British super-featherweight champion Reece Bellotti takes Liam Dillon’s Commonwealth title
Reece Bellotti defeated Liam Dillon with scores of 112-117, 112-116, 111-117 to win British and Commonwealth super-featherweight titles.
Bellotti and Dillon served up a barnstormer of a battle for the packed crowd at the Indigo at the O2 in London on Saturday, February 10.
The headliners of the Matchroom Boxing NXTGEN show didn’t waste any time in feeling each other out, instead they went at it from the opening bell.
“Bomber” Bellotti was the brighter in the rounds one and two, but Dillon came back in the third and fourth, then an incredible body shot from Bellotti turned things around in the fifth.
In round six, the already excellent action heated up even further. Bellotti’s left hook and uppercuts had the crowd roaring, culminating in a 10th round where the Watford man had Dillon backed to the ropes.
Dillon took it Bellotti in the 11th but the warrior just answered back respectively. In the final round, Dillon gave it his all. He took a big right uppercut for his troubles, but still won the round, but not the fight.
Once considered to be all finished after five losses in seven fights, Reece Bellotti was crowned British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion in a rollercoaster career that proves you should never give up.
Bellotti revealed his motivation behind his biggest victory to date, “To prove to my little boy I’m not a loser. He was around when I lost three in a row and he thought I was a loser, he now knows his dad’s a British champ.”
The 33-year-old “Bomber” revealed the difference between him and Dillon, “I had the cleaner shots.”
Then the respectful champion paid homage to his dance partner, “There’s not a tougher man in the sport than Liam right now. He’s one tough man. He took some massive uppercuts in there and he smiled after receiving it, so that proves how tough he really is.”
The Watford warrior then revealed he wants to go for the European title next, currently in the hands of unbeaten Spanish southpaw Juan Felix Gomez, who is mandated to face challenger Archie Sharp next.
Undercard Results
Craig Richards W-TKO 7 Boris Crighton
Shannon Ryan W-PTS 10 Jasmina Zapotoczna
Cameron Vuong W-TKO 6 Ishmael Ellis
John Hedges W-TKO 2 Erdogan Kadrija
Emanuel Odiase W-PTS 6 Amine Boucetta
Jack Oliphant W-PTS 4 Jensen Irving
Ibraheem Sulaimaan W-TKO 3 Jordan Patrick Tomasoni