James DeGale produced a masterful display to stop Liverpool's Paul Smith for the British super-middleweight title, but it proved to be a difficult night's work for Matthew Macklin, Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew, who each had to grit their teeth to come through with wins.
Due to the late withdrawal on Wednesday of Alejandro Lakatos, Nathan Cleverly (21-0) was challenging for the WBO Interim light-heavyweight title against the tricky Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi (23-2). Before the fight, Cleverly (12 6lbs 8oz) said he'd 'seen some clips' - perhaps he should have watched a few more, as it was patently obvious that he wasn't expecting this style. This made the first three rounds cagey, but with Cleverly the slightly busier man, as at least he was trying to force the issue.
Mohammedi (12st 7lbs) is a highly defensive fighter, who came in with a plan and grew with confidence as the fight went on. Cleverly's inability to land properly caused him to take a solid right hand counter towards the end of the fifth, which rocked him. Towards the end of round six, Mohammedi got through with a great combination which had Cleverly covering up and looking in more trouble then I've ever seen him before. This was turning into a bit of a brawl, with Cleverly having a point taken off for leading with his head in round 7. Mohammedi was beginning to land plenty on Cleverly's chin, which was well tested.
Just before round eight, Cleverly's trainer Dean Powell read him the riot act. "You are blowing it son - what you gonna do about it?"
This tactic from Powell seemed to work, and led to some great action in round eight with Cleverly appearing to rise to the challenge. He really went for it in the first minute of round nine, but Mohammedi came back with some good shots on the inside. Round ten saw Cleverly land a few right hands early on, but little else as both fighters seemed to be taking a breather to prepare for the championship rounds, in which Cleverly dug in and fought hard to get the decision.
After the fight, Cleverley said: "This guy was a mover. He was so awkward he was moving around like Naz and making me miss. When I was moving in to land shots he was making me miss."
Judges scored the fight 115-112, 116-111, 115-113 all for Cleverly, who was booed by the Liverpool crowd.
The performance of the night came from Harlesden southpaw James 'Chunky' DeGale (9-0) who came through his toughest match to date with flying colours, putting in a dominating performance to wrest the British super-middleweight title from tough Liverpudlian Paul Smith (29-2).
Booed heavily by the Liverpool crowd, DeGale (11st 12lbs) came on strong towards the end of the first round to take it with some fast combinations. Good jabs from DeGale kept Smith at bay in round two until the end when Smith (11st 13lbs 8oz) managed to get through with some solid body shots. DeGale's work was much classier though, and he took the round.
Doncaster referee Howard Foster warned DeGale for 'flicking' punches, and he soaked up some good right hands from Smith towards the end of round three. After a clash of heads caused a cut above Smith's right eye in round four, DeGale seemed to target this, and turned on the style with a flurry of ten unanswered shots at the end of the round.
Smith came back to produce some good work close-up in round five, which got the crowd going, but DeGale never looked in trouble and was dominating. A hard right uppercut in round eight rocked smith and Mr Foster stopped it at 2:08 of round nine after Smith was bang in trouble on the ropes taking fast, unanswered combinations from DeGale.
DeGale said, "Paul Smith is a true British champion who fought well on the night, but I'm just too good. I felt really, really good tonight. I was pacing it nice. I proved I'm the best domestically, obviously apart from Carl Froch, but I'm leagues above these domestic people. I'm the real deal. Im going all the way, and this is just another chapter in the journey."
Birmingham's two-time European middleweight champion Matthew Macklin (28-2) was severely tested by Spain's Ruben Varon (35-6) who managed to drag him into a twelve-round brawl which went to the judges.
The first three rounds were very close, with two and three spent mainly inside fighting with tit-for-tat combinations. Macklin's workrate was superior, but Varon (11st 5lbs) was not being troubled, and he began to work the body of Macklin (11st 6lbs) in rounds four and five with strength sapping shots.
