By John Evans
"Lee won the fight when they gave us Reyes gloves." - Purdys promoter Eddie Hearn postfight.
The big punching Lee 'Lights Out' Purdy gave the impression that he could have worn pillows on his fists rather than the supposed punchers gloves as he retained his British welterweight title with a thrilling 5th round stoppage of local favourite Craig Watson. It might have been an identical result as when the pair clashed in April but Purdy produced a far more emphatic performance this time. Hatton Promotions took the innovative step of screening the bout live on Youtube. Those who tuned in witnessed an exciting toe to toe battle and Purdys fanbase will have dramatically increased.
The conventional prefight wisdom stated that Watson, 10st 6lb 13oz, would box and move, trying to pick off the hard charging champion whilst avoiding his blistering right hand. So it was. Watson began sharply, scoring in impressive flurries before skirting back out of range and one left hook in particular caught Purdy flush.
The champion, who weighed in at 10st 6lb 7oz, marched forward, hands held high. Ominously for Watson, whilst his flurries were sharp, the champion was already getting close, closing the distance and forcing Watson to stand and fight. Watson came out for the second looking to avoid any exchanges, throwing far less and looking to pick his punches more astutely. Purdy simply walked 'The Hammer' down, scoring with a solid right hand left hook combination midway through the round. Although Watson answered with a good straight left of his own and reddened Purdys eyes with a series of jabs and eye catching left hands, Purdys shots were clearly carrying far more weight.
The tide really began to turn in the third. The pair traded left hooks and whilst Watsons straight left was landing regularly, the punches were having little to no effect on 'Lights Out'. Watson was visibly slowing and a solid right hand from the Colchester man forced him to sag into the ropes and although he gamely stood his ground and fired back with hooks to the body, the die was seemingly cast. The solid jab Watson had seeked to employ throughout the first three rounds had been reduced to little more than a range finder by the fourth.
Sadly for the Oldham man, that was never going to be enough to keep a fighter such as Purdy off. Watson seemed to realise this and decided that the only way he was going to prevail was to meet fire with fire and stand and trade. Whilst this made for an exciting spectacle, it played straight into Purdys hands and he took advantage, hurting Watson again with a right hand and landing heavy shots at will. Watson looked worn out as he returned to his corner whilst the seemingly unfazed Purdy, supported at ringside by promoter Eddie Hearn and European middleweight champion Darren Barker, enthusiastically made his way back to his.
Although there was plenty of leather being exchanged, Purdy seemed in control by this point, cutting the ring down beautifully and simply walking through Watson punches and unloading his own. Right hands rained in whilst a dishevelled Watson covered up on the ropes and a clean left hook seemed to hurt him. Finally, Purdy sank in a sickening left hook to the body, Watson grimaced and sank to a knee clearly badly hurt. Referee Mark Green allowed the fight to continue after the mandatory eight count but Purdy was in no mood to let his man off the hook. An accurate follow up combination landed before a final right hand put Watson down for a second time in his own corner. Although he was up quickly, his corner made their way onto the ring apron and Green dispensed with the count at 2.00 of the round.
After the fight, an elated Purdy said "I felt great in there tonight. I'd LOVE to fight Denton Vassell next. If that fight can be made then lets get it on". Watson said he will take a holiday with his girlfriend and evaluate where he goes from here when he returns.
Purdy moves to 16-2-1 and is thrilling to watch. He is improving all the time, seemingly impossible to discourage and possesses genuine power. He will be a
tough man to take the title from and certainly developing into a 'must see' fighter.
In the main support bout, Bob Ajisafe took the English Light Heavyweight title with a comprehensive third round cuts stoppage of Darren Stubbs.
Ajisafe was simply too fast and too skilled for the local man and couldn't miss him with his jab and southpaw left. Stubbs was cut in the first, hurt on numerous ocassions and made to look clumsy by the Leeds fighter. After absorbing another hurtful barrage, referee Howard Foster called the doctor over to inspect the cut over Stubbs left eye and the fight was waved off after 37 seconds of round three. Ajisafe weighed 12st 7lb while Stubbs came in at 12st 6lb 8oz.
Commonwealth welterweight champion Denton Vassell ticked over with a workmanlike six round victory over Ronny McField. Vassell began by ploughing forward, closing the distance behind a jab and banging in solid hooks to the body. McField was an awkward customer and was active throughout the fight, scoring with the ocassional jab and left hook to keep Vassell on his toes.
After a solid couple of rounds, Vassell dispensed with the jab and fell into the same pattern of his recent victory over Bethual Ushona as he smothered his work. McField could not match Vassells workrate and looked a bit disheartened a couple of times in the fight. Neither man was badly hurt and an early finish never looked likely. After six rounds, Vassell emergered as a 60-54 winner on referee John Lathams card. It was a decent warm up for Vassell ahead of a mooted fight for the IBO title in South Africa.
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4 x 3 Light Middleweight
Dean Halsall bt Ryan Clark Pts 4 - 40-36
4 x 3 Light Middleweight
Austin Hornsby bt Billy Smith Pts 4 - 40-36
4 x 3 Light Heavyweight