Reece MacMillan won the Central Area junior welterweight title and destroyed Kane Gardner’s British title dream by outpointing the Manchester fighter over ten entertaining rounds in Bolton last night. 

Gardner, 17-4 (7 KOs), was already scheduled to fight British and Commonwealth champion, Jack Rafferty, on the undercard of the heavyweight fight between Derek Chisora and Otto Wallin on February 8 but MacMillan, 17-1 (2 KOs), will hope that Saturday’s result sees him leapfrog Gardner into British title fight contention.

The fight with Rafferty had been in negotiations for some time and was officially announced just as Gardner began cutting weight for last night’s fight but MacMillan paid no mind to those plans and got off to a flying start, pressing forward using good head movement.

The relaxed Gardner steadily got to grips with things and found his rhythm, popping out snappy combinations from his high guard. Despite picking up some early nose damage, MacMillan continued to work away and by round eight, the two were involved in a close quarters, give and take battle. The intensity and pace ramped up as the fight progressed but while Gardner always gave the impression of being that little more accurate and calculating, MacMillan’s sustained bursts caught the eye. 

After 10 rounds, MacMillan was given a razor close 96-95 decision. 

James Moorcroft, 20-4-1 (8 KOs), and Dom Hunt, 16-1-1 (3 KOs), had to settle for a draw after a real nip and tuck crossroads fight. 

The fight was an eliminator for the Commonwealth junior middleweight title and as neither fighter can afford to drop below this level, a rematch may well be the best option for both parties. 

A few miles away in Oldham, Joe Howarth, 11-1 (4 KOs), collected the Central Area lightweight title by outpointing Adam Sircar. Howarth was a teenager when he burst onto the scene with a succession of impressive, quick stoppages but has spent 18 months rebuilding after being outpointed by the clever Josh Sandford last March.

He dropped Sircar, 7-2, in the opener but had to pick himself up off the floor himself in the second. Howarth took charge from that point and ran out a wide winner on the scorecards, 97-92. Howarth is still only 22 years old and still has plenty of time to fulfil that early promise. 

On the undercard, English featherweight champion, Zak Miller, 15-1 (3 KOs), stayed busy ahead of his upcoming fight with reigning Commonwealth champion, Masoud Abdullah, by outpointing Brayan Mairena over six. Mairena had a point taken off for constantly ducking low. It has been a frustrating year for Miller but he can bounce into the new year with some momentum. The fight with the unbeaten, tough Abdullah also takes place on the Chisora-Wallin undercard. 

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79