‘Night of Champions’ full bill review
By Lee Collier

Kevin Mitchell, now 30-0 (22 early), 135lbs, retained the WBO Inter-Continental title he won in December when defeating Columbian Breidis Prescott by stopping another Columbian, Ignacio Mendoza, 27-5-2 (18 early), 135lbs, and who fights out of Spain, in two rounds last Saturday night.

Mendoza had claimed that he would reinstate Columbian pride by beating Mitchell and after the first round the fight was still open as to which way it would go.  In the opener both fighters seemed cautious and where trying to feel each other out by firing in the jabs during an even round.

The second round started the same, with both fighters looking cautious.  The first real success came from Mitchell who landed a sweet right hand that landed flush on the chin of Mendoza.  Mitchell had claimed that he would carry his power up to lightweight and those claims seem to be true as Mendoza never looked like beating the count.  The official time of the stoppage was 1:24 of the second round and Mitchell looks set to step up to a World title fight next against Australian Michael Katsidis.

Nathan Cleverly, 18-0 (8 early), 174½lbs, added the European light-heavyweight title to the British and Commonwealth titles he holds after stopping 34-year-old Italian Antonio Brancalion, 32-7-2 (8 early), 174¾lbs, in the fifth round after an impressive performance.

Cleverly opened up at a fast pace and early on it seemed the veteran Italian would struggle with Cleverly’s hand speed as the Welshman landed some nice right hands, alongside some carefully picked combinations.

Cleverly was working behind a solid left jab before opening up with the right hand, which he was using to good effect.  Cleverly was finding his Italian opponent a little too easy to catch and it seemed only a matter of time before Brancalion was knocked down.

The inevitable happened in the fourth round as Cleverly picked up the pace and was landing the right hand more and more.  Brancalion’s chin withstood the shots until late in the fourth round when a Cleverly right hand sent the veteran Italian to the canvas for a count.
 
The fifth round proved to be one too many for the Italian when an early right hand snapped his head back.  Cleverly followed up with a stiff left jab before getting through with another right hand.  The Welshman then let loose with more right hands, which left French referee Jean-Louis Legland no choice but to step in and save Brancalion more punishment.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:15 of the fifth round and left Cleverly ecstatic at adding the European belt to the Commonwealth and British titles, although Cleverly may announce the decision to vacate the Commonwealth title this week which could open the door for fellow Frank Warren prospect Tony Bellew.

The potential drama of the scheduled Derek Chisora-Danny Williams British heavyweight title fight ended up turning into eliminator for the title.  Sam Sexton had originally pulled out leaving Derek Chisora with a title shot at champion Danny Williams.  Williams then pulled out leaving Sheffield’s Carl Baker, who beat Williams in the recent Prizefighter tournament, to face Chisora in an eliminator to face the winner of Williams-Sexton, when that fight is rescheduled.

There was needle at the weight in when Chisora, 11-0 (6 early), 243¾lbs, planted a kiss on Carl Baker’s lips.  Baker, 9-4 (6 early), 280 lbs, retaliated by pushing Chisora to the floor which meant there would be no love lost when the action started.

Baker came out intent to pace himself for the full 10 rounds and Chisora scored some early success with three right hooks in the opening round.  The first meaningful punch in the second round was another Chisora right hook, which sent Baker reeling backwards on shaky legs.

Chisora went for the stoppage and Baker started to try and tie up Chisora on the inside hanging on for dear life.  Chisora continued to launch the assault and with Baker offering nothing back but looking very shaky referee Howard Foster stepped in and stopped the contest at the official time of 2:13 of the second round.

Chisora now awaits the rescheduling of Danny Williams defence against Sam Sexton before getting his shot and seems ready to step up to British title level.

Swindon’s Jamie Cox, 13-0 (8 KOs), 148½lbs, should have been in for an easy night against Michael Frontin, 2-6-1, 147½lbs; Cox, who has just been nominated to face Manchester’s Mark Thompson in a title eliminator, found things different in the ring and found himself in a tough fight.

Cox got the better in the earlier exchanges forcing Frontin back to the ropes, where Cox landed some nice combinations, mixing to both the head and body.  Frontin to his credit did land some of his own punches against a sometimes too eager Cox.  Cox worked behind a solid jab at times, this frequently forced Frontin to the ropes allowing Cox to launch combination attacks before Frontin fired back.

The second half of the contest changed as Frontin started to land the right hand with Cox unable to stop it from happening.  Frontin started to come on strong landing a nice right uppercut during the sixth before a cut opened up on Cox’s eye during the seventh round that would later require seven stitches.

Both fighters came out firing in the last round believing that they could still win a close contest.  Frontin momentarily went down only for referee Grant Wallis to rightly call it a slip.  At the final bell Cox would have been happy to have his hand raised by a score of 78-76 in what proved to be a tough night’s work against a tricky Frontin, who is much better than his record suggests.

Former World Amateur champion Frankie Gavin, 5-0 (5 stoppages), 144lbs, went the distance for the first time in his pro career when he defeated Peter McDonagh, 14-15 (2 early), 142½lbs, over six rounds.  Whilst it was the first time Gavin had not stopped an opponent it was easily the most polished performance of the former amateur star, who is developing into a class act.

Gavin, a southpaw, found his range with the left hand in the first round, landing frequently throughout the session.  The second stanza went the same way with Gavin landing some left hands as McDonagh came forward.  The Irishman did land the odd punch but generally struggled to catch Gavin, who was showing some lovely footwork to evade his opponent.

