Boxing News

Last night at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke, England, IBO welterweight champion Lovemore N'dou and challenger Matthew Hatton fought to a draw.

38 year old N'dou hadn't been able to spar during training camp due to a cut suffered earlier and inactivity since his title winning effort in July against Phillip N'dou showed up as a lack of offense the early rounds.

Hatton went on the attack in response to N'dou's reticence but the 28 year old Manchester man wasn't able to land anything of significance. More...

It was the rare domestic bout with far reaching and possibly world level implications last night at Bolton Arena in Bolton, England and the European light middle title clash between champion Jamie Moore and Ryan Rhodes lived up to all expectations.

Southpaw Moore took the initiative in the early going, advancing on his older opponent and scoring with single shots that caught the normally fleet-footed switch-hitter.

Rhodes handled the pressure and punches well as he began to get the timing of Moore's efforts and answer back with return fire.

As the first few rounds began to develop into the middle frames, the action began to heat up with both men enjoying success but Moore continued to control the action, adding energy sapping body shots to his mix of offense. More...

**With Slideshow**

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

British super bantamweight champion Jason Booth put together yet another sterling performance in turning back the comeback hopes of Michael Hunter last night at the Seaburn Centre in Sunderland, England on a Frank Maloney promotion.

31 year old southpaw Hunter was attempting to recapture the glory days of 2004-2006, over which he held the British, Commonwealth and European titles before losing a vacant IBF title bid to sharp Canadian Steve Molitor.

The Hartlepool man started strong once the bell rang, pressuring Nottingham based Booth, also 31, with a high work rate and had some success when the champion was put upon the ropes. More...

David Haye has done all the right things via the press to get generate a heavyweight title challenge and has been rewarded with a shot against WBA champion Nickolay Valuev in Nuremberg, Germany on November, 7.

But with the same certainty in which that statement can be made, there's no doubt the former world cruiserweight champion hasn't earned that opportunity in the conventional sense.

Haye clambered atop the 200 pound class with wins against the likes of Jean Marc Mormeck, Enzo Macarrinelli and Giacobbe Fragomeni while never having faced Tomasz Adamek or Steve Cunningham in order to truly rule the division, skipping instead to join the heavies.

At that higher weight, Haye hammered out aging former contender Monte Barrett over five rounds a year ago but has gone no further during that time.

Generally, this sort of limited activity as a heavyweight would have earned Haye the chance to meet such opponents as Hasim Rahman, Ray Austin, Fres Oquendo...etc, for a few bouts before a genuine world title opportunity would have materialized, assuming "the Hayemaker" won those contests. More...

Welshman Nathan Cleverly solidified his hold on the light heavyweight division in the UK by stopping former amateur star Courtney Fry in eight rounds last night at London's historic York Hall.

Fry, who has also fought as a cruiserweight, had the strength and skill to put up good resistance but at age 34, couldn't cope with the speed of University student Cleverly.

At 22, British and Commonwealth titlist Cleverly seems to be at the peak of his game and ripped Fry later in the bout with good combinations and bracing single shots.

Fry got through with a few good punches but Cleverly's chin held steady and he paid back the older man with far more in return. More...

**With Slideshow**

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

On Saturday night at the Altrincham Leisure Centre in Manchester, England, lightweight John Murray won the division's biggest domestic showdown as he stopped Jon Thaxton in the fourth round.

Local hero Murray regained the British title he lost on the scales in June with one of his best performances to date.

Southpaw Thaxton came out strong and was controlling the pace early on but the much younger Mancunian simply waited to get the measure of his rival before going on the attack.

That took place in the third and by the fourth frame, Thaxton could no longer keep up with Murray and was taking a lot of punishment as a result. More...

Audley Harrison managed to rub some of the tarnish off his career last night by winning Prizefighter Heavyweights III at London's Excel Arena.

As usual among this series of three round extravaganzas, there were upsets galore as the original lineup of eight fighters went to work in the opening quarterfinal stage.

In a real shocker, British champion Danny Williams was floored twice by massive but inexperienced Sheffield southpaw Carl Baker, who survived Williams' desperate third round barrage to record a 29-26, 29-26 and 28-27 win.

