Friday Fight Night - Liverpool - Paul Smith vs Tony Dodson

Let me preface this review by getting any bias out of the way - I'm not a huge fan of Frank Warren promotions. Every Frank Warren show I watch I know in the back of my mind that these fights are booked in such a way that his protégés are almost guaranteed a win. That's not to say they aren't fine boxers, just that I feel other promoters (Frank Maloney for instance) put on a more balanced and thus entertaining show. I enjoyed two out of the three fights tonight, but I would not say I was entertained.

Secondly, I feel strongly that Tony Quigley should have been taking part tonight as part of a rematch against Paul Smith. I may be the only one that holds that opinion, but I hold it tightly and am more convinced than ever having viewed the fight.

Thirdly, I was very happy to see that Dave Parris was nowhere near these fights. Although he makes a decent referee, his judgement and scoring of late has been nothing short of appalling. I was seriously very excited to not hear his name read out as a judge, which I think says a lot about him.

Now that I've gotten my personal feelings out of the way (and what use is a personal blog without some strong opinions, right?), here is my report of the night's action.

Pre-Fight - Paul Smith vs Tony Dodson

This Friday sees Paul Smith (27yr, 28(15)-1(0)-0) defend his British Super-Middleweight title against Tony Dodson (29yr, 24(12)-5(4)-1) in what proves to be a great fight that will most likely go the distance.

Now, putting aside my excitement for this fight, I feel I must mention a man seemingly forgotten in the shuffle - one Tony Quigley (25yr, 13(6)-2(1)-0), who in his last two fights has face the two men fighting on Friday.

First, almost exactly a year ago, Tony Quigley defeated Tony Dodson in a last (12th) round TKO to win the vacant British Super-Middleweight title. His first defence was in October 2009 against Paul Smith, who won a split decision of 116-112, 116-113 and 114-116. Now, I was with the third judge and scored it to Quigley, but by all accounts it was a close, tough contest that had the whole of Liverpool on their feet - some booing, some cheering, but everyone on an emotional high.

Unless my ears and memories deceive me, promoter Frank Warren immediately found a microphone and announced a rematch. This seemed to pacify the crowd somewhat (I'm sure all agreed that, no matter who won, it was as close a fight as any and one worth watching again) and that was the end of it.

Fast forward several months, and we now see Tony Dodson leaping right over Tony Quigley into the challenger's corner, while Quigly will face the vicious Paul Samuels (36yr, 21(12)-7(4)-2), hot off back-to-back wins over Cello Renda, in April.

So, not only has Quigley lost his belt in a closely-contested battle, not only has he been overlooked for a rematch, he now faces a man who could potentially throw major spanners in his future career. A devastating loss for Quigley in April could well propel Samuels into title contention, but it would set Quigley back greatly, possibly derailing his career for good.

I fail to find the justice in this situation. While I will be watching, an enjoying, the fight on Friday night, it will be with a very bittersweet taste in my mouth. My one hope is that Quigley dominates his fight, Smith wins his, and the two come together for a rematch soon.

American Boxing - An Observation

I have recently discovered a TV channel that carries American boxing, so I may begin blogging more about that too when I get the chance.

From what little I have seen however, I have made a startling observation - American boxers seem to be a lot more vicious, in almost an MMA/UFC kinda way.

One fight I saw recently had a muscular, tattooed, WWE-wrestler-looking man squaring off against a podgy, middle-aged, punch-bag-looking man. The first guy was simply throwing wild, ugly punches, several a second, while his opponent was doing all he could to block - arms up, at one point he threw a knee, but nothing could stop this battering machine.

This was the low point on an animalistic show. At least the other fights seemed evenly matched - two muscular, rabid fighters throwing wild, horrible punches at each other with seemingly no thought to tactics, accuracy, skill.

For a first impression, I was equally impressed at the bravery of these men, and shocked at the complete disregard for their own and their opponent's health and well-being. Hopefully not all American boxing shows are like this one, but for now I will keep an eye on the TV schedule and try to find more and report back.

Friday Fight Night - Stoke Review - Leva Kirakosyan vs Scott Lawton

Tonight was a night of domination, peppered with some hard-fought, close calls.

First up we had Russia's Leva Kirakosyan facing Britain's Scott Lawton for the vacant European Super-Featherweight title. Lawton never stood a chance, with Kirakosyan delivering perfect shots filled with power and accuracy. Every time Lawton got hit flush, his sense were robbed from him, evident when within 40 seconds he was knocked to the floor.

In the second round, Kirakosyan again caught the Brit and, were it not for the ropes, chances are Lawton would have been knocked down and out. However, the ropes saved the man from falling, the referee delivering a well-deserved 'standing 8 count'. I personally feel that the fight should have ended here, but Lawton was saved by the bell and went on to fight a further 20 seconds of the third round, before the referee finally, and wisely, called a halt to proceedings.

36 year old Kirakosyan is now 32(22)-5(2)-0 while 33 year old Lawton stands at 27(6)-6(4)-1.

Continuing with the domination theme, Danny McIntosh made light work of defending his English Light-Heavyweight belt against Tony Oakey. Although lacking the precise style of Kirakosyan, McIntosh was heavily in charge of this bout, knocking Oakey down twice in the second round. In a stunning display of foolishness, Oakey remained on his knee while being counted by the ref, continually looking over to his corner, and then attempted to rise at '9'.

It is very debatable whether Oakey made the count or not, the fact remains that he had no control over the fight. Chances are he could have went on to mount a stunning victory, but I highly doubt that. McIntosh finds himself at 11(5)-1(1)-0 and hopefully the 29 year old can sharpen up his technique and precision and find himself back in British/Commonwealth/European rankings after suffering his first, and only, defeat last year to Nathan Cleverly.

Meanwhile, 34 year old Oakey is expected to take on Isaac Chilemba next month for the WBC International Light-Heavyweight belt. Whether he can shake off the pangs of defeat and rise up to the occasion remains to be seen, but judging by tonight's performance, he simply hasn't got the legs nor stability to stand up to any real pressure. His record now reads 29(8)-5(2)-1.

Moving on from the brutality of domination, we were treated to a few fights that managed to last the distance tonight. Chris Edwards (14(4)-14(3)-3, 33yr) managed to win the vacant Commonwealth Flyweight title by besting Abmerk Shindjuu (7(2)-3-2) in a very close unanimous decision - all judges scored it 115-114 to Edwards.

In a fantastic display that essentially ended in both fighters going head-to-head in a battle of rolling shoulders and a balanced act of defense and offense, Gary Buckland (18(6)-1-0, 23yr) faced Sam Rukundo (15(6)-1-1, 29yr). Although Buckland had a great start in the fight, I felt that the scores were very close towards the end, and certainly the fight should have ended within 3 points. However, the official judges felt differently and awarded Buckland the unanimous decision with scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. This fight was an eliminator for the Commonwealth Lightweight title.

Finally, one last word for domination - Scott Quigg (17(11)-0-0, 21yr) knocked out Nikita Lukin (10(3)-18(1)-2, 26yr) in under one minute. With an impressive record, hopefully Quigg will next face an impressive opponent.

Saturday Fight Night - London Results

I have never been a huge fan of Frank Warren, nor am I of his current boxing stable.

I think James DeGale's recent actions sum up my feelings on this group quite well - outside of the ring, he is a cocky, self-assured young man who has been led to believe that he is automatically entitled to great things on the world stage. His recent quotes have included claims that he is not "dodging" George Groves, rather that he feels he deserves far more than £50,000 currently being offered up to face him, as well as thinking that David Haye needs DeGale's name on his undercard to 'sex it up a bit'. The fact that every layman in Britain knows who World Champion David Haye is, and that only boxing fans will have heard of Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale, seems to have passed this young man by.

However, despite my personal feelings on the matter, inside the ring the results speak for themselves. I only had time to view DeGale's and Gavin's fight, but every Warren prospect came out a winner on this evening, Gavin in particular looking good in the ring and unfortunately robbed of his perfect (100% win/100% KO) record. Had the fight lasted a few more rounds, he might have ended it definitively.

The results were as follows:

Kevin Mitchell (31(23)-0-0, 25yr) [W KO] Ignacio Mendoza (27(18)-6(3)-2, 26yr)
Mitchell won the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title.

Nathan Cleverly (19(9)-0-0, 23yr) [W TKO] Antonio Brancalion (32(8)-8(2)-2, 34yr)
Cleverly won the vacant European Light-Heavyweight title.

