By Terence Dooley

Anthony Small, 28, silenced his critics by hammering domestic rival Matthew Hall into a one-sided defeat on the undercard of Amir Khan versus Andreas Kotelnik on Saturday night. 

The bubbly Londoner looked the real deal, breaking Hall down mentally pre-fight, before steadily picking him apart on the night itself, he then stopped the Mancunian at 2:21 of round eight, referee Ritchie Davis stepping in to save Hall from further punishment.

It was a breakout win for Small, he added Hall's Commonwealth title to his collection, and he also picked up the vacant British title with the victory. 

Small has since revealed that he is a free agent.  Anthony told the South London Reporter that he is free to sign with anyone; he is currently negotiating his next move. 

“I’m promotionally-free so I’ll sit down and speak with Frank [Warren],” said Small.  “But there are other promoters interested in me.  I’ve already had one on the phone who is very keen on meeting up with me.  They’ve got the finance to fund me, TV exposure and the stage to get me to where I want to go.  Of course I’ll have offers.  I’m the whole package.  Everyone had doubts about whether I could take a punch but I showed I can and I had the mental strength to go into Hall’s backyard.  I’ve answered so many questions.”

Small did, indeed, answer many questions on Saturday night, his career was badly hit when losing by seventh-round TKO to Bradley Pryce in 2007, only for Small to dust himself off and return to title form in style.  The Hall win saw Anthony go into enemy territory, overcome a hostile crowd, and leave the MEN with a title belt on each shoulder.

The London-based entertainer is now setting his sights on bigger game, he was let down when Ryan Rhodes pulled out of a proposed fight for the vacant British title in March, now, though, Small has the belts, has the momentum, and will probably be looking towards Jamie Moore's EBU light-middleweight title.

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