Another surprise saw undefeated Irishman Coleman Barrett post a narrow verdict over far more seasoned former British champ Scott Gammer of Wales via scores of 29-28 on all three cards. More...

Last night in front of a strong hometown crowd at Dublin's O2 Arena, local hero Bernard Dunne was hammered back out of his brief foray into the world class standings by Thai slugger Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

Having won the WBA super bantam crown in a surprising upset of Ricardo Cordoba at the O2 this past March, Dunne understandably felt confident in the first two rounds and managed to keep his much shorter challenger at the end of the jab.

But once the third bell sounded, Kratingdaenggym was done studying the Irishman and was ready to test his contention that Dunne was in possession of a less than sturdy chin.

Just like Kiko Martinez had hit the jackpot two years ago during a European title bout, Kratingdaenggym rammed home a whistling left hook that flung Dunne hard to the canvas. More...

The O2 in Dublin, Ireland hosts a big occasion later today when local hero Bernard Dunne meets Thailand's Poonsawat Kratindaenggym.

On offer will be Dunne's WBA super bantam crown, won six months ago in the very same venue against Panama's Ricardo Cordoba in a major upset.

Can Dunne, 28-1 (15), turn the trick again and send another more experienced operator home from Dublin empty-handed?

It'll be a tough assignment.

The 28 year old from Sakon Nakhon won the PABA bantam belt in just his fourth pro contest and kept it over 17 defenses against mostly obscure competition until an Interim WBA title shot came up in 2005. More...

British middleweight champion Matthew Macklin increased the hardware in his trophy cabinet by winning the European title last night at the Velodrome in Manchester, England.

The Birmingham based slugger went right to work in the first round, swapping punches with former titlist Amin Asikainen.

The Finn was soon down from a full-blooded Macklin left hook but beat the count to continue. It wasn't long however, before Macklin slammed home a right that decked Asikainen again.

Showing great courage, Asikainen beat the count again but was judged in no condition to continue the bout at 2:34 of the first round.

Matthew Macklin gains the European middleweight title and improves to 25-2 (18), winning his eighth straight contest. More...

It was a good Friday night at the fights all across Britain and we kick things off at historic York Hall in London's Bethnal Green.

Light welters Lenny Daws and Barry Morrison tangled in a rematch for the vacant British title and Daws managed to reverse his 2007 loss to the Scot.

Last time out Morrison squeaked out a split decision to lift the British crown but this time Daws took it away from the judges and knocked out his rival at 1:30 of the tenth frame to capture the vacant domestic belt.

Daws wins his fifth bout on the bounce to go to 20-1-1 (8), while Morrison drops to 17-4-1 (7), suffering the first stoppage loss of his career. More...

Controversy erupted last night at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, England after Tyson Fury was declared the winner in his bout against English heavyweight titlist John McDermott following ten rounds of combat.

With only seven professional bouts under his belt, Fury at times looked well out of his depth against the smaller, quicker champion and only the towering heavyweight's hard jab kept him competitive during the contest.

After absorbing a verbal onslaught from Fury during the pre-fight media buildup, McDermott went on the offensive from the first bell and put his challenger into the unaccustomed position of having to fight off the back foot. More...

The tension between John McDermott and rival Tyson Fury was tremendous yesterday at the weigh-in between the two heavyweights, who clash tonight at Brentwood Centre in Essex.

At stake is McDermott's English heavyweight title but many are looking at this bout as a manner of judging the future viability of undefeated prospect Fury's career.

At the weigh-in, McDermott looked to be the fittest of his career and was clearly furious at his towering antagonist, who had waged a typical pre-fight campaign of trash talking. More...

Last night at the Colosseum in Watford, England, welterweight Tom Glover's unexpected run through the UK standings came to an end, halted forcefully by Commonwealth champion John O'Donnell.

After seeing off the quartet of Jon Thaxton, Nadeem Siddique, Chas Symonds and Scott Woolford over the last ten months, Glover just couldn't compete against the much sharper O'Donnell.

Using his five inch height advantage to perfection, the six foot tall O'Donnell kept the oncoming Glover at the perfect distance, dissecting the aggressive striver with a two-fisted scalpel.

Try as he might to get O'Donnell into the trenches, Glover simply couldn't cut off the ring and was hammered by the precise Londoner.

