right here for all the latest updates, with the first fight due to get underway at around 8.20pm BST.
