NEWCASTLE, England – Josh Padley won the vacant European junior lightweight title with a brutal second-round finish of Jaouad Belmehdi in Newcastle, England.
There were question marks over Padley, now 18-1 (6 KOs), after his controversial win over former British titleholder Reece Bellotti in October. Many thought Bellotti had done enough to win that night, but Padley answered the critics in sensational fashion. Yorkshire’s Padley was relentless, and in the end the finish was brutal, leaving France’s Belmehdi flat on his face at 2 minutes and 35 seconds of Round 2.
However, it was actually Belmehdi who started the contest on the front foot, with Padley, 30, having to settle with landing shots on the ropes. It seemed as though Belmedhi, 27, could be a tricky customer, but Padley seemed to spring to life in the second. Early in the round, Padley caught Belmehdi with a sharp left hook that sent him swirling to the canvas. The referee, Jon Llona Fernandez, had a good look at Belmehdi before allowing him to continue and waved on Padley. The Yorkshireman went straight for the finish, blasting his opponent into the corner with a hard right hand and relentlessly attempted to fire in another right hand as Belmehdi tried to hold on.
Padley then had Belmehdi on the floor again, but this time from wrestling with the Frenchman as the visitor tried to stop Padley from landing another telling blow by holding on. Belmedhi was in a bad way on the floor, and if it was ruled a knockdown the contest would surely have been over, but Belmehdi was allowed to climb to his feet and continue. Padley didn’t waste any time and smashed in another right hand that sent Belmehdi face-first into the canvas once more.
Belmehdi fell to 22-3-3 (11 KOs) with the defeat.
