The Power Of Scotland
It was a case of ‘as you were’ at the conclusion of punches being traded at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow on Saturday night. Nathaniel Collins kept hold of his WBC Silver featherweight title and Cristobal Lorente headed home to Barcelona with his European title belt safely tucked away in his luggage.
This is because, after 12 absorbing rounds, the scorecards couldn’t split these two fine fighters and a split draw was revealed to the bumper crowd who turned out to see if a New King of Scotland would be crowned.
Collins, it should be acknowledged, was just ahead on the unofficial cards of the ringside pundits, but there was no complaints from the 29-year-old, who explained that he was probably trying too hard to impress his home audience and was loading up too much.
What it was, was a terrific encounter that does no damage to the reputation of either man and now we wait to find out what happens next.
The show was of the storming variety from pretty much start to finish. Willy Hutchinson reminded us all of what he is all about by outclassing and then stopping a tough and highly-rated customer in Mark Jeffers in the seventh round.
Super bantamweight pocket dynamo Marcus Sutherland was supposed to be in his toughest test to date against the unbeaten Kerim Agius, but it was all over in less than two minutes.
Middleweight Aston Brown took a little bit longer to dispatch Paul Kean and seize the Celtic title, with the fight being called off just over midway through the second round. The formidable Brown has not got his vision firmly trained in the direction of the British title belt.
The British lightweight title was on the line in a battle of the unbeatens match between local man Regan Glackin and Essex boy Louie O’Doherty.
O’Doherty, who became English champion last time out, simply had the measure of the home favourite and his skilful persistence paid off in the 10th round when the towel came in from the corner of Glackin.
World under-19 champion John Joe Carrigan gave us all a glimpse into a glorious future with a spectacular debut performance against Dawid Przybyiski, who he bamboozled and finished off inside a round. Keep an eye out for this young man.
Earlier in the evening, Queensberry’s young Scottish charges all impressed, with Drew Limon, Alex Arthur Jr and Reese Lynch all posting wins, along with the young Puerto Rican star Yandiel Lozano, who demonstrated his extensive skillset over six rounds against Mario Victorino Vera.