Derry Mathews Decisions Tony Luis, Captures WBA Crown

By Alexey Sukachev

Liverpool, UK ---- Coming in as a very late sub, Canadian swarmer Tony Luis has almost reached what could have only been described as a monumental upset but at the end came just a round short of a win over hometown favorite Derry Mathews for the WBA interim lightweight strap. Matthews just barely edged Luis on the scorecards: 114-112, 114-112, and 115-112, while BoxingScene felt Luis has done enough to snatch a very solid road victory with the score of 114-113.

The saga of the WBA lightweight title has been lingering since the start of the year at least. "Dirty" Mathews, 31, a Merseyside veteran of twelve years and 48 fights, was firstly scheduled to face the WBA champion Richar Abril of Cuba on March 6, then this fight has been rescheduled for April 18 but Abril withdrew for no announced reasons with less than ten days remaining. WBA #4 Venezuelan KO artist Ismael Barroso was mentioned as a possible late sub but looking to the latest results one can see him fighting and knocking out American trialhorse Ira Terry just... yesterday. Come WBA #9 Luis, 27, fit and on a strength of his latest two wins over undefeated fighters Wanzell Ellison and Karl Dargan.

Mathews, known for his spirit and (sometimes) punching power, was working on the outside in the opening rounds, trying to show poise and technique against Luis. The Canadian chose the only right tactics - to press forward and to throw as many punches as he possibly could. For the first couple of stanzas this strategy hasn't been paid off, as Mathews used excellent footwork and his jab to prevent Luis from getting any success. The Canadian did better with body punches in round three, while the rest of the rounds till the mid-point was even. Both combatants battled zealously but dirty, with referee Howard John Foster warning them several times: Mathews - for holding, and Luis - for a dangerous use of his head.

Thing started to heat up in the seventh, when it became obvious that Mathews was losing his energy. Luis, oppositely, was extremely active throwing blows at every occasion but missing a majority of them. In the crucial eighth round both fighters were deducted one point off, with Matthews being penalized at the beginning, and Luis - at the end of the stanza. Luis continued to look dominant, landing more punches in the ninth, while the tenth was even. With his coach reminding him of the son, watching the bout at home, the Canadian geared up in championship rounds, perhaps winning them against faded Mathews.

With the win Mathews improves his record to 38-9-2, with 20 KOs. Luis, going just 4-3 since the beginning of 2013, falls down to 19-3, 7 KOs. The entire story of the WBA regalia in this weight division is a pure mess (as is the usual case for this sanctioning body). WBA champion in recess is Abril, the regular crown being held by Columbian Darleys Perez, a logical next opponent for Mathews, who himself was rated just #5 by the WBA, with the upper two spots belonging to #2 Petr Petrov and #3 Felix Verdejo.

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Left hand in a differing fashion was a key for Liam Smith in his winning performance against Argentinean import David Ezequiel Romero (11-6, 5 KOs), which brought him a vacant WBO Intercontinental light middleweight crown. Smith, 26, stopped Romero with five knockdowns along the way at 1:10 of the seventh round.

Smith, the third of the fighting family, which also includes ex two-time world title challenger Paul Smith, rapidly rising super middleweight prospect Callum Smith and super featherweight contender Stephen Smith, was rated #3 by the IBF, #7 by the WBO and #14 by the WBA coming in. He started slowly, allowing Romero to land some sound punches in round one. In the second stanza, Romero took the first half, but Romero looked considerably better at the end.

His power started to take toll on his opponent in the third, when he dropped Romero with a terrific left hand to the body. The Argentinean got up and bravely fought back but the pattern of the contest has been forever changed. In the fifth, Smith dropped his opponent twice more - once with a head-turning left uppercut, then with another liver shot. The fourth knockdown came in the sixth on almost the same body blow. Romero was down again early into the seventh but kept fighting no matter what up until the moment, he was only taking without giving back. At that point referee has stopped the fight. Smith is now 20-0-1, with 10 KOs.

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Welterweight Steven Lewis (9-0, 4 KOs) made a short work of very inexperienced Reece Smith (2-1). Lewis dropped him with a right hand in clinch, then decked him again with a major right hand, and then finished Smith off with a left hook. Time of stoppage was 2:46 of round one.

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Fighting for the first time in almost a year and a half, undefeated middleweight Joe Selkirk (13-0, 7 KOs) passed a rough test against lanky, dangerously punching Spaniard Yuri Pompilio, finishing him off at 2:14 of round six.

The fight was fought in spurts, with each fighter delivering heat in combinations. However, a higher level of Selkirk was well felt. He dropped Pompilio in the third, then had some problems in the fourth and fifth stanzas, then took some beating in the sixth but answered with a monstrous left counter to rock the Spanish guest at the start of the last minute of round six. Pompilio was pinned to the ropes, where he ate two more huge blows in hot exchanges, while trying to counter, forcing referee Steve Gray to wave it off. Pompilio is now 7-10-2, 2 KOs.

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Other results:
Josh Leather (7-0, 1 KO) PTS 6 Ryan Hardy (7-6). The sole score was 60-55.
Andrew Cain (1-0, 1 KO) TKO Patrick Bartos (3-4)