James DeGale (6(4)-0-0, 24yr) [W TKO] Matthew Barr (14(6)-6(6)-0, 32yr)

Frankie Gavin (6(5)-0-0, 24yr) [W Points] Peter McDonagh (14(2)-16(1)-0, 32yr)

(stats given are updated, reflecting the result of each match)

Hopefully, given time, these young men can grow into the spotlight that Warren looks set to thrust them in. Former Warren boy, World Champion Amir Khan, grew up as a touted, unbeaten Warren prospect until suffering his first defeat, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Khan went on to make fundamental changes at the training level, secured a World championship belt, matured well outside of the ring, has moved from under Warren's promotion to a US-based outfit and is finally destined the worldwide acclaim many had been trying to prematurely heap upon him earlier in his career.

I sincerely hope that DeGale and Gavin can take a leaf out of Khan's book and move on up from overly hyped domestic wins and onto the real World stage.

All in all it was a good night for keeping the British statistic fans happy, but it wont have made a dent on the current worldwide boxing depression.

Friday Fight Night - London Results

To be honest, I didn't catch much of the action at all this week, so I can only offer you the results.

There wasn't much happening tonight - mostly young boxers looking to add some extra wins to their records. The main fights were as follows:

Grzegorz Proksa (20(13)-0-0, 25yr) [W TKO] Tyan Booth (11(2)-6(2)-1, 26yr)
Proksa won the vacant European (EU) Middleweight title

Lenny Daws (20(8)-1(0)-2, 31yr) [DRAW] Jason Cook (26(13)-3(2)-1, 34yr)
Daws retained the British Light-Welterweight title by default

Steve Williams (9(3)-0-0, 25yr) [W Points] Michael Grant (12(1)-2(1)-1, 26yr)
Williams won the vacant English Light-Welterweight title

Stuart Hall (7(3)-0-1, 29yr) [W Points] Richard Szebeledi (4(0)-8(3)-0, 23yr)
Hall's next fight will be on 19th March for the English Bantamweight title

Freddie Turner (1(0)-0-0) [W Points] Jason Nesbitt (7(5)-103(11)-2, 36yr)
Turner made his professional debut

(stats given reflective of each fight's result)


From what I saw, the Daws v Cook fight was yet another close call, but one where I felt that the challenger had edged the win. This is perhaps the third such fight I have seen in recent months, thankfully from different promoters, however you can't help feeling that things fall too conveniently towards a rematch.

Anyway, I am not here to point fingers, but it is something I will be keeping an eye on to see if there is a trend in future fights. For now, I am glad to see fighters facing against one another at a similar age - I am growing sick of seeing fighters in their early 20s walk over fighters in their late 30s every week.

Friday Fight Night - Nottingham Snippets

Due to a scheduling conflict with Lost (don't fret - it will now be on 9pm-10pm Friday nights, leaving the 10pm-12am slot free for boxing!) I could only catch snippets of this week's action.

Highlight of the night was Jason Booth (32yr old, 35(15)-5(0)-0) facing Matthew Marsh (27yr, 13(1)-2(2)-0) for both Booth's British Super-Bantamweight (122lb) and the vacant Commonwealth Super-Bantamweight belts.

From what I could see, the bout was rather electric and evenly fought between the two, with Marsh more regularly catching Booth off-guard with some great precision punching. There wasn't a lot of clinching, but far too many punches behind the back of the head for my liking.

A clash of heads early on led to a small cut opening up above "2 Smooth" Booth's left eye, perhaps explaining his rather flat-footed performance in the early rounds. However, he turned it around in the later stages, throwing many powerful uppercuts among his hooks and jabs.

Lady Luck was the eventual winner of the night, with the referee forcing the final bell early in the 11th Round due to a large gash opening up above Marsh's right eye. It was entirely the right decision but, with 5 minutes boxing left and being ahead on two of the judge's scorecards, Marsh would have had every right to be enraged.

However, in the post-fight interview both fighters were extremely courteous and honest about the bout, Booth in particular being very humbled by the win, admitting he was not on fire and rather flat-footed. (And, in my opinion, despite the gaping wound Marsh was sporting, Booth certainly seemed the more damaged of the two). Frank Maloney was also on hand, with promising talks of a future rematch, hopefully incorporating the European belt for a triple-title outing.

Unfortunately, the cut above Marsh's eye looks as though it may cause him troubles throughout his, hopefully long, career.

In other news, Ovill McKenzie (30yrs, 18(7)-9(1)-0) made short work of Billy Boyle (33yrs, 13(7)-5(2)-0). Although both are naturally Light Heavyweights, they fought at a slightly larger 180lb fight average.

