By Jake Donovan

Former super lightweight titlist Gavin Rees once again knows what it feels like to be a champion, if only for a single evening.

The squat Welsh banger managed to brawl his way to three consecutive three-round decisions, including a masterful win over Colin Lynes in the finals to win the Prizefighter tournament Friday evening at the Olympia in West Kensington, London, England.

It turned out to be will over skill in the anticipated finals matchup. Lynes was viewed as the better skilled and quicker boxer, and was determined to make it a boxing match. Rees would have none of it, going on the attack from the opening bell in his greatest efforts to draw Lynes into a dogfight.

The tactic reaped major dividends, as Lynes struggled to keep up throughout. Rees was a ball of energy in the first and second rounds, with his attack interrupted only when his gum shield was lodged loose late in the second.

Lynes came out in the third with the look of a man who knew he needed something dramatic in order to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It would never happen, though not for a lack of effort on behalf of the Essex native. Lynes was far more aggressive than at any point during the bout – or the evening for that matter. But it wasn’t enough as Rees remained in his chest nearly every step of the way, going punch for punch and then some until the final bell.

A brief moment of anxiety overcame the arena, if only in lieu of some strangely scored contests throughout the boxing world as of late. In the end, all three judges got it right, with scores 29-28 (2x) and 30-27 allowing Rees to rightfully celebrate the end of the evening’s boxing marathon.

The trio of wins advances Rees’ ledger to 31-1 (14KO), having now won four straight.

Lynes, who became a father earlier in the week, falls to 33-7 (12KO). The two bouts he won earlier in the evening was the extent of his current winning streak, having dropped three straight prior to the tournament.

Rees came into the event having only fought once in 2009, his only fight since losing a super lightweight belt to Andriy Kotelnik last March. The tournament win, which earned him a trophy and a grand prize of £32,000, breathes new life into his career.

However, his post-fight interview revealed that serving as the night’s best super lightweight doesn’t necessarily figure to parlay to another divisional title run.

“It feels good,” said Rees in stating the obvious, before dropping a bit of shocking news. “I would like to drop down and take on some of the best lightweights in the world.”

Rees hasn’t made lightweight in nearly seven years, but at 5’3” feels that the division will prove to be a much better fit in what he hopes will lead to another major title opportunity.

“I took some shots from bigger boys, even dropped Jason Cook earlier. But now I’m ready to get back down and go after the lightweights.”

That said, he has between now and 2010 to think about his future plans. For now he gets to bask in the glow of victory, with the toughest decision for the moment being what to do with his grand prize.

“I guess I’ll just give it all away to (head trainer) Enzo Calzaghe,” Rees joked. “But I plan to enjoy my winnings and rest up before hopefully returning next February.”

When he comes back, he’ll presumably be just another prize fighter. But for one night, he goes home as the ultimate Prizefighter.

SEMIFINALS

The pre-fight predictions had Colin Lynes and Gavin Rees advancing to the finals. That’s precisely how it played out, thanks to a spirited pair of semifinal bouts.

An all-Wales semifinal saw Gavin Rees brawl and maul his way to a unanimous decision win over Jason Cook to advance to the finals.

Cook had his moments in the opening round, but found himself quickly overwhelmed in the second. Rees was successful in getting off punches in bunches and smothering Cook the moment he was able to work his way inside.

Things went south for Cook when he suffered a cut along his forehead courtesy of a left, and then losing his legs after getting caught with consecutive rights and a left hook for the bout’s lone knockdown. Cook fought back valiantly later in the round, but not enough to erase the two point deficit the three-minute frame provided for his countryman.

With a 10-8 round causing a huge margin in a three round bout, Cook swung for the fences in the final stanza. Rees never allowed him an inch of room, tying up whenever the two were within sniffing distance, though Cook had his moments in the round; just not enough to win the fight.

Scores of 29-28 and 29-27 and 29-26 read all in favor of Rees. Cook exits the tournament now at 25-3 (12KO), snapping a three-fight win streak, including the win over Grant earlier in the evening.

History repeated itself to a degree as Colin Lynes defeated Young Mutley for the second time in as many tries. The return go appeared to be a more daunting task, although the final scorecards wouldn’t indicate as such with Lynes taking a strange split decision.

Mutley appeared to be a step behind throughout the contest, though Lynes often hesitated to put his foot on the gas and go full throttle. Both fighters had their moments in each of the three rounds, but the dealbreaker came on a questionable knockdown in the final round.

Both fighters were exchanging when Mutley thrust his body forward in throwing a right hand that never found its way home. Already off balance, the Midlander left himself exposed to a Lynes jab that aided his trip to the canvas.

A more liberal official would’ve ruled the instance a slip. However, with a punch landing as Mutley was on his way down, referee Mark Green ruled it a knockdown, all but sealing the repeat victory for Lynes.

Interestingly, the knockdown was never reflected on the scorecard, with all three rounds scored 10-9 one way or another. Mutley managed to take one card by score of 29-28, further puzzling considering the shutout tallies of 30-27 on the other two scorecards, giving Lynes his second straight victory and a spot in the Prizefighter finals.

Mutley falls to 27-5 (13KO) with the loss, having now dropped two of his last three.

QUARTERFINALS (OPENING ROUND)

Gavin Rees won his opening round match with relative ease, pitching a shutout over Ted Bami (26-6, 13KO), formerly of Congo but now fighting out of Brixton, London. Rees was the busier fighter in the three-round affair, as reflected on the judges’ scorecards, which read 30-27 across the board.

The lone bout of the quarterfinal round to not go to the cards came in the evening’s very first contest. Jason Cook scored a mild upset with a third round stoppage of previously unbeaten Michael Grant (12-1-1, 1KO). 

Cook rocked and dropped Grant in the opening round, and took advantage of the shell shocked Brit until referee Ian John-Lewis rendered a cut suffered by Grant too severe to continue, stopping the bout at 2:12 of the third round.

A bout that was destined to be a 12-rounder a year ago didn’t quite pan out as expected on the entertainment front. Nevertheless, pre-tourney favorite Colin Lynes was able to edge David Barnes in a tightly contested split decision.

Barnes won by 29-28 on the first card, but was overruled by matching tallies of 29-28 (2x) for Lynes, who snapped a three-fight losing streak in advancing to the semifinals. Barnes’ seven fight win streak comes to an end with the narrow defeat.

Young Mutley suffered a third round knockout just seven weeks ago, but had enough in the tank to eke out an unpopular three-round decision over favored Barrie Jones (16-4, 7KO). Mutley was regarded as the closest thing to a puncher in the eight-man tournament, but power was never a factor in a primarily boxing contest that could’ve went either way.

Scores were 29-28 (2x) and 30-27 for Mutley, though a case could have easily been made for a visibly dejected Jones, whose four losses have all come in his last five contests.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .