By Elliot Foster
Tommy Langford won the British title.
The Commonwealth and WBO Inter-Continental champion put behind him the disappointment of a failed fight against Chris Eubank Jr. to get the vacant Lonsdale belt on points against Sam Sheedy, of Sheffield, in what was a cracking evenly-matched scrap.
Langford is still unbeaten, having now extended his ledger to 18-0 with six early against the Dennis Hobson-promoted Sheedy, who slips to 17-2 (4 KOs) in defeat.
Previously, the loser hadn’t done the 12-round distance as a professional and looked tired in the first half of the fight, but he rallied and gave Langford some trouble as the fight went on.
Langford was horribly cut in the final round and Sheedy gave his all throughout, but the man with the better work early on rightly got the victory.
Both men raised their hands at the end of the contest, but the three scoring judges handed in cards of 117-113, 113-115 and 116-114 in favour of the Bideford man.
Craig Evans ended the rivalry with Thomas Stalker, beating him to take his belt.
The Welshman had seen his efforts come to nothing in two previous meetings with the Liverpudlian, with both contests being called a draw.
But their third tussle, as part of the undercard to Frank Warren’s big ‘A Little Less Conversation’ card at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, exclusively live on BoxNation, was handed a conclusive finish.
After 10 hard rounds of both men giving their all, with Evans –– who advances to 16-1-2 with three early with the win –– pulling ahead after the early stages against a lacklustre Stalker, who loses the WBO European lightweight title in defeat.
Stalker, 32, slipped to 11-2-3 (2 KOs) after the three ringside judges turned in scorecards of 95-95, 94-96 and 92-98.
