Crolla back on course but shock as Russell's 0 goes

At an interesting night of boxing in Salford we saw it all, future champions continuing their winning ways and young prospects getting better all the time. We also saw the other side, a golden prospect getting his unbeaten record broken and a debutant whose dreams were shattered. We even saw some women's boxing (if that floats your boat). It was never dull.

Topping the bill we had Anthony 'Million Dollar' Crolla squaring off against Sid Razak. After telling BoxRec News that he was due get a title shot after this fight, Crolla couldn't afford any slip ups and what we witnessed was a quality performance against a tough operator.

Crolla started by using lovely punches to body and head, and this immediately made an impact on Razak. The body punches in particular seemed to be taking a lot of energy out of his opponent, the force of these punches reverberating around ringside.

From early on, Razak appeared to be tiring. The lovely use of the jab, followed by punches in bunches over the next few rounds left many thinking the fight could be stopped. By the fifth round Razak was beginning to wince from the shots and it was felt that a stoppage could be imminent.

Razak however seemed to be fresher in the sixth than he was in the fifth. This is one tough guy, I would sometimes worry that he was too tough, I hate seeing guys take a beating like this. It was no surprise to anyone when the referee raised Crolla's hand and awarded him the decision by 60-54. Anthony never stopped working, he is beautiful to watch and a big fight with one of the divisions big boys can't be too far away.

Big upset of the night saw Stephen Russell lose his unbeaten record to Sheffield switch hitter Mo Khaled. Khaled has become a bit of a scourge of young prospects in the last year, arguably beating Chester's Kevin Buckley, and getting draws against such men as Del Rogers and Bobby Ward it always looked a tricky assignment, but few thought it would be this tricky

From the word go Russell found his opponent tricky. Though he landed some decent shots in the first round, by the end of the round he was being caught with a number of big shots. Khaled had good handspeed and just seemed to be one step ahead of his Scottish opponent and gained the stanza by his cleaner work.

Normal service appeared to be resumed in the second round. Russell began to counter with some heavy shots, the lefts and right dissuading Khaled from jumping in Naz style. It was at this point Russell picked up a cut and who knows what impact that had on the rest of the fight.

The third round definitely saw Khaled up his game. Russell was attempting to catch him but he couldn't do anything with him. It was at this point that Khaled caught him with a shot and Russell touched down, disaster had struck. Khaled continued to catch his opponent with good shots and as the bell to end the third round sounded, Stephen Russell had a mountain to climb.

The fourth, in contrast was a big Russell round. Russell now began to counter Khaled's lunges and was tagging him with beautiful left and right hand shots. Though Khaled was still trying you could tell he was getting tired. Russell continued to work over his opponent but it was too little, too late. As the bell went the ref walked past an outraged Russell and raised the hand of the visitor. The score of 38-37 was announced and that tallied exactly with my card. I still believe that if this was a six rounder, Russell would have come back and nicked it. It wasn't, however and the right man won. Now it is Stephen Russell's turn to go back to the drawing board and come back stronger.

The excitement of turning pro quickly turned into heartbreak for débutant Brett Murphy when he faced off against rugged Alex Spitko. From the word go the taller Murphy found himself at the wrong end of some hefty right hands from his opponent. He just looked far too open even though Brett tried to fire back of the ropes it only succeeded in delaying the next big attack. The second round saw more of the same until a cut over the left eye of Murphy caused the corner to have a look at the wound. Another barrage of punches from Spitko at the end of the second round did nothing for the confidence of the Manchester man.

Before the beginning of the third the fight was called off. The brutal cut causing an early finish, though one suspects it was just delaying the inevitable. Murphy will need to re-evaluate where his career path will take him. Spitko has reminded many people that he is a handful, especially for a débutant.

The show opener saw Keiran Maher secure his first stoppage in six attempts against usually durable Matt Seawright. Maher started with his work, moving in off the jab up, looking very nice in the process. It was then that he unleashed a left to the body and then followed it up with a right to the head. Seawright dropped to the canvas and looked badly hurt. After receiving an eight count he went in for the kill. A left hand to the head of Seawright left the Tamworth man unable to rise before the end of the ten count.

A great performance by Maher, who is rapidly turning into one of Hatton Promotions' top prospects.

Another début came when Jason Corkovic came up against hard man Matt Scriven over four rounds. Scriven was unlikely to win any beauty contest before this fight and his case wont be helped by going in with the wild man Corkovic. Corkovic came out like a bull in a china shop, throwing hook after hook. This constant pressure saw Scriven fall over the advertising hoardings and nearly through the ropes. Corkovic didn't seem to mind where he was throwing his punches, just that they landed.

The second round saw Scriven's nose bloodied by the constant punching. There really wasn't that much method, but it's obvious that Carlovic is as strong as an ox.

The third saw Corcovic's best work. A lovely shot the the body, followed by a left-right to the head sent Scriven crashing to the canvas. He got straight up but it was obvious that the shots had hurt. Corkovic went in to finish his man but Scriven, the tough old warrior that he is stood there and took his lumps.

The fourth saw a bit less action as it became obvious that Corkovic had blown a lot of energy in the third. Scriven knew enough to keep himself out of trouble but there was no surprise when the referee raise Jason Corkovic's hand and declared him a winner by the score of 40-35. Corkovic can go on to do good thing I am sure. He will always be exciting to watch, though once suspects that someone who can take his punches and then fire back may stand a good chance of beating him. Still, he is young and there is time.

Rhys Roberts made it nine wins out of nine when he outpointed Pavels Senkovs. Roberts used his superior hand speed throughout and gave all the quality work. He was much better while the jab was in range and seemed to posses a decent right hand. Senkovs, on the other hand seemed happy to move and keep out of trouble, a big change in tactics from when I had seen him before. He only seemed to come alive during the final stanza when he made a good fight out of it. Roberts was declared the winner by a score of 40-36 and seems one to watch.

The bill also gave us two ladies fights. Angel MacKenzie decisioned Daniela David by a score of 60-55, whilst Maxine McCarthy beat Zsofia Bedo by a score of 40-36. All showed great heart.

So all in all a great night's boxing courtesy of Hatton Promotions. The night will be remembered for Crolla's wonderful performance, and the defeat of Stephen Russell. The next step for both will make very interesting viewing.