The action in France last night was at Palais des Sport Marcel Cerdan in Levallois-Perrett in Hauts-de-Seine with two European title bouts and a French title clash on tap.

Former WBA light welter champ Souleymane M'baye, 38-3-1 (28), pulled out a narrow split decision victory against ex-European, IBO and British titlist Colin Lynes, 31-6 (12), to capture the vacant European light welter crown.

European lightweight ruler Anthony Mezaache, 16-5-3 (3), retained his belt for the first time by posting a unanimous decision over Andrei Kudriavtsev, 31-7 (13), of Ukraine. More...

By Per Ake Persson

Russian heavy Alexander Povetkin has pulled out of the fight against Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko with the vacant European title at stake. The deadline for pursebids or agreement was tomorrow. More...

Last night at the Norfolk Showground in Norwich, England, Hennessy Sports promoted a fight night which was headlined by Jonathan Thaxton's defence of the European Lightweight title against Anthony Mezaache of France.

The fight starts but with 40 seconds of the first round remaining, Thaxton landed a right hook which seemed to land in slow-motion to the side of the Frenchman's head behind the ear and he falls slowly to the canvas.

He gets up for the count but his legs are like jelly! As Thaxton approaches, Mezaache then spits out the gumshield, walking unsteadily to his corner to retrieve it.

The referee deducts a point from the Frenchman and fighting continues, with Mezaache obviously well recovered from the knockdown. It’s a good round three from Mezaache but he’s untidy in round four and his mouth is gaping. Thaxton has a little nick under the left eye.

Thaxton seems to be missing a lot and is getting caught. A big right uppercut from Mezaache in the fifth causes Thaxton's knees to dip, but he didn’t touch the canvas. More...

There was a good card at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England last night that saw a big upset on the domestic heavyweight scene along with a Commonwealth title fight, an English title scrap and the professional debut of three Olympic boxers.

At the rather advanced age of 42 years, Bedford brawler Matt Skelton, 22-3 (19), had risen through the ranks to stand atop the heavyweight division in England and came into his Commonwealth title defense with Belfast's Martin Rogan, 12-0 (6), on the strength of a European title winning effort against Italy's Paolo Vidoz in December.

Rogan, no spring chicken himself at 37, came into his bout with Skelton as the far less experienced man and despite a good 2008 that saw him win the heavyweight "Prizefighter" tournament and narrowly outpoint Audley Harrison, was not expected to defeat Skelton.

But the Irishman proved to not only be able to take the punishment and bullying of Skelton but had the ability to give it back like no one else at domestic level has done so to date. More...

British Lightweight champion John Murray will be at the Norfolk Showground in Norwich tonight to keep a close eye on European champ, Jon Thaxton, as he makes the first defence of his title against Anthony Mezzache.

Murray will be providing expert analysis for ITV4, who are broadcasting the Hennessy Sports show live from 7:45pm, and he will have a keen interest in the main event as local hero Thaxton looks to see off the challenge of French champ Mezzache. More...

Tyson Fury and Sam Sexton finally came face to face in Norwich yesterday but a heavyweight showdown between the two still doesn’t seem to be any closer to reality.

Fury was in Sexton’s hometown for a press conference ahead of his fight with Daniel Peret at the Norfolk Showground on Saturday night. More...

French raider Anthony Mezaache will cross the channel this weekend intent on plundering Jon Thaxton’s European Lightweight title.

The two men clash live on ITV4 on a Hennessy Sports show at the Norfolk Showground in Norwich on Saturday night as Thaxton looks to make the first defence of his title. More...

Heavyweight sensation Tyson Fury is predicting another explosive performance in Norwich this Saturday night when he features live on the ITV4 undercard of Jon Thaxton’s first European Lightweight title defence.

The unbeaten Fury will be going for his third straight win as a pro on the Hennessy Sports event when he takes on Daniel Peret in a scheduled six rounder. The Norwegian based Russian is a veteran of 35 fights but Fury isn’t impressed. More...

Boxing solicitor Zahid Kahut is warning Earl Ling to beware of the long arm of the law when they clash at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich on February 28 on the undercard of Jon Thaxton’s first defence of his European title.

