Anthony Crolla vs Derry Mathews - British Lightweight Title
Derry Mathews was about to retire. Beaten earlier in the year for the IBO Lightweight Title it looked as if the Scouser / Irishman was about to leave the sport he loved. Throw in a last opportunity for the British Lightweight Title and you have the old gunslinger in the last chance saloon.
In the pre-fight build up Mathews said he would have retired if he lost against young champion Anthony Crolla who was making his 2nd defence. Two rounds in and it looked like this was to be the last time we saw the Likeable warrior as Crolla used his excellent left jab and hook to out-punch his rival. That all changed in the 3rd round as Mathews began to land his jab along with a straight right cum uppercut. This is the punch that put the champion on the seat of his pants and would eventually change the fight in favour of Mathews.
Crolla clearly hurt had around 1.40 in the round to survive , he got rocked several more times during the round but showed his toughness by gritting his teeth by fighting back although it was clear to see who had the power in this fight. The champion had another problem in the 3rd as because of those straight rights a huge cut appeared right beside Crollas left eye. Star cuts man Mick Williamson had to go to work and to a degree he did a good job as the blood wasn't as bad and Crolla came back winning the 4th on my card using sheer volume of punching. The 5th was close as the champions volume punching especially to the body was beginning to tire Mathews but unlike previous fights the challenger kept calm and fired back to again rock Crolla near the end of the round.
Th end came very late in the 6th Round , Crolla was having a decent round before more big rights took effect , Crolla staggered back to the ropes for a few seconds whilst Mathews fired away , the champion then escaped again only to be caught by a glancing blow....This is when Referee John Keane stepped in and stopped the fight...I think prematurely. There are a few reasons i think this was stopped premature , 1. there was only a few seconds left in the round and i think the Referee should have known that 2. Crolla was not that badly hurt and had not taken a one sided beating. He should have really been given the benefit of the doubt although there wasn't much complaining just disappointment from Crolla and his camp.
Mathews - the old gunslinger will have an Indian summer now. Sit back , get strapped in because if its anything like his fantastic performance last night then we are in for some ride.
Below as aways is my scorecard along with the press and fan scores.
Fightscorecollectors Scorecard
Round 1.... 10-9 Crolla
Round 2.... 10-9 Crolla
Round 3.... 8-10 Mathews
Round 4.... 10-9 Crolla
Round 5.... 9-10 Mathews
TOTAL: 47-47 Draw
DERRY MATHEWS WINS BY 6TH ROUND TKO
Boxing Sites , Fans and Press Scores
Terry Dooley (boxingscene) - 48-46 Mathews
David Payne (boxingwriter.co.uk) - 49-46 Mathews
No Holds Barred website - 48-46 Mathews
Paddy (Onthegrindboxing Radio) - 48-46 Mathews
Eastsideboxing Fans - 48-47 Mathews , 48-46 Crolla , 48-48 x2 Draw
Saddoboxing Fans - 47-47 draw
No comments:
Post a Comment