All the results and reports from the Daniel Dubois vs Richard event
BBN were sat ringside at The SSE Arena, Wembley reporting on the stacked card.
Fight 1: Shakiel Thompson vs Nelson Altamirano
4×3 middleweight contest
It was a Queensberry Promotions debut for Sheffield middleweight Shakiel Thompson (3-0, 3KOs) as he opened the show against Spanish-based Nicaraguan Nelson Altamirano (10-25-3, 6KOs).
Tipped by sparring partner Billy Joe Saunders as a future star, the 22-year 6ft 3” southpaw stopped the Central American with no problems in the first round to make it three stoppages in three.
Thompson began on the front foot and kept up the pace and pressure behind his awkward southpaw stance, backing Altamirano up persistently, who was way out if his deth with the young starlet.
Referee stepped in very early to wave off the fight without giving a standing count which was promptly met with many boos from across the arena, clearly feeling it was stopped too soon.
‘Dr Steel’ next looks ahead to fighting on the undercard of Warrington vs Galahad at the FD Arena in June.
Fight 2: Alfie Price vs Michael Isaac Carrero
4×3 super-lightweight contest
Former Team GB boxer Alfie Price (5-0, 0KOs), 25 from Hoddesdon, scored yet another dominant points win against 33-year-old Michael Isaac Carrero (13-47-6, 6KOs).
The exciting super-lightweight prospect is a former European bronze medalist and seven-time national amateur champion and has won all 24 professional rounds so far in his 13-month paid career.
Fight 3: Umar Sadiq vs Chris Dutton
6×3 super-middleweight contest
Ilford super-middleweight star Umar Sadiq (5-1, 3KOs), 31-years-old from Ilford trained by Brian O’Shaughnessy, dropped Sheffield’s Chris Dutton (6-5, 0KOs) three times before forcing him to retire on his stool at the end of the second stanza.
Dutton was stopped by Nigerian-born Sadiq's one and only conqueroro Zak Chelli in the second-round of their May 2017 meeting after hitting the deck in both rounds.
Fight 4: Caomhin Agyarko vs Martin Kabrhel
6×3 middleweight contest
Belfast amateur middleweight star Caoimhin Agyarko (3-0, 1KOs) left the referee with no choice but to stop the fight in round three after a series of heavy, unanswered punches from the 'Black Thunder' talent. 35-year-old opponent Martin Kabrhel (2-14-1, 2KOs) will be heading back to the Czech Republic with a few extra bruises from what he left with because those punches were brutal!
Fight 5: Mohammed Bilal Ali vs Antonio Horvatic
4×3 lightweight contest
Tunde Ajayi-trained London lightweight Mohammed Bilal Ali (2-0, 0KOs), 22 from Beckton, showed off his fantatsic footwork to move up to 2-0 with a dominant performance over 32-year-old Croatian Antonio Horvatic (11-57, 6KOs) in his second professional contest. Fleet-footed Ali wo 40-36 on points with teammate Anthony Yarde supporting at ringside.
Fight 6: Hamzah Sheeraz vs Ladislav Nemeth
6×3 super-welterweight contest
It was a second consecutive stoppage from rangy super-welterweight talent Hamzah Sheeraz (8-0, 4KOs) as the 19-year-old from Ilford whipped in a left hook to the body of Slovakian middleweight champion Ladislav Nemeth (13-56-9, 7KOs) in round two.
Fight 7: Denzel Bentley vs Pavol Garaj
6×3 middleweight contest
Hard-hitting middleweight and Peacock Gym product Denzel Bentley (10-0, 8KOs), 24 from Battersea, mades his second appearance under the Queensberry Promotions banner against 32-year-old Slovakian Pavol Garaj (6-16-3, 2KOs).
The heavy-handed prospect won by unanimous decision with scorecards of 62-54 after an impressive performance.
Bentley measured the distance tactically behind his southpaw jab in the opener, connecting with some solid shots and finished the first with some vicious body blows.
He started the second stanza where he left off, stalking Garaj all around the ring trying to close the distance with his sharp, stinging jabs and was very clever cutting down the ring at times.
The Slovakian tried to throw some shots back to keep the home fighter off, however they were never troublesome and rarely landed on his slick opponent.
The Central European was resilient and rigid, but was taking too many shots from the aggressor.
He managed to find some success with counter-punching when backed on the ropes to keep the eager Bentley on alert, who was desperately trying to get him out of there.
The sixth and final round saw a brave performance by the Slovakian and traded back courageously at times to stay in the fight and deservedly hear the final bell ring.
(Float): Chris Bourke vs Stefan Slavchev
4×3 super-bantamweight contest
22-year-old super-bantamweight from Streatham Chris Bourke (3-0, 3KOs) can seriously bang! He scored his third KO from as many fights with a second-round stoppage against 26-year-old Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev (10-33-2, 2KOs).
