Stuart Hall’s rapid rise continued when he kept his British bantamweight title with a 10th round stoppage of former champion Martin Power in Houghton-le-Spring.
Crowned champion just seven weeks earlier in his ninth pro fight, Hall (8st 4lbs) put his first notch on the Lonsdale belt with another display of cool punch picking.
He got the stoppage after a volley of four punches landed flush and had Power unsteady.
Power (8st 5lbs 8ozs) protested at the stoppage and while he appeared to be closing the gap on the judges’ score cards, after nine rounds, Hall was in a good lead by scores of 89-83, 88-84 and 88-83.
Hall had made the breakthrough into championship class by stopping Power in eight rounds last September.
Hall came up with his hands high working behind a long job that repeatedly slammed into Power’s face as he looked to get into range.
Power, bidding to win a Lonsdale belt outright, stepped up the pace in the third and there was a cracking exchange in the last 30 seconds. Early in the fourth, Power landed a sweeping right, but by the end of the round he was in trouble against the ropes after being driven back by Hall’s pinpoint punches.
He was in trouble again in the fifth and at the end of the session, trainer CJ Hussein told the former champion: “This is your last round.”
Power responded well. He was more thoughtful in his approach, picked his shots better and landed a decent right in the 10th before Hall unloaded the volley that ended the fight.
Sunderland hero Tony Jeffries, bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was held to a draw by Michael Banbula (12st 7lbs 8ozs) over eight rounds.
Jeffries (12st 6lbs 8ozs) had suffered a torn bicep in the countdown to a fight which he believed was over the six-round distance and the final two sessions belonged to Banbula, the trickster from Jim Evan’s camp who is in the best form of his career.
Referee Andrew Wright scored the fight 77-77 and Jeffries was the more relieved to hear the final bell. He ended the fight with blood streaming from a cut on his left eyebrow and Banbula walloped the wound repeatedly in the last round with clubbing rights.
Jeffries had started well enough, patiently jabbing his way in behind a solid jab. Banbula, a winner of his previous three fights including a points decision over Tony Oakey, is never easy to hit cleanly and as the fight went in, he showed more ambition and put more weight into his counters.
Trainer Bobby Rimmer told Jeffries he had to win the eighth round, but ‘The Mighty Mackem’ was outworked in the final session and had to settle for a share.
Crook southpaw Nigel Wright (9st 13lbs 8ozs) will be hoping a third fight with British light-welterweight champion Lenny Daws is his reward for recapturing the English 10 stones belt.
Wright boxed his way to a unanimous points win over Wolverhampton battler Dean Harrison – after being decked for the first time in his pro career.
He touched down from a sweetly-timed short left hook in the dying seconds of the seventh and touched down just as the bell rang.
Harrison (9st 13lbs 8ozs) finished the fight well, but Wright had banked the early rounds and was a winner on the cards by scores of 97-93 and 98-92 x 2.
Throughout the opening half of the fight, Wright was able to stand off and beat him to the punch with solid, straight punches.
David Dolan (14st 8lbs) stayed on course for a clash with Terry Dunstan for the vacant English cruiserweight title by scraping past Hastings Rasani (14st 5lbs) over six rounds.
Referee Graham Williams had them level going into the last and Dolan won it to snatch a 58-57 points verdict.
Rasani seemed incensed by a clash of heads late in the opening round that left him cut on his right eyebrow and his sweeping rights had Dolan looking disorganised in he third.
He also landed with uppercuts, but Dolan, whose work was always more polished, lasted the pace better.
Jon-Lewis Dickinson, ‘Prizefighter’ cruiserweight champion in April and weighing 14st 8lbs, was devastated after his unbeaten record was ended.
He took early control of his clash with Tyrone Wright (14st 11lbs) – dropping the Midlander in the second – but a swelling under his left eye made referee Andrew Wright step in during the third.
Dickinson and his corner protested.
His brother, Travis Dickinson, had a competitive four rounder with Welshman Jamie Ambler (13st 1lbs). Dickinson (12st 7lbs) went looking for the knock out and Ambler responded. Dickinson, heavy handed and exciting, was always in charge, but Ambler nailed him with a few solid shots in the last.
Kris Hughes (8st 10lbs) warmed up for September’s British bantamweight title fight with Matthew Marsh by edging out Anwar Alfadli (8st 4lbs) by a 39-38 margin in the four-round show opener, while Durham southpaw Martin Ward (9st 6lbs) is still unbeaten after winning every session against late sub Jason Nesbitt (10st 3lbs).
Pick of the undercard fights was the four-rounder between George Watson (9st 13lbs) and James Flinn (10st 2lbs) from Coventry that ended in a 39-39 draw.
The opening round was give and take. Watson was under fire against the ropes, then slammed home a few heavy shots that knocked the Midlander off balance. After another close second, Flinn outboxed Watson in the third. He switched stances, slotted home shots and made the Newcastle fighter miss.
The final round was messy and at the end of it, referee Graham Williams had them level.
Sunderland ticket-seller Kirk Goodings (9st 5lbs) impressed when winning every round against Pavels Senkovs (9st 6lbs) in their four rounder.
Goodings looked neat, compact and didn’t waste many punches. His body punches knocked the ambition out of Senkovs.
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