Matchroom Boxing: McKenzie Shocks Competition To Win Cruiserweight Prizefighter

© Lawrence Lustig

Ovill McKenzie has won the Prizefighter Cruiserweights title after an exciting night of knockdowns and shocks.

Former Commonwealth Champion McKenzie defeated John Keeton on points in a thrilling final in front of a capacity crowd at the Earl’s Court in London to scoop the £25,000 top prize.

Every one of the eight fighters in the line-up had fought or held either a European, Commonwealth or British belt and it promised to be the best Prizefighter event so far.

The Sky Sports-televised show did not disappoint as there were six knockdowns before the final, the most in any of the seven Prizefighter events, with three contests not going the distance.

The final was between two outsiders, Keeton and McKenzie.

Keeton, a former British Champion, was celebrating his 37th birthday but could not get the ideal present as he lost 28-29, 28-29, 27-30 in a hard-fought final.

McKenzie, who was drafted in as a late replacement for the injured Mark Krence, was the lightest of the fighters but that did not stop him performing at his best in one of the biggest nights in his career.

He had moved up from light-heavyweight to be in this competition and had only had two weeks notice. But he clinched the title thanks to victories over former IBF world title challenger Terry Dunstan and Darren Corbett before triumphing against Keeton.

It was an evening of big shocks as three of the four highly-fancied fighters lost in the first round before favourite Dean Francis suffered a surprise defeat in the first semi-final.

Francis had produced one of the best performances of the night when he dominated against Neil Simpson before it was stopped in the third round.

However, Francis was floored twice in two and a half minutes against Keeton in the opening semi-final.

The other quarter-finals saw Keeton gain a points win over Bruce Scott and Darren Corbett do likewise against Micky Steeds.

Results

Winner – £25,000, runner-up £12,000 – losing semi-finalists £8,000, losing quarter-finalists £4,000

QF 1: Dean Francis bt Neil Simpson – RSF R3

QF 2: John Keeton bt Bruce Scott – PTS – 29-28, 29-28, 28-27

QF 3: Terry Dunstan lost to Ovill McKenzie – PTS – 25-30, 27-28, 28-29

QF 4: Micky Steeds lost to Darren Corbett – PTS – 26-29, 27-30, 27-30

SF 1: Dean Francis lost to John Keeton – KO R1

SF 2: Ovill McKenzie beat Darren Corbett – RSF R2

F: John Keeton lost to Ovill McKenzie – PTS – 28-29, 28-29, 27-30