By Terence Dooley

Matthew Hall announced his retirement in the immediate aftermath of his European light-middleweight title battle with Lukas Konecny at the LG Arena, Birmingham on Saturday night despite holding his own against the tough Czech early in the contest.  Hall was floored twice in the sixth round, the second knockdown signalling the end at 1:53 of the round.

Hall, however, had started the contest brightly – the Middleton man (10st 13lb 12oz) landed a left hook to the head of his slow-burning foe early in the opening session.  Konecny (10st 12lb 12oz) kept his composure after taking a body shot in the second stanza – Hall set the shot up with a nice feint but it was Konecny who landed the more effective punches as the two vied for the title vacated by Ryan Rhodes.

As predicted, the two stocky, compact men mirrored one another.  Konecny, sensing that he was doing things the hard way by standing close to Hall, started to take a half step back – allowing Matthew the space to move forward – and whipped home hooks to the body and head of the former Commonwealth champion. 

Lukas, who lost by a MD to Serhiy Dzinziruk when challenging for the WBO title in 2008, had worked the body of Hall well during the early going, the shots started to tell in the fifth.  Matthew took a pair of hooks, left and right, to the ribs but managed to fire home a right hand to the head.  Lukas was drawing on experience born of EBU, EBU-EU and Inter-Continental title fights, sneaking a breather when needed and making sure that his blows were hard and accurate.

This preciseness rose to the fore in the sixth, a perfect left hook to the chin of Hall was followed by a right hand.  Hall rose, the action resumed, and 'El Torito' unleashed, and landed, a desperate left to the head of the visitor, who responded with a left hook to the shaven skull of Hall followed by a fight-ending right hook to the body of his sagging opponent.  Referee Guido Cavalleri had seen enough and waved it off.

It was a gruelling encounter for the defeated fighter; he had to dig deep to match Konecny, 45-3 (22 early), and had given his own lumps during a brutally intelligent phone-booth brawl.  Matthew, now 23-3 (16 KOs), was blunt and to the point in the post-fight interview.  “He got me with a good shot to the body and that is me done.  I don't want to be second best so I'm retiring,” admitted Hall.

Hall's preparation was thrown out-of-whack in the dressing room when his gloves were replaced due to a tear, Matthew told Sky Sport's Ed Robinson that the pre-fight delay had not affected him in the slightest.

“I was calm when I got in the ring, I just beat by a better man.  I'm not as good as I think I am.  I'm not going to scrape about at levels that I think I should be better than.  I may as well pack it in and do something else,” said Hall, who shouldn't be too hasty, he was only recently a Commonwealth title holder and had stepped up a level on Saturday night.

Indeed, Hall is roundly praised by his fellow pros and is acknowledged as a great presence to have in the gym: a few months off, a change of heart and who knows?  Pressure fighters do tend to burn brightly and fade quicker than other fighters but a rejuvenated Hall, who is only 26, would be a welcome, and potentially successful, face on the British circuit – the domestic 154lb division is still wide open.

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