By Alexey Sukachev
York Hall, London - In an absolutely sensational ending, unheralded Shane McPhilbin (8-2, 5 KOs) overcame the nightmare of suffering two knockdowns in the first half of the battle, to get a fascinating, come-from-behind stoppage of British cruiserweight champion Leon Williams (9-4, 4 KOs) with just seventy seconds remaining in the fight.
The fight seemed to be a mismatch in the opening round, as Williams easily dominated McPhilbin with his boxing skills and dropped him down with a major right hand. Shane survived in a hard way, and then Leon continued his domination right after that. Williams scored another knockdown in the sixth, when McPhilbin's gloves touched the canvas again. However, McPhilbin wilted under fire but at some point got used to getting hit with a steady diet of leather, while Williams started to tire even without being hit much.
As the bout progressed, it became obvious that while being far ahead on the official scorecards, Williams will have some problems at the very end of the fight with his failing stamina. And he surely had those problems.
The champion was deducted a point for a foul in the eleventh but it was only the beginning. In the twelfth, soon after the start, Williams got hit with a short but powerful counter left and soon found himself down. He has barely beat the count but was soon floored once more on another combination of punches with a leading overhand right to the ear. This time Williams had a much harder time getting up. During the third assault, McPhilbin landed several more blows, which implored referee Marcus McDonnell to step in and halt the contest at 1:50 of the twelfth round to some displeasure of Williams' corner and to a wild celebration of Team McPhilbin. BoxingScene had it 105-101 - for Williams at the time of stoppage.