McKenzie came out with fantastic power and speed, swinging his whole arms with terrifying accuracy. Boyle was beaten down by the halfway point of the first round, barely managing to defend himself against the barrage of McKenzie's blows and, after suffering several straight punches to the face, the referee rightly called the fight to a halt. With Boyle clutching at his left eye immediately after the fight had ended, I for one was glad for the short finish as serious damage could have been done.

It will be interesting to see if McKenzie's next opponent can handle that type of ferocity.

Ovill McKenzie - vicious.

All in all, another good outing from Maloney - I just hope he stays clear of the Frank Warren route of having well-suited main event fights bolstered by mismatched undercards.

Friday Fight Night - Glasgow Snippets

Unfortunately, I missed the majority of this week's Friday Fight Night - Live In Bellahouston, Glasgow (my hometown).

I did manage to catch the final 3 rounds of the 10-round Scottish SuperBantamweight championship bout between 23yr old David Savage (now 10(2)-0-0) and 31yr old Gavin Reid (finishing the night at 6(3)-5(1)-1). From what I saw, both fighters put in tremendous effort and workrate, but the grabbing was very sloppy (I kept anticipating either of the two to exit the ring via the ropes at any moment). Savage in particular was disappointing in this aspect.

However, I think the Sky Sports commentator put it well when he described Reid as a man clutching for lottery tickets - he was throwing far more punches towards the end, hoping for a lucky shot, while Savage was picking his shots and making them count.

The post-fight statistics showed Savage threw more, landed more and had a higher punch connection percentage, so there can be no arguing with the referee's judgement in awarding him the title. I scored the final 3 rounds 29-28 to Savage, identical to the Sky Sports unofficial judgecard.

I also caught the 20-second "highlights" reel from Lee McAllister (27yr 31(7)-2(1)-0)'s Commonwealth Lightweight defense against Samual Amoako (6(1)-1(0)-0). From what I saw, and heard post-fight, the most interesting thing about this fight was McAllister's fashion style (a bright red triple-mohawk, bright red tribal tattoo and matching shorts) as opposed to his boxing style. Hopefully he shakes this off and continues on his match to European dominance. Scotland could do with an easily identifiable, but more importantly a good, boxer in this age of Khan and Haye.

Friday Fight Night - Essex Review - Ian Napa vs Jamie McDonnel

Tonight's action comes courtesy of Frank Maloney's promotions.

The main event starred Maloney lynchpin Ian "Dappa" Napa vs Jamie McDonnel, fighting for Napa's British Bantamweight (112-118lb) title, as well as the vacant Commonwealth Bantamweight crown.

This was supposed to be a mere stepping stone in Napa's career as he finally made his way back up to European and then World rankings, however a sub-par performance led to one of the closest and most controversial calls I have seen in a long time.

To sum it up briefly - for the first half of the fight, Napa relied purely on ducking, dodging and weaving, however McDonnel kept plugging away, landing a few good, accurate shots. But it was clearly Napa who was delivering the scoring goods - landing counterpunches and generally avoiding McDonnnel's jab.

A lot has been said of Napa's lack of explosive punch power, and certainly I got the feeling that if he were a more offensively powerful fighter, he could have stolen the show in the middle rounds of this bout.

As it stood, towards the final few rounds Napa seemed to be in a fairly comfortable, if boring, lead, when McDonnel suddenly woke up and dominated the tenth and eleventh round easily, with Napa showing some final resistance in the twelfth.

At this point, I felt I was being generous to McDonnel for his work ethic (Napa seemed to be phoning it in more, in my opinion), but even with that biased slant I still had Napa scoring with one point ahead. Then the judge's scorecards were announced, and the shock-bomb dropped.

- Judge 1 scores it 115-114 to Napa. (Fair enough call, and probably the consensus decision.)
- Judge 2 scores it 115-114 to McDonnel. (Again, a close decision and you could understand, even if you disagreed with, this scoring.)
- Judge 3, Dave Parris, scores it 117-112 to.... McDonnel!! You could have heard the crowd's jaws hitting the floor, if it weren't for the deafening sound of booing and jeering filling the room.

Fair play to McDonnel for the win - Napa definitely was not on his peak performance that night. But the real focus of this result has to be on judge Dave Parris. I challenge anyone to explain his rationale. What was he thinking? I don't believe anyone else could have watched this fight and scored it to McDonnel with such a wide margin, and some serious questions need to be asked.

But that is a discussion for another night. Kudos must certainly go to the unnamed Boxing News journalist, who accurately predicted in the magazine's 22nd January issue that Ian Napa, concentrating on his promise of a March European title fight, would become shortsighted in this fight.

