Rampant Matthews demolishes Unsworth to become two-time English champion

I think we can say it is official. ‘Dirty’ Derry Mathews is back and with a bang! That message was delivered loud and clear on Saturday night, when he demolished Amir Unsworth in one brutal round to claim the vacant English lightweight title in front of a packed audience at the Liverpool Olympia.

Mathews (9st 9lb) started sharply, catching Unsworth (9st 9lbs) with a sharp right hand that sent him veering towards the ropes. From then on it didn’t really get any better for Amir (a serving soldier in the One Mercian regiment) as he was on the receiving end of a barrage of punches from the hometown favourite. These stinging shots were sending Unsworth all over the ring. Amir, to his credit was bravery personified.

He just had no answer to what was coming his way, the right hand in particular doing serious damage. It was no surprise that as the round drew to a close, Derry landed one final booming right hand to the head of Unsworth, sending him lurching towards the ropes. At this point the referee jumped in to save ‘Unzy’ from any further punishment. Time was called at 2:52 of the first round.

This was truly a scintillating performance and by far the strongest Matthews has looked since he returned to the ring after his brief ‘retirement’.

Mathews rises to 27-5 (13) and now must be looking to face off against British champ Anthony Crolla. This Manchester-Liverpool match up would certainly be one to get the juices flowing. Unsworth falls to 13-4-1(2) and will surely come back stronger.

In the chief support, multiple ABA champ and 2006 Commonwealth Games representative, Nick McDonald (8st 11lbs) continued his comeback against former Welsh featherweight champ Dai Davies (9st).

The fight, scheduled for six-threes, began with an extremely cautious first round. Wirral man McDonald seemed to be trying to work out what Davies was bringing to the table. For his part Davies seemed to be reluctant to step in and leave himself open to being picked off by the former amateur star. In the end nothing much really happened. One left to the body by McDonald looked decent; a few pot shots by Davies were OK. I gave this round even.

The second was a better round for McDonald. He brought in much sharper shots to the head and body. Davies upped his work rate accordingly, but this was certainly a McDonald round.

The third saw a drop in the output from McDonald. This was a return to the first round. I felt that he did a little bit more than Davies, but any work that was done was not really that clean.

The fourth wasn’t that bad a round from Davies. When he threw the shots he would land well. Of course when McDonald landed with some body shots the crowd would go wild, but Davies was getting his own work in as he circled the ring looking to beat his foe to the punch.

McDonald took the fifth for me. Nothing of massive quality once again, but Davies seemed like he was beginning to tire. McDonald would come forward and always seemed to be the one who wanted to continue the action when the fighters broke. Still, this wasn’t the quality work I expected from the former amateur starlet.

The sixth round was another close affair. McDonald landed with a few good right hands and some good body shots, but Davies would counter with some straight shots down the centre that found it hard to miss. As the bell went Davies looked to the referee. Sadly for him the hand of McDonald was raised and he was announced the winner by a score of 59-57. I had it a little wider but due to the scrappy nature of some of the rounds I can’t really argue with the referee’s interpretation.

Nick McDonald rises to 4-1 (2) but will need to improve if he is to make the impact his talent suggests he can. Dai Davies falls to 6-15-1 (1) and is far better than his record suggests. He has been matched tough in his career.

Shock of the night came when previously unbeaten ‘Discoball’ Paul Davies (9st 7lbs) was stopped in the first round of his contest against Norfolk’s Scott Moises (9st 5lbs) in a bout that was scheduled for four-threes.

Almost immediately Davies was sent to the canvas by his unheralded opponent. Despite getting up quickly Davies looked on shaky legs and, after being caught a number of times, was sent to the canvas by a lovely right hand. This time he seemed more hurt and the end looked nigh. This proved to be the case as a huge left hand sent him reeling towards the ropes. Moises went in for the kill and the fight was quickly stopped by referee Stuart Gray. And like that, an unbeaten record is destroyed.

Fights like this can have a negative effect on a young fighter, but also, possibly a positive one. Davies will today feel like his world has crashed around his ears. But he will have the opportunity to work on his faults and come back a better fighter. This game is a marathon, not a sprint. Scott Moises rises to 2-2 (2). Davies falls to 3-1.

