Lawton’s Boxing Title Dream Put on Hold

On 9th June this year Scott Lawton reached the pinnacle of his career to date when he secured the English lightweight title with an eighth round stoppage of southpaw Stefy Bull in Doncaster. Up to that point Lawton openly admits that the English title was the limit of his ambition, he his quick to add however that within minutes of capturing the title he reset his target and began to focus on a British Title challenge.

Having secured the English Title and having won and successfully defended the Midlands Area lightweight title in addition to defeating reigning Southern Area and Central Area champions the view within Impact Boxing was that Scott Lawton had proven himself as a worthy contender for the most prestigious honour in domestic boxing.

Yesterday Lawton’s dream moved a step closer when Impact Boxing signed contracts with Hennessy Sports for, current titleholder, Lee Meager to make a voluntary defence of his title against the Potteries fighter during December. The deal was timed in order that it could go before a meeting of The British Boxing Board of Control which was scheduled for today.

After careful consideration the Board decided not to sanction the fight since Meager is due to make a mandatory defence of his title in January and they felt that this would not leave sufficient time for the victor of the proposed Lawton/Meager clash to recover. The Board did however confirm that Lawton has been recognised as a leading contender for the title.

Whilst the Board’s decision appears, at first glance, to be a set back for Lawton it does however open up a couple of mouth-watering possibilities. Firstly, it now opens the door for Lawton’s management team to propose him as a mandatory challenger for the title in the near future and secondly, there remains the distinct possibility of a defence of his English title against Amir Khan since Khan’s team have announced that they will be seeking a title fight for the Bolton lightweight in the New Year.

“Unfortunately, we hadn’t considered this response from the Board,” Mick Carney of Impact Boxing said: “but in all fairness I have to say that they have acted in the best interests of the sport. With hindsight it would have been unfair to the mandatory challenger to put his previously sanctioned bout at risk due to a possible injury. I think this demonstrates that we can be proud of the administrators of boxing in the UK because of the thoughtfulness they have shown today.”

“I am heartened by the fact that Scott has now been recognised as a frontrunner for a future challenge by the Board, by Hennessy Sport and by the TV company and we look forward to him getting his chance in the near future. I would also like to add that in negotiating the deal with Hennessy both Mick Hennessy and John Ingle conducted themselves impeccably and I look forward to dealing with them again in the future.”

Meanwhile Scott Lawton will box eight rounds against the Mauritius light-welterweight Judex Meemea at The Kings Hall, Stoke on 30th September. Tickets are on sale now and can be obtained by contacting the ticket-line on: 0845 156 7168

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