Conor Benn Wins In Glasgow, Returns on Joshua-Breazeale

By Elliot Foster

Conor Benn continued his rise in the paid code with yet another victory.

The 19-year-old, who turned professional just last month, will return to the scene of his debut victory next month following his latest win, which was screened exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Benn, now 2-0 (1 KO), went toe-to-toe with Halifax’s Luke Keleher at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, as part of the undercard of Ricky Burns’ clash with Michele Di Rocco for the vacant Super WBA super-lightweight crown.

Having iced Ivailo Boyanov in just 127 seconds on April 9, Benn –– who wore tartan trim on his shorts –– engaged in an all-out war with the man 10 years his senior from the off.

He was rash, reckless and took some unnecessary shots, but after the first two rounds, the son of former two-weight world champion Nigel began to think about what he doing and boxed intelligently before the final bell against Keleher, who slipped to 2-5-1 (1 KO).

Benn, who was awarded the clash by the referee Kenny Pringle by a margin of 40-36, will next be in action on June 25, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office, on a bill at London’s O2 Arena that is topped by Anthony Joshua’s first IBF heavyweight world title defence against undefeated American Dominic Breazeale.

ON THE UNDERCARD

Tommy McCarthy shone as he moved a step closer to a British title shot.

The Belfast cruiserweight is now just a fight away from fighting for the prized Lonsdale belt after comfortably winning on points, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

McCarthy, who is now 9-0 (5 KOs), dropped Jon-Lewis Dickinson in their eliminator showdown en-route to securing a victory on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ clash with Michele Di Rocco for the vacant Super WBA super-lightweight crown.

He was in control from the early stages, the 25-year-old Pat Magee-managed prospect, and didn’t allow Birtley’s veteran man Dickinson into the fight from the off.

Dickinson, who slipped to 17-5 (5 KOs) in defeat, saw the canvas in round six after a delayed reaction following a cracking right hand, which landed right on the base of the chin.

But Dickinson, 30, averted the crisis and rallied late on to win some rounds as the relatively inexperienced McCarthy tired.

Going into the last round, the feeling was that Dickinson needed a stoppage but equally McCarthy needed the round.

And that’s how the three ringside judges saw it as they awarded McCarthy the victory by margins of 97-92, 97-92 and 98-91.

He must now face Matty Askin, the English champion, in a final eliminator for the belt currently held by Ovill McKenzie.

Earlier in the card, there were wins for Joe Ham and Ryan Smith, who each remain unbeaten with records of 8-0 (5 KOs) and 6-0 respectively.

But Marc Kerr lost his unbeaten record in fight number six as he was outscored over four rounds against Chris Jenkinson by a margin of 39 points to 37.

Kerr is now 5-1, while Jenkinson, whose last win came 17 months ago, improves to 9-32-2.

Anthony Ogogo kept up his undefeated run in what was his first fight for almost a year.

The middleweight prospect moved to 9-0 (5 KOs) at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ogogo, the Olympic bronze medallist from 2008 in Beijing, had been out since July, 2015 after suffering a dislocated shoulder in his last fight.

But he showed no signs of injury as he dominated late stand-in Gary Cooper, on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ clash with Michele Di Rocco for the vacant Super WBA super-lightweight crown, which will be aired exclusively live on Sky Sports.

He dominated proceedings against the 27-year-old Welshman, who drops to 4-20-1 (2 KOs), before his corner compassionately saved their man from taking any further punishment by throwing in the towel.

Ogogo was originally set to face Germany's Chris Herrmann over six rounds, but Cooper was drafted in at late notice.

Meanwhile, former two-time British middleweight title challenger John Ryder won over six rounds against Robert Talarek (60-55) and British lightweight champion Scotty Cardle remained unbeaten after claiming a six-round points victory against Ivan Njegac.

And earlier in the card, Sam Ball improved to 6-0 (3 KOs) with a stoppage win in the third round.

Glasgow’s Ball faced previously undefeated George Hennon, who slips to 3-1, and was forced to rise from the canvas in round two before dropping and stopping his man less than three minutes later.