Varon had a point taken off by referee Guiseppe Gotterolli in the fifth for a low blow, with things not looking good for Macklin as he took a good 20 seconds time out. Varon again produced the better work in six and seven, as Macklin appeared to be running out of gas, only to wake up in round nine and produce some fast combinations that surprised Varon.
After Macklin's trainer Joe Gallagher calmly told him that he needed the last two rounds, a great effort in the eleventh saw him outbox Varon. In the last round, however, Macklin had nothing left, and looked to hold on.
The judges, surprisingly, had it 116-111, 116-113 and 117-111 all for Macklin, who retains his title but was badly marked up and, by his own standards, the performance was unimpressive.
"He was better than he was given credit for," reflected Macklin. "He had a cute defence, took the sting out of my shots and worked the body.
"Fights like this are a bit of a nightmare for me because I know I'm way beyond it even though I didn't look that tonight."
Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Tony 'Bomber' Bellew (15-0) was put on the canvas for the second fight in a row against dangerous power puncher Ovill 'The Upsetter' McKenzie (18-10).
Since Derby's McKenzie (12st 7lbs) won the light-heavyweight Prizefighter, he's been avoided somewhat. Judged on this performance, it's not difficult to see why. A solid right from McKenzie put Bellew down after 2:00 mins of round one, and he was down again in the second after another thunderous right hand from McKenzie, who has a 77 inch reach.
Bellew recovered, and had a better third round, and was forcing the fight in the fourth, managing to land some speedy combinations and finishing the round strongly. Both fighters ended up swapping huge right hands at the end of the sixth.
Bellew began to put the pressure on in round seven, and an amazing left hook put McKenzie down, who took an eight count, but got up gamely, only for the referee Phil Edwards to jump in ten seconds later and stop it at 2:46 of round eight. Somewhat prematurely, as McKenzie looked as if he was still good to go.
When asked about his difficult night, Bellew said, "This is the pro game. I've gone in with a seriously avoided guy and didn't see the second knockdown coming."
In the second defence of his WBO Intercontinental belt, Sheffield switch-hitter Kell Brook (23-0) disposed of Ghanaian Philip Kotey (21-6-2) inside two rounds, and must surely now take another step up in class to prove he is the real deal. After being bullied and floored with a vicious combination towards the end of the first, it didn't look like Kotey wanted to come out for the second round, but he did, only for referee Manuel Oliver Palomo to stop the fight 40 seconds in with Kotey looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
Brook remains relatively untested, but it was an impressive night's work nonetheless. After the fight he said, "I did it quick. I'll fight anyone, I don't avoid anyone. Put me in. I'm ready. Been sparring with a big heavyweight and been bashing him up."
Billy Joe Saunders (7-0) looked sharp, powerful and injury-free in stopping Tony Randell (11-24-2) in two rounds, flooring him in the first and then landing a finishing left hook after 39 seconds of the second. Randall was obviously in no position to continue and the referee waved the fight off halfway through the count.
Liverpool's Liam Smith (6-0-1) was impressive against the durable and experienced journeyman Matt Scriven (14-76), who fought and lost a six rounder to Michael Norgrove on the El Maatchi undercard last week and was involved in his 19th fight of the year. Scriven took a fair pasting from the brother of now former British champ Paul Smith in the first round, and referee John Latham stopped the bout at 2:47 of the second after a beautiful uppercut.
Local welterweight prospect Joe Selkirk (6-0) produced a solid performance to outpoint West Drayton's Steve O'Meara (12-2) over four rounds. Mr Latham scored the fight 59-57 in favour of Selkirk, who moves to six unbeaten with one draw.
Hackney heavyweight Larry 'The War Machine' Olubamiwo (10-1) scored a stoppage win over Leicestershire's Paul Butlin (12-14) to take the vacant International Masters title, and will now surely look for a sterner test in what is starting to look like an interesting domestic heavyweight scene. Referee Terry O'Connor stopped the fight 40 seconds into round eight.
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