Fight 8: Archie Sharp vs Sergio Gonzalez
8×3 super-featherweight contest
WBO European super-featherweight champion Archie Sharp (15-0, 8KOs), 24 from Welling, continued his winning ways against Rio Blanco's Sergio Gonzalez (10-15-5, 7KOs), stopping the 32-year-old Nicaraguan in the second round. The Central American took ‘Sharpshooter’s’ rival Laon Woodstock the full eight-round distance last month despite hitting the deck in the final moments of their fight.
Fight 9: Zak Chelli vs Jimmy Smith
vacant Southern Area super-middleweight contest
Zak Chelli (7-0, 3KOs) bagged his first title in the form of the Southern Area super-middleweight championship against Jimmy Smith (7-2).
University of Surrey student Zak Chelli was dominant in his 100-89 decision over the Berkshire boxer.
Fulham fighter Chelli was very impressive with his constant body shots, especially the one that got through perfectly and knocked London-born Smith down in the eighth round.
The opener begun brightly with both fighters unloading heavy shots, neither wanting to give up ground in a battle of wills and take a backward step.
Chelli established his dominance early and landed some heavy combinations on Smith who struggled to find any real response.
Chelli in round three started with strong combinations and timed Smith with a few left hooks that seemed to effect him.
The Surrey University student continued the constant pressure in the mid-rounds dominating behind jabs that kept Smith out of rythym and off balance at times.
Smith started to come on strong in the later rounds as he must have known the fight was slipping out of reach and connected with a strong counter left hook in the sixth segment.
However, in the eighth, Chelli connected with a huge body shot that dropped Smith for the count, whish he bravely beat. The Fulham fighter tried to go for the stoppage but was not able to secure it.
Chelli continued to work the body, sensing it was his best chance to finish the fight early and was getting a lot of success andended the fight strongly, as the scorecards surely suggest.
With this impressive win, Chelli will now look to fight the winner of Richards and Langford who were readying backstage.
Fight 10: Jack Catterall vs Oscar Amador
8×3 super-lightweight contest
WBO #1 Jack Catterall (24-0, 12KOs) continued his unbeaten run against stand-in opponent Oscar Amador (10-18) in a keep busy 10-round contest that only went as far as the third round.
'El Gato' from Chorley, Lancashire is mandated to face WBO world super-lightweight champion Maurice Hooker later this year.
Fight 11: Lerrone Richards vs Tommy Langford
Vacant Commonwealth and WBO International super-middleweight contest
Former British and Commonwealth middleweight champion Tommy Langford (21-4, 6KOs) was defeated by unbeaten Lerrone Richards (12-0, 3KOs) by unanimous decision to win the vacant Commonwealth and WBO International super-middleweight titles.
Scores of 18-110; 118-111; and 116-113 were called for the Frank Warren fighter Richards at the end of the enthralling 12-rounds of 168bs action.
‘Sniper the Boss’ had only fought three fighters with winning records during his five-year pro career, with his last fight back in March 2018, but his inactivity wasn’t evident in his dominant performance over the experienced former British and Commonwealth middleweight titlist, who had fought 30 rounds within the last year.
The first round between the two technically-gifted tacticians was a tepid and conservative affair and both worked intelligently behind their jabs with Langford on the front foot from the away corner.
The fight opened up a bit further in the third round as Langford came forward and Richards landing with a well timed back hand from his southpaw stance that landed flush but only seemed to slightly off balance the warrior who pressed on undeterred.
The fourth round was much the same, with both trying to find an edge over the other but not being able to find one, however Richards finished strongly with a combination that connected cleanly on Langford.
26-year-old Richards displayed the type of prowess in the first third of the fight that he more than belonged at this level and was looking more and more comfortable.
The middle rounds started to show Richards’ strength and conditioning as he was opening up and landing combinations increasingly with the more experienced Langford not being able to penetrate his guard with anything really meaningful.
The fight was living up to its expectation, more for the boxing purist than the casual fan, as it was very tight and tense, with either fighter being able to take the fight with a strong finish, as it appeared to be that close a spectacle.
‘Sniper the Boss’ started to show his composure in the championship rounds, despite his lack of experience there, and scored some vicious uppercuts that kept Langford firmly on the back foot. Another counter backhand found the face of Langford in the ninth, who reacted with an attack clearly wounded with pride more than anything else.
Richards began an onslaught of uppercuts in the 10th round and found an injection of pace and urgency that he hadn't produced before and caught the Birmingham-based boxer consistently, who tucked up and backed up, but still he marched forward undeterred, knowing he was trailing. In the closing moments or round-ten, 'Sniper the Boss' lived up to his moniker as he struck with intelligent uppercuts twice. Langford kept the pressure on and another great left hand landed for Richards just as the bell rung for the end of the round.
The 11th and penultimate round was unchartered territory for the New Malden man, trained by Alan Smith and Eddie Lamm at the iBox Gym in Bromley. The three-minutes were closely contested with nothing to seperate the talented pair.
In the final round, Richards looked to be enjoying himself and finshed the fight as classy as could. His evasive movement frustrated Langford, who just couldn't land clean. He showed a big heart as he has done so many times recently to keep going forward but Richards finished what he started really well to keep connecting all the way through to the final bell.
Richards was a classy operator throughout and thoroughly the deserved the two shiny new belts. For Langford, he picks up a fourth professional defeat, but is clearly a top operator himself, but he just couldn't get into his rhythm, courtesy of his opponent's slick movement, and just couldn't land anything significant due to Richards' incredible evasive work.
Zak Chelli said he wanted the winner, so Frank Warren could easily make the fight happen, but Lerrone Richards vs Zach Parker for the British title would be better.
Fight 12: Sunny Edwards vs Pedro Matos
10×3 super-flyweight contest
It was a brilliant display of boxing once again from Sunny Edwards (10-0, 3KOs), 23 from Croydon, as he stops Portuguese ‘Number One’ Pedro Matos (7-1, 1KOs) in the eighth round to retain his WBO European strap.
Fight 13: Daniel Dubois vs Richard Lartey
10×3 WBO Global heavyweight contest
Unbeaten heavyweight Daniel Dubois (10-0, 9KOs) headlined the packed event against WBO No.14 ranked Richard Lartey (14-1, 11KOs) with the newly-installed WBO Global belt on the line and sent a message to Joe Joyce and anyone else in the heavyweight division after flattening the Ghanaian in four rounds.
21-year-old Dubois came straight out the corner with intent, throwing his heavy right hand early preceded by a stiff jab. Within no time at all the pair traded off when Lartey was backed to the ropes for the first time but a couple of commanding shots back from the travelling opponent earned Dubois' respect, who backed off and gave up a bit of ground between them.
Greenwich powerhouse Dubois started unloading heavily to the body in round two but soon a low shot forced Lartey to take a breather and with a concerned look on the face of the West African it looked as though Brit fight fans would get a premature ending similarly to that of Amir Khan and Terence Crawford a week earlier. Fortunately, Lartey continued to fight, clearly not content to just make up the numbers, and resumed proceedings with a thudding overhand right which appeared to affect the legs of the South Londoner momentarily, but the young Brit, who went on the backfoot for the first ever time, took the shot extremely well.
In the final minute of the second stanza, a right hand through broke through the guard to seriously hurt Lartey, which promoted 'DDD' to pounce on his foe immediately but this time he exercised caution and patience, waiting for the right opportunity to through the right punch. Both rounds in the bag so far for Dubois. He was greeted by his coach Martin Bowers in the corner with the words "Great work".
In round three, the pair started on the outside with Dubois landing his ramrod jab and Lartey trying to counter when he threw combinations. Just inside the two-minute mark, a thudding uppercut got through Lartey's guard which drew gasps from the crowd. It was an intelligent choice of attack from Dubois who noticed Lartey dip his head slightly and took full advantage of the opportunity. He absorbed it well and not long later the fans were treated to a crazy exchange as the pair went hammer and tongs at each other. Dubois landed first with a left hook to the chin that spun Lartey's head around but he fired back frantically and landed a huge right hook of his own, which, for the first time in his 10 fight career, looked to have Daniel in danger as he half staggered a few steps away, but on second viewing looked to be more the momentum of his misfires that took him halfway across the ring.
The KO king from South London was calm and composed at the beginning of the fourth segment, as Lartey looked a little worn by this point, opting to reserve energy and hide behind a high guard, which was pierced persistently by the youngster's powerful jab. Then the 6ft 5" man from Accra, who currently holds the World Boxing Organisation African heavyweight title, made the error of walking on to Dubois and was met with a heavy right to the temple followed by a left that put him on the seat of his pants for the first time in the exciting encounter.
Lingering on the canvas, breathing heavily, and only rising at the very last moment was enough for referee Bob Williams to call off the fight to save the brave African from any more damaging blows.
Lartey was tough and game and earned his paycheck after all the complications with his VISA pre-fight. He was adamant he wanted to turn up and fight and certainly didn't come here just to lay down and get paid. He earned the respect of the paying public and should be invited back for more exciting heavyweight match-ups, namely with Nathan Gorman.
Young Dubois did show chinks in his armour, as any boxer stepping up a level inevitably will, but he demonstrated his ability to learn and proved he can take a punch as well as dish one out. His decision to bide his time on occasion and not go wading in too soon displayed a maturity beyond his years.
So 'Dynamite' Daniel Dubois continues his meteoric rise through the heavyweight ranks and will next meet with the 'Juggernaught' Joe Joyce for the British heavyweight title – 'DDD' vs 'JJJ'!