By James Slater: During what was a very busy Saturday night of boxing, Jamaican veterans Richard Hall and O’Neil bell met in a crossroads fight in Hollywood, Florida. 39-year-old former light-heavyweight title challenger Hall got the job done in style as he cracked the former undisputed cruiserweight king with a left hand to the head in the 2nd-round; his follow-up attack forcing the third man in the ring to call a halt to the proceedings.
The official time was one-minute and 58 seconds of the round. Southpaw Hall is now 30-8(28). 36-year-old Bell, in having his first fight since being TKO’d by Tomasz Adamek in April of 2008, fell to 26-4-1(24).
So while Hall’s career was given something of a boost last night, the career of “Give ‘Em Hell” Bell surely came to an end. Coming back at his best weight (after at one point considering making a return as a heavyweight!), Bell wasn’t expected to go down and out as quickly as he did last night. Looked at as pretty much a 50-50 fight going in, Hall-Bell instead turned into a mismatch.
The lanky 6’3” Hall took the fight right to Bell at the opening bell and he got his first stoppage win of note since he stopped Byron Mitchell in the 4th-round in late 2007. As experienced as any guy out there (Hall having been in with the likes of Roy Jones Junior, Dariusz Michalczewski twice and Glen Johnson), “The Destroyer” could possibly pick up some decent money whilst campaigning as a cruiser. Or maybe Hall will opt to drop back down to 175.
An interesting fight that could possibly be made is Hall against Edison Miranda. Miranda won up at a career-high 183-pounds last night, and “Pantera” is looking to establish himself as a light-heavyweight. A win over Hall would not look too bad on his record; especially in light of how good the Jamaican looked last night.