Maloney has always had Napa in line as a future World champion and, with that European fight already on the horizon, Napa clearly did not take this domestic fight as seriously as he should have done, and it may have lead to his downfall.

McDonnel, on the other hand, had been priding himself on becoming British champion and had declared himself as such for weeks leading up to the fight. Although his performance was also not the greatest ever seen, he was clearly proud and had achieved a personal milestone in his boxing career. Ian Napa, now 19(1)-8(1)-0 and 31 years of age, needs to take a serious look at his career and make the right moves and stay honest in every future fight to reclaim any of his past glory at European levels. In the post-fight interview, a clearly very stunned Napa struggled to grasp the fact that the European title had now slipped from his grasp yet again.

With Jamie McDonnel, now 13(5)-2(0)-1 and only 23 years of age, being too injured to take up Napa's March fight with Jerome Arnould for the European title, it may be a while until he gets his shot. Whether the willing McDonnel or the more deserving Napa is the eventual victor on the European/World stages remains to be seen, but for now we are left with a relatively uneventful Bantamweight battle, and a judge that needs a serious looking at.

Ashley Sexton - the new Amir Khan?

Thankfully for us all, the night was saved by 3 electrifying fights in the undercard. Undeniable highlight of the night was seeing Ashley Sexton (22yr, 9(5)-0-0) utterly demolish Usman Ahmed (28yr, 6(0)-3(1)-1) to claim the vacant English Flyweight (112lb) title.

In a weight division that normally favours speed over power, these two competitors were trading vicious punches from the very first ring of the bell. Literally as I was musing how evenly skilled this pair are, and pondering just how the fight would end being scored at the final bell, Sexton woke up the crowd by delivering one of the finest punches I have ever seen.

Throwing a right hook, Sexton saw Ahmed drop his guard ever so slightly and, with almost superhuman skill and precision, Sexton adjusted himself mid-swing, putting all his limited weight and dynamite power into that sole punch, sending Ahmed's head snapping first over his right shoulder (his nose practically touching his shoulder blade), then immediately whipping back over his left, before crashing out face flat on the mat.

Sexton, a consummate professional, held off celebrating until Ahmed had recovered. Thankfully, Ahmed was on his feet a few minutes later, looking dazed but otherwise undamaged, and Sexton let loose and able to celebrate a raw and incredible victory.

In the post-fight interview, Sexton was clear about what had happened. "I have dynamite in my gloves" I believe he was quoted as exclaiming during the initial interview on Sky Sports. This is a man that knows exactly what his strengths are and what he needs to produce to win.

Check out the highlights here - http://www.youtube.com/maloneypromotions#p/a/u/0/k7Sj6QxrTI8

It is my personal opinion that Sexton could grow up to be one of the most entertaining and dynamic British boxing personalities in the future. Although his weight class doesn't tend to garner much in the way of publicity, this man is as charismatic and explosive as Amir Khan, only a lot more personable on camera and has already proven he can take a punch. Hopefully some good opponents and title shots find their way to Sextons doorstep in the near future. Definitely one to watch.

Up next we had a chance to see another young unbeaten British boxer in action in the shape of Super Middleweight George Groves taking on Bulgarian Grigor Sarohanian. Groves (21yr, 7(5)-0(0)-0, pre-fight) is a man touted for big things in the future, and he certainly has a lot of movement for a man of his size. This fight featured some great punching and, certainly in the early stages, Sarohanian (23yr, 2(0)-2(0)-0, pre-fight) seemed to be giving Groves a lot of trouble. However, by the third, Groves finally hit his stride and put an end to the fight with a terrific and powerful bodyshot. With Adam Booth (most famous for training current WBA Heavyweight Champion, and fellow Brit, David Haye) in his corner, George Groves may indeed be destined for great things in the future - he certainly has the mobility and power for it.

Finally, in a fight that felt more like watching two bears hunt each other than two fellow men box, British Heavyweights Scott Belshaw (currently 10(7)-4(3)-0, 24yr) and Larry Olubamiwo (now 7(6)-1(0)-0, 31yr) faced off against each other.

It took Olubamiwo a mere 25 seconds, and around 4 punches, to floor Belshaw. 45 seconds later, he managed to knock Belshaw to the ground once again, after catching him with an uppercut. 5 seconds later, Olubamiwo caught him with a jab square in the face and sent him to the mat for the third time, and I honestly felt that the referee should have stopped the bout there. Although Belshaw didn't seem too damaged, he was clearly not in this fight. Olubamiwo continued to dominate, knocking Belshaw back to the canvas a further 35 seconds later. 2 minutes in and already Belshaw had experienced 4 knockdowns!

