Anthony Yarde finishes Travis Reeves in five
Anthony Yarde (18-0) stopped Travis Reeves (17-4-2) in five-rounds at the Royal Albert Hall on March 8.
It was all over in just 48 seconds into the fifth segment, as Yarde registered his 17th stoppage from 18 outings in the fifth defence of his WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title.
It was a solid opening round for Yarde, who landed his trademark lead left hook with regularity throughout.
There was little response from the American in the opening rounds as Yarde landed heavy single shots to head and body.
In the third segment there was a glimmer of success for the visitor in the shape of two right hands, however, it was another clear round for the 'Beast from the East' who landed the heavier blows, beginning to wear Reeves down by now.
More of the same in the fourth, but the Baltimore boxer looked like he was becoming resistant to the 27-year-old Londoner's punches, but that was proved wrong as a powerful right hand rocked Reeves and the American was unable to recover.
Sensing the moment in the following round, Yarde continued to blast away on the target with heavy power shots until referee Marcus McDonnell had seen enough. Yarde couldn't miss with his right hand and after a wobble of the legs, the fight was rightfully waved off at the official time of 0:48.
It's no secret that Yarde, ranked no.1 with the WBO, wants Sergey Kovalev next. “I’m making it look good, but I’m learning on the job,” said Yarde. “I’ve been a professional for three years, only 12 amateur fights, that’s never been done before.
“My foot’s in the door and I’m already ranked No. 1 by the WBO. Soon I think I’ll be mandatory, and it don’t really matter the man behind the belt. For me it’s the title and Kovalev is the world champion so that’s what we’re aiming for.”
In the chief supporting fight, Liam Williams (20-2-1) defeated Joe Mullender (11-3) in emphatic fashion in his first defence of the British middleweight title.
It was a dominant opening round for Welshman Williams who picked his shots well on the backfoot to the head and body, completely outclassing his challenger. Essex ex-English champion Mullender plodded forward in his usual style but had virtually no success, not managing to close the distance to land anything at all.
One minute into the second stanza and it was all over. Mullender was dropped heavily by the defending champion, landing face first into the canvas. However, referee Bob Williams allowed the tough 32-year-old to continue, despite being out on his feet, and it was all over seconds later when Williams landed a heavy right hand at will, causing fight fans to question the refereeing decision that allowed the injured party to continue.
Opening the BT Sports show, Welshman Chris Jenkins (21-3-2) landed the British belt on his third crack at the crown with a unanimous decision win over Johnny Garton (23-2-1).
Jenkins drew and lost a close points decision against Tyrone Nurse in super-lightweight title contests back in 2015, but got it right on his third time of asking on the 67th day of 2019.
Ringside scores of 119-109; 116-112; 117-112 awarded the prestigous Lonsdale belt to the 'Rok'n'Rolla' from Garnant.
Trained by Gary Lockett, the 30-year-old was busier and more dangerous from the opening bell. Jenkins was composed, disciplined and intelligent throughout and looked more like the defending champion than the Peckham puncher did. He boxed well at distance and pushed Garton back behind an educated jab. In the ninth round, Jenkins couldn't miss with his one-two's that backed 'The Pexican' up constantly, who didn't respond with enough urgency or action to hold onto his dream belt.
In the following fight, Greenwich powerhouse Daniel Dubois (10-0) scored a savage second round KO of Razvan Cojanu (1-6) in their WBO European heavyweight title bout. Backing Cojanu up on the ropes, 'Dynamite' landed a barrage of shots which were answered clumsily by the Romanian but a well timed left hook followed by a chopping right hand crumpled Cojanu to the canvas with no hope of beating the count.
On the undercard, Hamzah Sheeraz (7-0) stopped Rod Douglas Jr (2-2) in the opening round with little over a minute on the clock. Within that brief time, the 19-year-old from Ilford knocked his opponent down three times, first with a counter right hook and ending matters with a left hook.
Adam Booth's super-bantamweight prospect Lucien Reid (8-0-1) remained unbeaten but had to settle with a technical decision draw with Indi Sangha (9-1-1) after the bout ended in the third round due to a severe cut over the right eye of Reid.
Cruiserweight James Branch (4-0) outpointed Kieran Pitman (2-2) 39-37 on referee Lee Every's scorecards.
Jake Pettitt (5-0) secured a shutout points win over Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev (10-31-1).