Boxing News Boxing News
There were three good cards in Britain on Friday night, starting with ITV’s UK – US Contender showdown at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
Of the eight bouts, all of which were scheduled for eight rounds, on tap between the American visitors and their British hosts, each side was left holding four victories when the smoke finally cleared.
On the UK side, super middle Robin Reid posted a unanimous decision over Jessie Brinkley, middleweight Paul Smith produced a seventh round stoppage over Jonathan Reid, light welter Nigel Wright finished Jonathan Nelson in the second and middleweight Anthony Small outpointed Walter Wright.
For the US contingent, middleweight Alfonso Gomez stopped Martin Conception in the seventh, the same round that light middle Cornelius Bunderage finished Colin McNeil, super middle Jerson Ravelo outpointed Paul Buchanan and Freddy Curiel stopped Ross Minter in the eighth frame.
At the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley, European Light Welter titlist Ted Bami handily beat Giuseppe Lauri over twelve rounds in an ugly rematch. Outgunned from the start, Lauri constantly complained to the Spanish referee and while he did succeed in getting a point taken away from Bami in the eighth, the reigning champion proved that the glove is mightier than the mouth as he retained the European crown for the first time.
On the undercard, WBF Cruiserweight boss Gyorgy Hidvegi kept his title by outpointing the defensive minded Belgian Ismail Abdoul by wide margins.
Ex-European, British and Commonwealth Super Bantam supremo Michael Hunter returned from a world title loss to Steve Molitor by decisioning Ben Odamattey over eight frames at featherweight.
Former IBO Light Welter titlist Colin Lynes won his bout against Arek Malek when the Polish import injured his hands and could not continue in the second round of their welterweight contest.
At the Holiday Inn in Peterborough, former Commonwealth challenger Ayitey Powers upset promising middleweight Cello Renda via second round stoppage.
