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Last night at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, local man Martin Lindsay stepped up to the challenge during the biggest fight of his career by ripping the British Featherweight title from Scotland’s Paul Appleby.
21 year old Appleby came into the bout unbeaten and with the reputation as one of the UK’s top young fighters following his British title win over John Simpson and defense against Esham Pickering last year.
Lindsay had earned his shot at the featherweight crown by a shocking KO of former WBU kingpin Derry Matthews last year and the 26 year old had vowed not to disappoint his fans at Ulster Hall.
Once the bout began, Lindsay appeared to be the faster of the two combatants, beating the champion to the punch on most occasions.
But Appleby bit down and gained control of the action in the third behind a sharp body assault. Lindsay began to counter the champion effectively in the fourth and the bout was up for grabs until the Belfast native connected with a cracking right that had Appleby in trouble, causing a referee stoppage at 2:36 of the fifth.
Martin Lindsay becomes to the new British Featherweight Champion and sees his record to 14-0 (6) while Appleby drops to 14-1 (9) after suffering his first career loss.
The undercard at Ulster Hall featured British Light Middle Champ Ryan Rhodes, 42-4 (28), stopping Janos Petrovics, 16-24 (8), in the seventh frame of an eight round non-title bout.
On Friday, Commonwealth Super Flyweight Champion Don Broadhurst, 11-0 (3), retained his title with a six round stoppage of Ghana’s Asamoah Wilson, 0-4 (0), at the Civic Centre in Wolverhampton.
