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It was a small hall Saturday in Britain with another installment of Barry Hearn’s “Prizefighter” series at London’s York Hall.
This time it was the middleweights who were in action, producing a night of memorable fights in a tournament.of three round bouts.
The show opened with one of the most promising prospects of the earlier part of the decade in the light middleweight division, 35 year old Welshman Paul Samuels, 18-4-2 (11), losing a unanimous decision to previously unbeaten Bristol based youngster Danny Butler, who set a pace the older man couldn’t keep up with.
The quarterfinals continued as Birmingham’s Max Maxwell had his hands full but managed to pull out a razor thin split decision over Gosport’s Steve Ede, 9-2 (4).
Cello Renda of Peterborough outboxed Sheffield veteran Danny Thornton, 25-14-3 (5), to the point where the action had to be stopped in the second round.
St. Helens’ undefeated Martin Murray outpointed fellow unbeaten prospect, Joe Rea, 6-1-1 (4), of Birmingham, after three rounds.
The semi-finals kicked off with Renda avoiding protracted trench warfare with Maxwell, 8-3 (2), to gain a berth in the finals via a points win.
Murray took the other finals spot in a tough fight with Butler, 14-1 (3), pulling out the split decision win and handing Butler his first career loss.
In the Championship clash, Murray won the first round big by dropping Renda but the Peterborough man came roaring back in the second to win the frame with a determined, two-fisted effort.
The third was a pure firefight as the combatants gave it everything they had but in the end, Murray, 12-0 (3), was awarded the split decision over Renda, 17-7-1 (10),to win the middleweight installment of “Prizefighter”.
