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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.
As Moore began to slow down from demands of applying constant pressure, Rhodes began to assert more authority but it was surprising when he caught the champion with two hard shots at the beginning of the seventh, flooring Moore.
Moore was up before the count reached eight but didn’t miss a beat in turning the tables on Rhodes, slamming in hard punches until the frame was almost over.
But before the seventh could come to a close, Rhodes once again struck with crucial effect and nailed Moore with a flush right that had the champion in dire straits before the referee jumped into to save the Salford lefty from further punishment.
Ryan Rhodes captures the European championship, improving to 43-4 (29), while ending the 12 bout win streak of Jamie Moore, 32-4 (23).
On the undercard, British flyweight champion Chris Edwards, 13-14-3 (4), was also upset, losing his crown to Shinny Bayaar, 14-4-1 (4), via majority decision.
Another majority decision victory took place in a contest for the British bantam title as champion Gary Davies was deposed by former titlist Ian Napa after 12 rounds.