The Hennessy Sports show will see Thaxton feature live on ITV4 as he aims to take a step closer to a world title shot by seeing off the challenge of French champion Anthony Mezaache. Kahut and Ling will be aiming to progress their own careers in a cruiserweight dust up on the undercard. More...

Promoter Mick Hennessy believes Jon Thaxton can crown his “Cinderella Man” career with an audacious world title bid. After almost 16 years as a pro, Thaxton upset the odds to win the European Lightweight title at the Norfolk Showground’s in his native Norwich last October and Hennessy believes he can go one step further.

Thaxton returns to the scene of his stunning one punch KO win over Juan Carlos Diaz Melero on February 28 when he makes the first defence of his title against French Champion, Anthony Mezaache. More...

Colchester’s Lee “Lights Out” Purdy spent Christmas licking his wounds following the first defeat of his career in December. Having remained unbeaten in his first ten starts, Purdy lost a thrilling Southern Area Light Welterweight title scrap with seasoned campaigner Peter McDonagh live on ITV4.

The fact that the high octane ten rounder was a domestic thriller did nothing to ease his disappointment. More...

Earl “Wild Thing” Ling has an appointment with a solicitor on February 28 and it’s guaranteed to come to blows.

The Norwich cruiserweight will take to the ring in his hometown at the Norfolk Showground as he looks to end the unbeaten run of Dewsbury based solicitor Zahid Kahut.

It will be Ling’s first bout in over three years in a long career that stretches back to 1992 when he was a regular on Herbie Hide undercards in Norwich. More...

Breaking your leg might be a strange way to start your boxing career but for unbeaten welterweight Steve O’Meara it was just the ‘break’ he was looking for. At 17, the West Drayton native was earning rave reviews for his displays on the football field with semi pro outfit Uxbridge until a broken leg sent his sporting career in an entirely different direction. More...

If Jon Thaxton’s life story came before a Hollywood producer, they’d probably give it the tagline of “the feel good story of the year”. However, following a spectacular one punch KO to win the European Lightweight title last time out, the Norwich man says the credits won’t be rolling on his career any time soon. More...

Aside from the big Klitschko vs. Raham world title fight show in Germany, there were a few decent fight cards on the Continent on Saturday.

At Hala Mosir in Ketrzyn, Poland, former WBC Youth Light Heavyweight beltholder Dawid "Gypsy" Kostecki, 29-1 (21), won his eighth contest on the bounce with a fifth round TKO of Kenyan super middle Samson "The Hammer" Onyango, 17-3 (12), at light heavy during a scheduled 10.

6 foot 5 inch tall Pawel Kolodziej, 22-0 (12), stayed perfect with a eight round points verdict over 5 foot 9 Hungarian southpaw Laszlo Hubert, 18-3 (9), in a rematch.

33 year old Hubert has only been a professional boxer since March of 2007, fighting seven times that year and an amazing 14 times in 2008.

Tomasz Hutkowski, 13-0-1 (10), defeated 38 year old Hungarian veteran Zoltan Beres, 38-41-2 (13), via third round stoppage at cruiserweight. More...

Today we go on a small hall whirlwind tour to report the numerous results that happened this busy past Saturday night in Republique Francaise!

We get things rockin' at the Salle Jean Francois Lamour in Arles where French Welterweight Champion Frank Harroche Horta needed only one round to bang out overmatched Slovakian visitor Marian Tomcany, 1-17 (1), in a non-title fight.

Southpaw Horta, 15-6-3 (4), has now won five straight after dropping a pair of very close decisions to highly rated Englishman Mark Thompson and European Champion Frederic Klose in 2007.

At Salle Rene Fiolet in Berck-Sur-Mer, lightweight Karim Bouchentouf, 7-0 (3), outpointed Remi Beauchet, 9-2 (5), in a six rounder.

The Gymnase Nelson Mandela in Gisors saw welter Loic D'Arx, 8-2-2 (4), win his second in a row following a loss to Horta a year ago by decisioning Jean Francois Dalamazir, 5-7-3 (3), over six frames. More...