Grant Dennis knocks out Harry Matthews in under a minute
Kent puncher scores KO victory in just 48 seconds
Chatham’s Grant Dennis (12-1) produced the knockout of the night on the undercard of Bakole vs Hunter at the York Hall on October 13 with an impressive right-hand counter sending opponent Harry Matthews (15-33-) crashing to the canvas in the opening round.
The 34-year-old 'Go-Getter' set up the shot perfectly by pawing with his jab and using his head movement to invite his opponent to open up to then slip his shot to counter perfectly with a crunching overhand right.
'The Pocklington Rocket' from Yorkshire once fought Nicky Blackwell for the English middleweight title and had previously only been stopped on three occasions in 49 fights by Ryan Aston, Morgan Jones and world title contender Jamie Cox.
Dennis, a former Southern Area middleweight champion, recorded his second victory of 2018 as he looks to get back into title contention following a controversial defeat in his English title challenge last year to Elliott Matthews.
Dennis is signed JE Promotions and was joined by two of his stablemates on the show.
Three-time Southern Area title challenger Martin Hillman (11-6), also signed to JE Promotions, returned to winning ways and extended his record to 11-6 following a comprehensive 40-36 points victory over Leeds’ Russ Midgley (1-21-2).
The 27-year-old Orpington man suffered a contentious defeat last time out when he challenged for the vacant Southern Area super-bantamweight crown against titleholder Duane Winters, losing by a single point from the away corner. 'The Pie and Mash Kid' hopes to return to being in the mix for titles in 2019.
‘The Main Man’ Lenny Fuller (3-0), JE Promotions' newest signing, defeated 204-fight veteran journeyman Kevin McCauley (15-177-12) in comfortable fashion over four rounds to take his record to 3-0-0.
With McCauley’s noted durability, having taken the likes of Liam Smith and Bradley Skeete the distance in the past, the 24-year-old from Maidstone pocketed some good rounds in the bank.
Fuller, a former unlicensed champion, displayed some promising attacks, having noticeably rocked the tough McCauley on more than one occasion as well as inflicting nasal damage.
All three fighters are due to appear on the next JE Promotions event in Maidstone in November.
In the headlining fight, 2012 US Olympian Michael Hunter (15-1) gate-crashed the thriving heavyweight scene with a thrilling tenth-round stoppage over heavyweight prospect Martin Bakole (11-1).
Other title action on the card saw bantamweight prospect 'Lightning' Lee McGregor (5-0), 21 from Edinburgh, clinch the vacant Commonwealth title in just his fifth pro outing against Cameroon-born Thomas Essomba (8-5), 30 from Ryhope, by way of a 12th round knockout.
Bournemouth’s promising cruiserweight prospect Chris Billam-Smith (7-0) captured a seventh consecutive victory as his opponent Robin Dupre (13-2), hailing from Dagenham, retired at the end of the fifth round to land the mandatory spot for the coveted Commonwealth title, about to be contested between Wadi Camacho and unbeaten Arfan Iqbal on November 17.
Northampton’s Chantelle Cameron (8-0) retained the IBO World lightweight crown with a convincing points victory over Mexican former world title challenger Jessica Gonzalez (7-5-2). The IBO champion almost became the first person to inflict a stoppage on her opponent, with an uppercut flooring Gonzalez in the seventh segment. The 27-year-old edges closer to future unification fights, including the potential clash with Irish sensation Katie Taylor.
Fleet’s Aaron Collins (4-0) extended his unbeaten record as he comprehensively outpointed Dylan Draper (0-20). The 26-year-old welterweight pushed Draper back for the duration of the contest, who himself appeared not particularly keen to engage.
Southampton’s Jack Hillier (3-0) claimed a third-round stoppage win over Polish southpaw Kamil Jaworek (5-11) as he amounted his third successive victory in the paid ranks.
Controversial welterweight Louis Adolphe (9-1), fighting out of Tooting, easily outpointed tough journeyman William Warburton (26-143-10), as the 26-year-old picked up a second win since the shock first-round disqualification he suffered last October.