Telford’s Liam Davies added the European super-bantamweight belt to his British title on Saturday night with a dominant victory over Ionut Baluta.
Davies was impressive against a determined Baluta in front of his adoring home town fans.
The 26-year-old ran out a unanimous winner on the scorecards by margins of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 after a superb display against the game Romanian.
The fight saw a fast start with both men having success.
Davies soon tightened up defensively however and began to time the oncoming Baluta with accurate jabs and straight right-hands.
Baluta never halted in his pursuits of Davies and forced the latter to demonstrate good footwork to manoeuvre himself around the Telford ring.
The travelling Baluta had some joy in the middle rounds but overall it was Davies who displayed the cleaner, smarter boxing to take the European title on the scorecards.
Former British, Commonwealth and European champion Jason Cunningham was sat ringside, setting up an intriguing domestic clash at super-bantamweight in the future.
Anthony Yarde halted Stefani Koykov inside three rounds to clear the way for a huge showdown with light-heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev in 2023.
Despite a fast start from Koykov in the opening session, Yarde remained undeterred and patiently waited for an opening.
The Brit stepped up the pace in the second and the third saw a breakthrough for the 31-year-old.
With Koykov backed up to the ropes, Yarde fired off two left-hooks to the head followed by a right to the body.
The conclusive blow was dealt seconds later when a right uppercut lifted the Bulgarian off his feet and left him on the seat of his trunks.
Koykov had felt enough and failed to make referee Kevin Parker’s ten-count with 28 seconds remaining of the third.
George Warren confirmed the Beterbiev fight for January 28th at London’s OVO Arena post-fight.
Worcester’s Owen Cooper picked up the first title of his career with a dominant ten-round display over Midlands Area champion Jamie Stewart.
Cooper showed brilliant defensive skills throughout, making Stewart miss before making him pay with accurate counters.
The lead left-hook was a favourable shot for the 22-year-old all night and saw Cooper floor Stewart in the fifth with 25 seconds remaining.
Stewart recovered but was clearly feeling the pace set by Cooper and in the end did well to survive the full ten rounds.
Cooper was awarded every round on referee Kevin Parker’s scorecard by a margin of 100-89.
Credit also to Stewart who showed phenomenal heart and courage, never giving in as he sought the first defence of his title.
Super-lightweight prospect Ethan James came through an early gut check to maintain his undefeated record versus Keanen Wainwright.
James was floored in the first round and looked to be in trouble during the early stages.
The Northampton regrouped however and boxed well during the second half of the fight to edge out Wainwright on referee Parker’s 96-94 scorecard.
Light-heavyweight Ezra Taylor picked up his third stoppage in four contests with a second-round victory over Mohamed Cherif Benchadi.
A right-hook floored the latter in the second session, a shot from which there was no return as referee Chris Dean waved the contest off at the end of the count.
Macauley Owen dropped Eduardo Valverde on the way to his six-round points victory over the Nicaraguan at lightweight.
Owen won handily on referee Dean’s scorecard by a margin of 60-53.
Liverpool’s Brad Strand continued the good form of the Rotunda ABC with a comfortable victory over Darwin Martinez.
The super-featherweight floored the Nicaraguan on the way to being announced a 59-54 winner on Dean’s card.
Lightweight William Hayden also won every round versus Marian Istrate in their six-round lightweight encounter, while George Davey halted Paul Cummings in four rounds at super-welterweight.
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