After handing out a punishing lesson for five rounds, O'Donnell forced a stoppage at 2:43 of the sixth. More...

The Colosseum in Watford, England sees two good bouts this evening as Commonwealth welter king John O'Donnell defends against dangerous Tom Glover and welters Peter McDonagh and Lee Purdy rematch for the vacant Southern Area crown.

Glover and O'Donnell have had careers that contrast sharply, with O'Donnell spending four and a half years under heavy protection while Glover earned his stripes the hard way.

Aside from the mis-step of putting O'Donnell, 21-1 (9), in with heavy-handed Mexican light middle journeyman Christian Solano two years ago, the strategy paid off as the lanky southpaw posted a split decision over Craig Watson in April to take the Commonwealth strap.

Glover, 9-5-3 (0), learned on the job, losing to the likes of more experienced foes Nadeem Siddique, Gareth Couch and Tristan Davies. More...

There were two fight cards in the UK last night with former world champions Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe as promoters.

Hatton's bill took place at the Velodrome in his hometown of Manchester and featured a brace of six and four rounders.

The big name on the bill was that of ex-European, Commonwealth and British super bantam champion Michael Brodie, 35-3-2 (23), who had been out of the ring since losing a WBO

Returning as a super feather, the 35 year old local hero felt the ring rust acutely as he was dropped by opponent Mark Alexander, 8-4 (0), of London in the first and third frames before finding his rhythm to stop Alexander at 1:25 of the fourth after landing a perfect right hand. More...

The top spot in the British lightweight rankings was up for grabs at the Leisure Centre in Newport, Wales last night and it was Gary Buckland who emerged the victor.

The Cardiff based "Dynamo" squared off with surging Salisbury hard man Henry Castle, who rode a six bout winning streak in the contest, and a thrilling ten rounds soon followed.

When the dust had settled, 23 year old Buckland pulled off a one point victory, 96-95, to add to his Celtic title winning effort in February against Scotland's Craig Docherty.

Buckland improves to 16-1 (5) and is now the official challenger for the British lightweight title while Castle's record now stands at 20-5 (11).

Also on the bill, 36 year old former British light middle title challenger Paul Samuels, 19-7-2 (11), came up short against 21 year old prospect Danny Butler, 18-1 (3), by a score of 98-94 for the vacant British Masters middleweight crown.

Butler will now face Darren McDermott for the English belt in September.

A big light heavyweight showdown took place tonight at London's York Hall with Nathan Cleverly emerging as the new British champion after defeating Danny McIntosh.

Already the Commonwealth titlist, Cleverly had one last obstacle to clear in the form of English belt holder McIntosh in order to begin the long climb to the world stage.

And clear it he did, but not without an argument from the Norwich based brawler.

Cleverly immediately looked the classier fighter once the bell rang as he was quicker than McIntosh and took advantage of the almost non existent defense of his rival. More...

Former IBF champion Clinton Woods still sits atop the light heavyweight division in the UK but two up and coming young guns clash tonight at historic York Hall in London for the vacant British belt and the Commonwealth crown as well.

Welshman Nathan Cleverly, 16-0 (6), has been hailed as the "next Joe Calzaghe" due to his prowess in the ring and at just 22 years of age, could be the face of the future in the British Isles.

Standing nearly 6'4, Cleverly has surprising quickness to go along with the very long reach and since defeating the very experienced Tony Oakey for the Commonwealth title last October has defended the belt with three straight stoppages.

All of this could be bad news for English titlist Danny McIntosh, 10-0 (4), but the 29 year old from Norwich hasn't been the least bit impressed with Cleverly during the media build up to this greatly anticipated contest. More...

The action last night in the UK took place on two shows north of the border at Glasgow and Aberdeen.

At Glasgow's Bellahouston Sports Centre, Coatbridge stylist Ricky Burns retained his Commonwealth crown with a convincing victory over Belfast's Kevin O'Hara.

The 26 year old sharpshooter improved to 27-2 (7), by posting a 117-110, 116-111 and 115-113 UD over O'Hara, 16-5 (5), and retained the Commonwealth for the third time.

Former WBO super feather titlist Alex Arthur, 27-2 (20), was also on the bill, making the return from a title loss to Nicky Cook a good one by rubbing out Mohamed Benbiou, 15-15 (8), in the first round. More...