By Mark Vester
At the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sam Sexton (12-1, 5KOs) stopped Martin Rogan (12-1, 6KOs) in the eight round to win the Commonwealth heavyweight title. The win by Sexton ends the Cinderella story of Rogan, who became an underdog fan favorite with his big wins over Matt Skelton and Audley Harrison.
The fight was stopped during the eighth round when the ringside doctor felt that Rogan's left eye was swollen too badly to allow him to continue. The stoppage was a bit controversial. It came right as Rogan had Sexton in all sorts of trouble and appeared to be on the verge of knocking him out.
Rogan, as he was battering Sexton, who was out on his feet, looked at the ref to stop the fight. Instead of stopping the fight, it wasn't long before the ref took Rogan to the ringside doctor who turned the tables on him by calling the contest.
Sexton had more than his fair share of moments in the contest. He almost knocked Rogan down in the second with a right hand and began to outbox him as the fight continued. He was soaking up some shots along the way and appeared to be spent by the eight round. The crowd went nuts when the fight was stopped.
Rogan was very upset with the ref and wants the BBBoC to review the fight.
"Sam didn't stop me - fair play to him though, no sour grapes from me. I think the British Boxing Board of Control seriously need to look into the refereeing because Sam got public warning after public warning three times every round and got away with it," Rogan said.
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