LONDON – George Liddard set up a clash with the newly crowned British middleweight champion Kieron Conway by recording a fifth-round stoppage of Aaron Sutton.
The promoter of both Liddard and Conway, Eddie Hearn, had declared beforehand that the winners of their respective fights would meet later in 2025. The pressure was therefore on Liddard to perform after Conway stopped Gerome Warburton inside four rounds to win the famous Lonsdale belt, but the Billericay local dropped Sutton three times before Sutton’s corner threw in the towel.
Liddard, 22 years old, improves to 12-0 (7 KOs) with what he described as the performance of his career. Though Sutton fought bravely, the Bristolian fell to 19-2.
Sutton bravely tried to push the pace and met LIddard in the center of the ring at the sound of the opening bell. It proved a foolish move, because seconds later he found himself flat on his back after walking into a left hook. Sutton seemed to not know what had hit him, but he returned to his feet and bravely fought on.
Liddard seemed confident that he had the power to end the contest early, and it wasn’t long before he had Sutton down again. Again Sutton got a little too brave and walked on to a right hand with his hands low. He hit the canvas much heavier this time, but again clambered up and fought on.
Sutton did not run or try and hold; he took the fight to Liddard and it seemed only a matter of time before he hit the canvas for what would surely be the final time. Liddard seemed to land every shot in the book as the third session came to a close, but Sutton stood firm and managed to hear the bell.
The expected finally happened midway into the fifth round. Sutton, 27, again stood in the pocket and traded, but as he missed wildly with his left, Liddard capitalized. Liddard powered a right hand over the top and flush on to Sutton’s chin. Sutton’s legs buckled beneath him and he hit the canvas for a third and final time. His cornerman Chris Sanigar had seen enough and launched in the towel to call a halt to proceedings. The time of the stoppage was two minutes and 20 seconds.