Mathews Stops Crolla in a War; Dickinson Shocks Askin

Sports Centre, Oldham, Lancashire - In a heated clash for the British lightweight title, Derry Mathews (30-6-1, 16KOs) captured gold with a sixth round stoppage of Anthony Crolla (23-3, 9KOs).

Crolla started well in the first two rounds, but Mathews came on strong in the third by scoring a knockdown with a hard right hand. Once Crolla made it up, Mathews took the fight to Crolla and landed several more well timed punches to the bell.

A cut opened up above Crolla's left eye in the fourth, but it didn't play a big factor. Mathews continued to land big combinations in the next couple of rounds, as Crolla was unable to get away from the shots and often stood his ground to trade punches.

In the sixth, Crolla was rocked with a hard shot and stumbled to the ropes. Mathews started working him over with hard punches until the referee jumped in to wave it off. The stoppage seemed to be a little quick, but Crolla was taking punishment in every round and couldn't move his head away from the incoming punches.

In the co-feature, John-Lewis Dickinson (11-2, 3KOs) shocked previously undefeated Matty Askin (13-1, 9KOs) by boxing his way to a ten round unanimous decision to win the vacant British cruiserweight title. The scores were 98-93 and 97-93 twice.