Paul Economides (9st 2lbs) returned from his failed Welsh super-bantamweight battle against Robbie Turley with a classy victory over Pavels Senkovs (9st 4lbs) in a battle over four-threes. Economides was able to show his new speed and punch variety, something that he had been unable to do in his previous bout, largely due to the elusive nature of Mr Turley.

The first round began with Economides using controlled aggression and decent lateral movement to dominate his opponent. Senkovs, who has been ‘less than active’ in some of his latest encounters against young prospects, started with a high work rate the first part of the fight. These two had crossed swords nearly two years ago, when Senkovs had recently turned pro and Economides was an unbeaten prospect. Back then Economides won the fight comfortably enough but was much wilder, and Senkovs looked capable of landing the blockbuster at any time. That must have worked its way into his thought process and he attempted to give back as good as he got. This time however Economides was catching everything off the gloves and then countering with lovely right hands that seemed to hurt Senkovs. The two incarnations of Economides were totally different.

The quality work continued in the second round as Economides began to work the body exceptionally. Clean lefts and right hands were making Senkovs’ night a painful one. He was being hurt more than I had ever seen him before, and this against a man who isn’t regarded as a noted puncher.

The use of angles was once again evident in the third round against a tiring opponent. At one point Economides used the ‘move to the right and throw the left to the body’ trick made famous in recent years by Ricky Hatton. Senkovs would continue to try but was unable to do anything. This was the best I had ever seen Economides.

Economides was able to close the show in the fourth, continually working over Senkovs who was beginning to look like he wanted the night to end. To his credit he stayed on his feet and made it to the final bell. It was no surprise however, when referee Mark Lyson raised the hand of Economides and awarded him the victory by a score of 40-36. Economides rises to 10-2 and must be ready for another title shot. Senkovs falls 2-31-2 (2)

Another scintillating performance came from the Wirral’s ‘Baby faced Assassin’ Paul Butler (8st 5lbs) when he faced up against Francis Croes (8st 8lbs) in an match over six-twos.The first round saw Butler start nicely throwing good shots and using lovely footwork. He easily swept the stanza.

From the second onwards he started to throw harder shots and they were becoming more hurtful. Croes was tough but it was evident he was no match for his opponent.

After a comfortable third round, Butler once again upped the power shots in the fourth. The straight shots down the centre were hurting Croes but he covered up well and didn’t look in any danger of being stopped.

That was until the beginning of the fifth round when another barrage of punches down the centre encouraged referee Steve Gray to step in and stop the fight. Croes protested, arguing quite rightly that he never looked in any danger of going down. The stoppage seemed a compassionate one and probably saved Croes from more punishment. The ending was timed at 36 seconds of the fifth round.

It does go to show what a fine line referees tread. Stop too late and you could end up with a fighter getting hurt. Stop too early and you risk depriving a fighter of his livelihood. It is not a job I envy.Paul Butler rises to 2-0 (1) and looks like one to watch. Francis Croes falls to 1-15 (1) and lives to fight another day.

The show opened with a competitive little bout between Stoke's returning Scott Miller (10st 13lbs) and Atherton’s Willie Warburton (10st 13lbs) over four-threes. Miller started well enough, putting in some nice clean shots to the head, and decent body work. Warburton replied with some sharp shots but the round certainly belonged to Miller.

The second round was much closer. Miller started with the better work but Warburton was definitely landing his own shots as he circled the ring. In my opinion Miller did the most work, though as time went on it became scrappier.

The third followed much the same pattern. Miller began to miss wildly, and was certainly there to be caught. Still, he was doing more work and certainly dominating the action. It just seemed that most of it was pretty average.

The fourth round was by far and away the best round for Warburton. He began to press more and was landing well, especially with that left hand to the head. Miller tied to come into it but there was less work than before. It became apparent that it was a good job Warburton could not punch that hard, Miller was open to everything. The bell sounded and the referee raised Millers hand and gave him the fight by a score of 40-37. A bit closer than I had it but no doubting the right man won.

Miller rises to 8-0 (3) but must become a bit smarter if he is to hit the heights. Willie Warburton falls to 3-17-2 but will give anyone a decent night’s work.

So another brilliant night courtesy of Stephan Vaughan promotions and Fight Options. The abiding memory must be the incredible performance by Derry Matthews. A British title shot must surely awaits. It would be a crime for it not too happen. The ‘Dirty’ one is back with a vengeance.