Jono Carroll Tops Michael Devine In Prizefighter Finals

By Jake Donovan

Jono Carroll came into the  Prizefighter: Lightweight tournament as the least experienced of the eight-fighter field. In the end, he matched his career win total in one day, scoring victories over Stephen Foster, Gary Buckland and eventually Michael Devine to claim top honors Saturday evening at York Hall in Bethnal Green, England.

Scores were 30-27 (twice) and 29-28 in favor of Carroll, who was merely 3-0 heading into the tournament. 

It's been a strange ride thus far for Carroll, who has fought just once in each of his first three years as a pro priort to Saturday night. His last bout came less than a month ago, escaping apparent defeat when his opponent—Declan Geraghty–was disqualfied in the fourth round of their supporting bout to Matthew Macklin's upset loss to Jorge Heiland. 

At no point was Carroll in danger of losing in Bethnal Green, quite a statement considering he had the toughest path to the finals. In Foster and odds-on tourney favorite Buckland, Carroll faced the two most experienced fighters in the tournament. Devine was the only boxer of the bunch to have scored a knockout on the day, punching his way to the finals with a knockout of Lee Martin in a bout that didn't even last a minute. 

Devine seemed intent on ending the finals with one punch, but Carroll willingly went punch-for-punch with the Luton native. The closest the 22-year old from Dublin came to a dangerous situation was in round two, when he received a stern warning for hitting on the break. 

It was otherwise all Carroll over the course of the three-round affair, maintaining a brisk pace and outfighting Devine every step of the way to take a unanimous decision and the Prizefighter trophy, along with the hefty cash prize to go along with such honors.

With the three wins, Carroll is now 6-0 (1KO) and suddenly a lightweight to watch in the coming months. 

Devine snaps an 11-fight unbeaten streak as he falls to 13-2-1 (4KOs). 

INTERLUDE/NON-PRIZEFIGHTER

Maxi Hughes was the benefactor of two questionable knockdown calls, but it was Martin Ward who was spared by the judges in the end, as the 10-round super featherweight clash ended in a 10-round draw.

Scores were 95-94 Ward, an absurd card that was overruled by even tallies of 95-95 and 94-94. 

Signs of a strange night to came were evident in the opening round. A clash of heads resulted in Ward stumbling to the canvas, but referee Howard John Foster ruled it a knockdown based on the right hand that trailed. 

The fight was contested on relatively even terms heading into round four, when Ward slipped on a ring logo. The unbeaten prospect was on all fours when Hughes landed a shot to the chin while Foster moved into position to temporary halt the action. Once again, Ward was ruled as down by contact, the two calls putting the 23-year old in a deep hole. 

Hughes seemed to fare no worse than dead even with Ward for the remainder of the bout, which meant that—at worst—he would leave with the upset, and handing Ward his very first defeat as a pro in the process.

The judges disagreed, with none of the three believing that the 24-year old southpaw did enough to win the fight.

Ward escaped with his unbeaten record still intact, as he is now 10-0-2 (5KOs) in taking the second draw in his past three fights.

Hughes is now 13-1-2 (2KOs), having won or tied in each of his past six starts 

SEMIFINALS

Jono Carroll scored a major upset in the semifinals in taking a split decision win over odds-on tournament favorite Gary Buckland.

Scores were 29-28 across the board, with Buckland winning the first card but the remaining two judges seeing the contest in favor of Carroll. 

Buckland  (29-6, 9KOs) jumped out to a strong start, but was unable to keep the younger, hungry Carroll at bay. The fight was tightly contested the rest of the way, with the judges apparently split on who won the deciding final round.

The shocking verdict puts an end to Buckland's attempt to become the first ever fighter to win two separate Prizefighter tournaments. The 28-year old Welshman took top honors in the super featherweight edition in 2010.

Michael Devine punched his way to the finals with a 1st round knockout of Lee Martin (7-2, 0KOs). 

A sweeping left hook put Martin down and out, as extensive medical attention was immediately provided the moment the contest was halted. The official time was 0:56 of round one, in what served as the first knockout of the one-day tournament. 

Carroll and Devine will meet in the finals, with the bout preceded by non-Prizefighter action.

QUARTERFINALS RESULTS

Gary Buckland moved one step closer towards his quest of a second Prizeifighter championship, scoring a clean unanimous decision win over Floyd Moore in the final bout of the quarterfinal round.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Buckland, who never stopped swinging for the knockout, but was met with a durable opponent. Moore (10-6-1, 7KOs) stood his ground and took plenty of shots without ever wilting, but is sent home with his third straight loss as a result.

The quarterfinal matchup between Jono Carroll and Stephen Foster pitted the tournament's least experienced entrant versus the most experienced. In the event, youth was served as the 22-year old Carroll was a split decision winner over the gutty veteran. 

Foster (33-6-1, 19KOs) was clearly outboxed over the duration of the three-round contest, yet somehow managed a 29-28 win on one card. Common sense prevailed among the remaining two judges, turning in final scores of 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Carroll (4-0, 1KO).

Michael Devine rode an early knockdown all the way to the finish line, scoring a majority decision over Danny ‘Cassius’ Connor. 

Scores were 28-28 even, 29-28 and 30-26 in favor of Devine, who floored Connor with an overhand right midway through the opening round but slowly unraveled.

Connor enjoyed a big second round, before Devine took back the lead in round three to seal the win. 

The bout was a rematch to their cut-shortened affair in this very ring exactly three months ago. A headbutt left Connor (11-9-2, 0KOs) cut and unable to continue, thus resulting in a technical draw after just two rounds.

Lee Martin scored a minor upset in a split decision win over Craig Whyatt in the opening bout of the tournament. The action was fast and furious from the opening bell, with both fighters throwing over 100 punches in the first round and never letting up. In the end, it was Martin's relentless pressure that proved to be the difference. Scores were 29-28 twice for Martin and 29-28 for Whyatt (7-3, 3KOs).

The tireless workrate of Martin certainly resulted in a lot of energy expended, but now has the length of three more bouts to rest up and reload for the semifinals.

Devine and Martin will meet in the finals.   

Semifinals: Michael Devine KO1  Lee Martin

Semifinals: Jono Carroll SD3 G ary Buckland

Quarterfinals: Gary Buckland UD3 Floyd Moore  

All bouts aired live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox