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Last night saw the rematch between Kevin McIntyre and Kevin Anderson for the British Welterweight title. The much anticipated fight was promoted by Tommy Gilmour and hosted at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland.
This was to be McIntyre’s first defence of his title against the man he won it from! Anderson lost to McIntyre by unanimous decision in November and was now looking to claim back the belt.
Anderson – who has been sparring with southpaw former champion David Barnes in his preparations – has been working hard under the watchful eye of Manchester area trainer Bob Shannon.
Looking focussed, Anderson enters the ring to the sounds of the Proclaimers “I’m On My Way” while the Champion, nicknamed “The Paisley Postman”, is ‘piped’ in to the arena by the traditional Scottish bagpipes.
The first three rounds seemed to be evenly matched with Anderson looking in better form than he did four months ago. But McIntyre opens up more in round four and although Anderson responds well – it’s a good round for McIntyre.
The Paisley man keeps up the pace in round five and during the intermission, Anderson’s corner urges him to up the work-rate; “You’re giving him too much room,” Bob Shannon tells him.
Anderson looks a bit more keen in round seven and then in the closing rounds, but it’s been a closely matched contest and both men try to end the fight with a good last round.
McIntyre retains his title by unanimous decision by scores of 115-114 and 117-112 twice.
Afterward, McIntyre, who climbs to 26-5 (8), said that he “felt in control of the fight”.
Anderson had started his career with 18 straight wins and had won the British and Commonwealth titles during that span but over the last year has gone 2-3 and now stands at 20-3 (12).