Despite being back on his feet, seemingly coherent and telling the referee that he wished to continue, the ref waved Belshaw off and called a halt to this sluggish, one-sided affair. Nothing particularly exciting, but still a thrilling end to a thrilling night.

If Frank Maloney can continue to put out fairly big named British boxers in title fights, and support them with these well matched undercards, I think he can rightfully lay claim to being the supremo British boxing promoter of 2010.

Friday Fight Night - Chesire Review - Rob Norton vs David Dolan

This week's Friday night entertainment was supplied by Ricky Hatton's "Hatton Promotions".

The main event of this evening saw British and Commonwealth Cruiserweight (200lb) champion Rob Norton (32(19)-4(1)-1) face off against David Dolan (13(5)-2(0)-0). In terms of age, Norton will be 38 years old in as little as five days time, whereas Dolan comes in to the fight at a comparatively sprightly 30 years of age.

This fight is a rematch from when the two paired off a year earlier, in a sloppy-yet-thrilling affair that saw a few knockdowns but nothing particularly strong or decisive. The same could be said of tonight's battle, although there were no official knockdowns awarded (a couple of pull-downs and shoves aside).

Norton seemed easily in control of the fight in the early round, using every tactic under the sun, from hugging to taunting, to keep the tempo in check and Dolan at bay. Although he was landing few punches himself, Norton simply waited on Dolan to charge recklessly forward, then picked him off with some good counterpunches before clinching yet again. This was the general pace of the first half of the fight, although there was one solitary entertaining departure in Round 3, when Norton simply backed himself into a neutral corner and allowed Dolan to throw punch after punch, proving he could take all his opponent could dish out.

Fast-forward to Round 8, and just when it seemed Norton would execute his own version of Ali's infamous rope-a-dope technique, Dolan suddenly came alive, throwing combinations and jabs, and proving that it was indeed the older Norton who had run out of steam. The champion did, however, manage to hold his own until the end, fighting back against the onslaught of punches. However, by the final bell the champ did seem to be on his last legs. Had it been a 15 round affair, I feel Dolan may have won comfortably.

As it stood, with a strong-but-messy first half display, the champion retained, the judges scoring the fight 116-113 Norton, 115-114 Dolan, and 114-114 DRAW, making the official judgement a draw and Norton retaining his titles. Both fighters were courteous in their post-fight interview, each sharing the view that the fight was close but that they each felt they had done enough to prove themselves the winner. Norton in particular retained his sense of confidence, flashing his brilliant smile and asking "is that it?" of the reporter.

In British rankings, Norton remains at 3rd for the division, Dolan a close 4th.

Norton, the champ.

On the undercard, another rematch took place between Middleweights (160lb) 24yr old Cello Renda (18(11)-8(5)-0) and 36yr old Paul Samuels (20(12)-7(4)-2). Last time these two faced off, it was an exciting bout featuring a very rare boxing occurrence - a double knockdown. This time around, things were less fantastic but certainly thrilling. Renda suffered early, Samuels causing him severe nose damage (possibly broken), leaving the younger man to deal with a lot of bleeding throughout the fight, as well as suffering an early knockdown. However, Renda recovered remarkably around Round 4 of this 8 rounder.

With Samuels visibly running out of steam and power, Renda managed to catch him with a fantastic hook that sent the elder man to the floor. Both boxers gave their all in the final 4 rounds, with the referee awarding the fight to Samuels without hesitation. I personally found it a lot harder to score, and feel I would have gave it to Renda on the night.

Hopefully we will see these two fight at least one more time, as their styles certainly seem perfectly matched to each other.

All in all, this was a decent night of entertainment showcased from Hatton Promotions, a great start to the domestic year. There weren't a lot of fights on offer, no "big" names, but what we there were some great quality fights with rich history behind them. There was also an opportunity for Ricky Hatton to present his reasoning behind his announcement to "come back" for at least one more fight and, although it may seem ludicrous on paper, his reasons for wanting to return to the ring were actually rather sound. Here's hoping he has a successful training session and, providing he is showing all the right moves and making the right weights, I wish him all the luck in the world for his next fight.

I'm putting out my prediction here - June 5th, Ricky Hatton vs Timothy Bradley for the WBO Jr Welterweight (140lb) title, in Manchester. Let's see if I'm right come summer.