Lloyd-Taylor becomes the first reserve to win Prizefighter

After decisioning Liverpool's Tony Quigley in a close final, Robert Lloyd Taylor picked up £32K, and, somewhat unexpectedly, became the twentieth prizefighter champion last night at the York Hall.

Lloyd-Taylor, from Hayes, kicked off the evening's round-robin action off with a tight decision win over Margate's former two-time WBU kingpin Takaloo. As a reserve, Lloyd-Taylor was awarded his place in the eight man tourney after JJ Bird, perhaps better known for being in Big Brother than for being a professional boxer, fainted in his dressing room an hour or so before the tourney began.

Looking more robust than earlier in his career, Lloyd-Taylor boxed with fast hands and educated footwork in the opener. Takaloo looked wide-eyed in surprise as the man, formally trained by Adam Booth, marked up his face.

The second session was more even on my (WH) card, as Takaloo came out with some of his former vigour and purpose, but Lloyd-Taylor had success with the straight right, and Takaloo was looking more dangerous as he managed to close the range effectively.

The last was scrappy and disorganised, with the 35-year-old still trying to get close and hurt Lloyd-Taylor. All three judges tallied 29-28 in the Hayes' mans favour, and the curse of the Prizefighter comebacks continued with Takaloo following in Robin Reid and Junior Witter's unsuccessful footsteps.

In the second quarter final, unbeaten Peter Vaughan (now 4-1-1) pipped the stylish Wayne Goddard (now 9-1) by split decision over the three round course. Judge Terry O'Connor preferred the slick skills of the Borden stylist, whereas Howard Foster and Mark Green voted for Vaughan's aggression and determination.

Vaughn, coming off the back of an eight-round upset win over Phill Fury, seemed more than happy to soak up shots to get close and inflict his own damage. Goddard, unbeaten in nine going in, made 'The Raging Bull' miss cleverly but his work was less eye-catching and off the back foot.

Vaughan came off second best for my money in the next round. He was still forging forward but educated footwork and savvy shot selection by Goddard had him  dropping his head dis-spiritedly at the end of the session.

The intensity and desire of the third round was unbelievable. As so often happens at the York Hall, the fighters both went all out to win and the noise was deafening. Goddard looked spent and was having to endure some creative use of the head as Vaughan sort  to supplement his effective right hand punches. In the end, Goddard's '0' had to go in this hard-fought affair.

In a great scrap, Blackpool's Jeff Thomas (now 9-6-3) was in against Kris Agyei-Dua (now 4-1) from Brentwood, who started brightly behind his jab and was boxing well, until, with less than a minute to go in the first, former soldier Thomas put Agyei-Dua straight on his backside with a beautiful left hook. He rose too quickly, and it looked as though the Blackpool man might finish the job early, only for Agyei-Dua  to see the round out, albeit a little wobbly.

Thomas, originally from the Netherlands, kept looking for the knockout shot during the second but was buzzed himself  from a smart overhand right as  Agyei-Dua looked to close the gap after suffering what he believed to be a 10-8 round in the opener. The third round went Agyei-Dua's way, as he displayed some smart boxing skills by managing not to get caught by Thomas, who wilted a little in the last round.

For the first time ever in Prizefighter, the three judges scored the bout a majority draw, so the casting vote went to referee Terry O'Connor, who had it 29-28 for Agyei-Dua.  Thomas admitted gallantly afterwards: "He was a lot better than his three fight record.  I just didn't do enough.  Fair play to him."

The battle of the scousers in the last quarter final saw the unbeaten Nick Quigley (now 9-1) in against Steve Harkin (now 5-2-2). It started off a little scrappy before Quigley gained control, rocking Harkin with a thundering uppercut.  Quigley, the paler of the two, marched towards his man at the start of the second and continued to throw the more accurate blows. Both fighters found it difficult to find the target in the second, but the better work came from Quigley once again.

For me, he won every round.  Judge Terry O'Connor agreed, chalking it 30-27 for Quigley with the other two judges scoring 28-29 for Quigley, and a very strange 29-28 for Harkin.

In the evening's first semi-final, Lloyd-Taylor impressively floored brave-as-they-come Peter Vaughn with a regal left uppercut in the third and then forced third man Mark Green to intervene at 2:45.

Vaughn marched forward into fire throughout the contest behind a high guard. He threw dangerous punches in bunches in close but was overly prepared to take shots throughout the contest. Despite all Peter's bravery and gameness, ultimately those whipping uppercuts from Lloyd-Taylor provided the separating factor between two warriors who electrified the York Hall in a stirring battle.

The second semi got off to a great start, with Agyei-Dua controlling the action in the first half of the round only for Quigley to return with interest in the last minute. Both fighters were going for it, throwing and shipping equal amounts of punches, but it was Quigley's that seemed to have more of a lasting effect, and Agyei-Dua, as in his last fight with Thomas, was looking a bit wobbly of leg.

After the first minute of the second, both fighters appeared to take a breather, only to return for a ferocious toe-to-toe exchange, of which Quigley came off better. He continued to be the boss Agyei-Dua in the third round, and after delivering a fierce right cross, looked like he might get the stoppage. To his credit, Agyei-Dua bravely held on to hear the verdict.

All judges scored the fight 30-27 for Quigley, who marched into final with quiet intent and should now be seen as the favourite after the exits of favourites Takaloo and Vaughn.

In the final, Robert Lloyd-Taylor became the first substitute to capture the £32,000 cheque as he unanimously outpointed Liverpool's Nick Quigley by 29-2 on all three judges' cards.

The Hayes' fighter appeared fresher throughout the final and used his greater experience to firstly outbox his man. Then when Nick decided to force his claim and was able to outpunch his foe to lift the coverted trophy.

One could argue that Lloyd-Taylor benefitted more from the longer break between the semis and the final - but overall Robert landed more scoring shots and appeared to managed to have the last word in a majority of the exchanges.

The best Prizefighter so far? Maybe not, but a superb night's boxing in a packed out York Hall nonetheless, with the recent draw change adding to the excitement.  Next up is 'pint sized' Prizefighter in October with super flyweights including Ashley Sexton, Mike Robinson and British champion Lee Haskins, which has the makings of another cracker

Words: Will Hale & Danny Wright
Images: Bernard Miller for BoxRec News