In the third round, Gavin landed a sweet left uppercut and seemed to be enjoying his boxing as he started to land some three and four punch combinations.  Gavin seemed to ease off in the fourth but was still the more successful of the two boxers.

Entering the final two rounds it was clear that McDonagh, who lacks knockout power, needed to stop Gavin, who had won every round so far.  McDonagh seemed to get frustrated at his inability to catch Gavin and the referee spoke to both fighters about constant chatting.

In the last round, Gavin seemed relaxed and happy to go the distance as he picked his shots perfectly landing some sweet left uppercuts before being awarded the fight 60-54 on referee Jeff Hinds scorecard.

Whilst McDonagh lacks power he is a decent operator who has defeated Michael Gomez and taken Lenny Daws and Irish prospect Andy Murray the distance yet he was made to look very ordinary Gavin.  Gavin, trained by Anthony Farnell, put in an almost flawless display in his best performance so far as a pro and could very well be looking at entering the title mix later this year.

James DeGale MBE, 5-0 (3 early), 168lbs, extended his unbeaten record by beating fellow Londoner Matthew Barr, 14-5 (6 early), 167½lbs, in the second of a six-round contest.  The charismatic Londoner, who has been likened to marmite, made a spectacular entrance when accompanied to the ring by a rapper.

Once the fight started, DeGale showed his serious side finding Barr early landing a right hand.  Barr went down in the first round under a flurry but referee Grant Wallis ruled it a slip.  DeGale was using the right jab to great effect landing frequently throughout the opener.

Early in the second DeGale, who was finding Barr with ease, landed a right hand, which sent Barr down for a mandatory eight count.  Once the action started DeGale, sensing Barr was in trouble, went for the stoppage only to get tagged himself by two left hands off Barr.  Barr, sensing that he wouldn’t last six rounds with DeGale’s power, threw everything he had at the Olympian in an attempt to win the fight but DeGale’s power and accuracy was too much and Barr received another count.  DeGale landed a final right hand and Barr’s legs gave way leaving referee Grant Wallis no choice but to stop the fight at 1:38 of the second round.

Cromer’s Ryan Walsh, 124lbs, improved his unbeaten run to 9-0 (3 early) by beating a game and brave Ian Bailey, now 5-3, 123½lb, over six rounds in the show’s opener.  Bailey, from Slough, was coming into the fight full of confidence after recently defeating unbeaten prospect Steve Barnes.

Early in the first round, Bailey’s face became a bloodied mess as Walsh found his range early on.  Walsh was the slightly busier fighter in the early rounds and landed the cleaner shots.  To his credit Bailey kept coming forward, firing back with the odd success.

Walsh took the first four rounds but in the fifth Bailey started to land frequently on the Cromer fighter.  Walsh, whilst never in trouble, suffered a nosebleed before Walsh came back strong in the final round landed two nice right uppercuts on Bailey, as he seemed intent on stopping the fight.  Bailey remained brave to the final bell before referee Jeff Hinds awarded the fight to Walsh by a score of 59-55.

Liam Walsh faced Sid Razak who had previously taken Walsh’s twin brother Ryan the distance in a four round fight.  Walsh, 6-0 (5 early), 138lbs, managed to go one better than his twin and managed to stop Razak, who falls to 4-40 (1 sole KO), 137lbs, in the fourth round, becoming only the third fighter to do so.

Walsh came out fast in the opening round and used a variety of punches against the defensive Razak.  Razak fired back the odd flurry of punches that Walsh managed to avoid or block.  Walsh was switching between the head and body of his opponent with some success but Razak managed to take a lot on the gloves and arms.

In the fourth round Walsh managed to break the resolve of Razak, forcing the Birmingham fighter into the corner before unleashing a plethora of punches.  Referee Grant Wallis decided that Razak had taken enough punches and stepped in to save the 36-year-old further punishment.  The official time of the stoppage was 2:02 of the fourth round and Walsh’s unbeaten start extends to seven fights.

George Michael Carmen, 149lb, 18 years of age, and currently the youngest professional boxer in Britain, made a successful debut by defeating Matt Seawright, 3-24, 153½lbs in an uninspiring fight over four three-minute rounds.

Carmen started off at a fast pace but was a bit wild with his shots.  As Carmen settled down he started to find his target with some nice left-right combinations.  Seawright made it tricky for the youngster and kept tying him up make the fight untidy.

Carmen made it through the four rounds untroubled before walking away with a 40-36 win on referee Jeff Hinds scorecard.  Carmen showed some nice glimpses on his debut and after a rushed start settled down well.

Michael Walsh, 6-0 (6 early), 120lbs, extended his unbeaten run with another stoppage, this time over the unbeaten Najah Ali, who is now 3-1 (1 early), 120lbs, in a six round floater after the main event.

Walsh did not have everything his own way after being sent to the canvas in the first round.  Ali, an Iraqi national based in London, did enough to win the second round and Walsh’s unbeaten run looked in danger before Walsh stopped Ali at 1:08 of the third round.

The only shock of the night saw Vinny Mitchell, 11-0 (2 KOs), 137¾lbs, lose his unbeaten record after being stopped in the fourth round by Jon Baguley, 8-17-1 (4 knockouts), 138lbs, in a six round contest that closed the show.