Underdog Ash Lane stops Chris Bourke to become British and Commonwealth bantamweight champ then calls for European title next
Ash Lane (17-10-2, 3KO) pulled off a career-best performance to stop favourite Chris Bourke (13-2, 8KO) in the sixth round at the York Hall on March 22 to win the vacant British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles.
Despite his 12 losses, 33-year-old Lane is a former Commonwealth super bantamweight champion and earned his opportunity to fight for the British belt after stopping unbeaten prospect Jordan Purkiss to win the English title last June.
He fell short in his first attempt to win a Lonsdale belt when he lost to Brad Foster back in 2019, but he fought like a man possessed against Bourke last night and the years of determination, frustration and hard work finally paid off.
Streatham’s Bourke also fell short in his own bid for the British super bantamweight title when he was outpointed by the slick ‘Livewire’ Marc Leach in 2022.
Believing that Bourke was tight at the weight, actually telling him so during the weigh-in, an enthused Lane pressed the pace right from the off but Bourke was moving well to avoid any real threat.
Fans knew they were in for a treat when the pair edged into the centre of the ring after the first bell and both loaded up with a huge backhand each to kick off proceedings.
Bourke was landing straight lefts down the middle, big body blows, picking Lane off comfortable in the opener, which Ash ended with a cut over his right eye.
Bourke was under pressure from Lane but handled it well, moving his head and landing an eyecatching uppercut in round two. Land was always there though, despite his head getting rocked back copiously, he was landing big shots of his own. It didn’t look like Lane would be able to keep up such a frenzied pace for the full 12.
And fortunately he didn’t have to. In round six, he lunged forward with a right hand followed by a left, that visibly hurt Bourke, so he volleyed in half a dozen straight shots, followed by a same number of left and right hooks. Ash chased his man down into the corner where he clumsily stumbled to the floor, then continued his one-sided onslaught against a tired Chris Bourke, with his flush right hands finishing the fight off at 2:09 of the sixth stanza.
The determination of Lane was simply heroic, and the new British champ was very emotional after the biggest win of his life, “My life’s been up and down. I’ve been homeless, suicidal and had nowhere to live. Brutal. Ever since I was 15 and I first started boxing, I had an interview with Matt Bozeat as an amateur. he asked me what my aspirations were. I told him nobody from Northampton has ever won a British title and that’s my target. Here I am. I’m the first from Northampton.
“Now I’ve won the British I’m going to have even more people on my tail but I can tell you categorically that one fighter is on my mind. Thomas Essomba who’s got the European title. Let’s put it all on the line. British, Commonwealth and European titles. Let’s do it this summer.”