Via Ken Hissner: At First Direct Arena, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK, before DAZN Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Boxing) presented in the Main Event a rematch against former IBF Super Bantamweight champion and current IBF World Featherweight champion, Kiko Martinez in an uncomfortable fight and lost the title to former IBF Featherweight champion Josh “The Leeds Warrior” Warrington by scoring in the seventh round to a cheering crowd behind the new champion.
During Ebanie Australia’s Bridge performance “The Blonde Bomber” it let down IBF World Champion Bantam Marian Roman of Argentina.
During the main event IBF World Featherweight Champion Kiko Martinez, 43-11-2 (30), #125.4, of Alicante, Spain, was stopped by former IBF Featherweight Champion Josh “The Leeds Warrior” Warrington, 31-1-1 (8), #125.7, in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK, at 2:12 of the seventh of 12 scheduled rounds.
In the first round, both fighters battled each other until a right from Warrington on the chin and Martinez knocked out Martinez with an 8 from Referee Marcus McDonnell. When Martinez came out of the impact, Warrington received a warning. Martinez had his left eyebrow cut. In the second inning, Warrington had more points but in the third round, Martinez had bleeding from his eyebrows, nose and mouth that put the challenger to work harder.
In the fourth round, Warrington had the advantage with Martinez against the ropes but otherwise Martinez was the aggressor with blood running down his face, he came back with a champ mentality to take fifth. .
In game six, Warrington used his foot and arm speed to stay one step ahead while Martinez would unleash every punch.
In the seventh inning, Martinez landed on the right with his chin and Warrington returned fire with both hands sending Martinez into the ropes in a lack of defense forcing referee McDonnell to take action.
IBO Southpaw World Lightweight Champion Maxie “Maximus” Hughes, 25-5-2 (5), #133.8, of Rossington, Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK, easily defeated nampaw “Iron” Ryan Walsh, 27-4-2 (12), #134.6, by Cromer, UK, more than 12 laps misaligned.
In the third inning, a clash of heads caused a cut on the left eyebrow of Walsh, who lost all three rounds. From the fourth to the eighth, Hughes continued to attack and take down Walsh as the two battled in the center of the ring.
Walsh switched from southpaw to mainstream and back from season six but to no avail. He couldn’t pull the trigger before Hughes’ precise counter-punch. In the tenth round, Walsh began to throw punches but failed to hit the mark as Hughes countered him almost at will.
In the final seconds of the eleventh inning were the first tackles of this match to bring in Referee Steve Gray. Hughes continued to announce the closure. In the twelfth and final round, Hughes finished with a stellar performance not losing since 2019 against Walsh’s twin brother, Liam.
The scores are 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110 with this writer being 120-108.
In the IBF Women’s Bantamweight World Championship co-match, Maria Cecilia Roman, 16-6-1 (0), 116th, of San Juan, Argentina, lost the title to Ebanie The Blonde Bomber” Bridges, 8- 1 (3), # 117.5, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, more than 10 all-round action.
In the first two innings, Bridges worked better than Roman. In the third season, it heats up as the two have their moments. From seasons four to six, the action has been furious with Bridges having an edge. In the seventh and eighth innings, Roman’s hand was faster but raised the transparent hand that was worked by Bridges.
In the ninth round, lightweight boxer Roman landed her best punch on a punch to the chin of Bridges, who returned as much as the champ. In the tenth and final round, the all-out battle continued to look like Bridges was about to win the world title in her second attempt at Roman’s seventh defense. The referee is Bob Williams.
Scores of 100-91 and 97-93 are double that of this writer.
Superb performance by Superweight Dalton “Thunder” Smith, 10-0 (8), #139.4, of Sheffield, UK, stopped “Sugar” Ray Moylette, 12-2 (5), #139.3 , of County Mayo, Islandeady, IRE , at 0:49 of the 10th round for the vacated WBC international silver title.
By the second inning, Smith had swelling under the left eye of the always forward Moylette, who had responded to little offense. In the third round, Smith continued to use his arms and legs faster to land Smith despite suffering a small cut on his right ear.
One minute into the fifth round, Smith rocked Moylette with a left-right combo, knocking him sideways a few paces. From that point on, Moylette hit the bell. In the seventh inning, Smith landed on the low left followed by the left on the chin dropping Moylette. Referee John Latham gave the game a 5-minute break, taking two points from Smith. By the end of the round, Moylette had a lot of swelling under both eyes and bleeding from her mouth.
In the eighth round, Smith landed left on the belt with Moylette going to the frame in search of a DQ. In the tenth and final round, a ball from Smith to head level and down helped Moylette count eight balls. Moylette dropped a punch that made Smith counterattack with one on his chin causing him to fall again. Upon getting up, Moylette staggered toward her corner when that corner was called to a wise stop.
2021 Featherweight Olympiad Skye Nicolson, 2-0 (0), Queensland 127.3, AUST, easily beat Bec “Lady Luck” Connolly, 3-12 (0), #127, Wiltsheere, Kingdom England, through 6 rounds.
In the first two rounds, Nicolson, with his gloves on his hip, pointed the tip of Connolly’s chin in all three rounds. In the fourth round, Nicolson added her punches to Connolly’s nosebleed. In the sixth and final inning, Nicolson tried to stop the match but Connolly showed a good chin.
Score from referee Mark Lyson is 60-54 as well as this writer.
Ring Announcer David Diamante
