Jack Catterall (29-1, 13 KOs) avenged his defeat two years ago by defeating former undisputed light welterweight Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) by a surprisingly one-sided twelve round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. The judges’ scores were 117-111, 116-113 and 117-111.
The southpaw Taylor, 33, had difficulty landing his power shots and was eating jabs from Catterall throughout the contest. When Taylor tried to get close enough to improve his accuracy, Catterall would tie him up.
This process repeated throughout the fight with Taylor crowding Catterall and getting clinched before he could get his shots off. It wasn’t entertaining to watch, but we weren’t dealing with knockout artists. Both guys are pure boxers, for the most part.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Cheavon Clarke (9-0, 7 KOs) was too much for Ellis Zorro (17-2, 7 KOs), wearing him down with bludgeoning short-range shots to score an eighth-round knockout to win the vacant British title.
In round eight, Clarke stunned Zorro, 31, with a short right hand to the head that backed him up against the ropes. Clarke knocked Zorro down with a follow-up right. He was then counted out by referee Mark Bates at 2:59 of round eight.
Zorro gave Clark a lot of trouble through most of the fight, picking off a lot of his punches and returning fire to make the rounds close. In the eighth, Zorro got a little too brave by exchanging power shots at close range and was caught with a right hand that stunned him.
Instead of getting on his bike or tying up, Zorro backed up against the ropes and motioned for Clark to come forward. When he did, he immediately dropped him with a right to the head.
In a nice domestic-level scrap, unbeaten welterweight Paddy Donovan (14-0, 11 KOs) wore down and stopped the heavy-handed Lewis Ritson (23-4, 13 KOs) in the ninth round. The time of the stoppage was at 0:32 of the round.
Donovan backed Ritson up against the ropes and pounded away with heavy shots, leaving referee Howard Foster no choice but to wave it off. It was a good performance by Donovan, mixing up his punches well and throwing to the body to wear down Ritson.
The uppercuts were really nice. Donovan was hitting Ritson repeatedly with uppercuts, and he made no adjustments to block the hard punches.
Gary Cully barely hustled past Francesco Patera in a ten-round affair, improving his record up to 18-1. Patera, armed with initial aggression, eventually ran out of gas against Cully’s superior reach. Despite Patera landing more power punches, it was Cully’s persistent jab—landing that swayed the judges into a lopsided verdict of 98-92 and 96-94 (twice).
In the super featherweight ring, Giorgio Visioli continued his predictable knockout parade, dispatching Sergio Odabai with a predictable body shot in the fourth round. Visioli’s record gleams with a calculated 100% knockout rate, hammering home the monotony of his inevitable march through the ranks.
Up at middleweight, George Liddard treated his first eight-rounder like a brief workout session, dispatching Graham McCormack in a single round. Liddard’s overwhelming power turned what could have been a fight into a quick mopping-up job, leaving his record unblemished at 7-0.
Emmanuel Buttigieg methodically picked apart Anas Isarti over six rounds, immproving his record to 4-0.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Cheavon Clarke (9-0, 7 KOs) was too much for Ellis Zorro (17-2, 7 KOs), wearing him down with bludgeoning short-range shots to score an eighth-round knockout to win the vacant British title.
In round eight, Clarke stunned Zorro, 31, with a short right hand to the head that backed him up against the ropes. Clarke knocked Zorro down with a follow-up right. He was then counted out by referee Mark Bates at 2:59 of round eight.
Zorro gave Clark a lot of trouble through most of the fight, picking off a lot of his punches and returning fire to make the rounds close. In the eighth, Zorro got a little too brave by exchanging power shots at close range and was caught with a right hand that stunned him.
Instead of getting on his bike or tying up, Zorro backed up against the ropes and motioned for Clark to come forward. When he did, he immediately dropped him with a right to the head.
In a nice domestic-level scrap, unbeaten welterweight Paddy Donovan (14-0, 11 KOs) wore down and stopped the heavy-handed Lewis Ritson (23-4, 13 KOs) in the ninth round. The time of the stoppage was at 0:32 of the round.
Donovan backed Ritson up against the ropes and pounded away with heavy shots, leaving referee Howard Foster no choice but to wave it off. It was a good performance by Donovan, mixing up his punches well and throwing to the body to wear down Ritson.
The uppercuts were really nice. Donovan was hitting Ritson repeatedly with uppercuts, and he made no adjustments to block the hard punches.
Gary Cully barely hustled past Francesco Patera in a ten-round affair, improving his record up to 18-1. Patera, armed with initial aggression, eventually ran out of gas against Cully’s superior reach. Despite Patera landing more power punches, it was Cully’s persistent jab—landing that swayed the judges into a lopsided verdict of 98-92 and 96-94 (twice).
In the super featherweight ring, Giorgio Visioli continued his predictable knockout parade, dispatching Sergio Odabai with a predictable body shot in the fourth round. Visioli’s record gleams with a calculated 100% knockout rate, hammering home the monotony of his inevitable march through the ranks.
Up at middleweight, George Liddard treated his first eight-rounder like a brief workout session, dispatching Graham McCormack in a single round. Liddard’s overwhelming power turned what could have been a fight into a quick mopping-up job, leaving his record unblemished at 7-0.
Emmanuel Buttigieg methodically picked apart Anas Isarti over six rounds, immproving his record to 4-0.
