Tony Dodson's journey not over yet as he wins war against Stubbs

It looks as though the Tony Dodson story has a little while to run yet. In what was his biggest win for a number of years, Dodson claimed the vacant IBO International light-heavyweight crown when he outlasted Oldham’s Darren Stubbs in a war, finally overcoming his brave opponent in the seventh round.

This battle, at the Greenbank leisure centre in Liverpool and promoted by Stephen Vaughan Boxing will live long in the memory of those who saw it.

Dodson (12st 7lbs) started well against Stubbs (12st 6lbs), claiming the first round. Stubbs was intent on getting on the front foot, where he could negate the class of the former British champion. Dodson however, was able to just about scrape the round with his superior skills. This was to be the theme of the night, the pure aggression of Stubbs against the superior quality of Dodson. Tony did however suffer a cut above the left eye which was caused by one of the many infringements Stubbs committed while trying to throw Tony off his game.

This seemed to galvanise Dodson in the second, as he came back with some thumping shots which began to mark up Darren in turn. Stubbs finished the round like a man possessed but for me, the extra quality of Dodson had won him the round. Tony once again hurt his fearsome opponent at the start of the third, firstly by a big left hand, then later thanks to a five punch combination. A left hand later in the stanza cut Stubbs over the right eye. This was all being caused by Dodson creating the space to get his quality work off.

Stubbs was showing grit and having his own successes, but it would always come back to Dodson stepping back and throwing beautiful straight shots down pipe. The fourth was another round savage fighting. A straight right at the start hurt Stubbs, then later another which led to a barrage against the ropes. At this point the fight could have been stopped but referee Marcus McDonnell let the battle continue.

Now at this point, I for one believed the fight was coming to an end. Stubbs was bloodied and battered and no one would have forgiven him for taking the easy way out. Darren on the other hand had other ideas and fought with the heart of a lion in the fifth round. He constantly pressured Dodson and hurt him with a right hand. For me, he won the session and the question surfaced - had Dodson shot his bolt?

The sixth was another round of attrition. There wasn’t much in the way of clean work but Stubbs was constantly forcing his opponent back. I found it impossible to split the pair but once again, Stubbs had done OK. The fight was still in the balance.

That was until the seventh round. Dodson summoned his energies and launched a brutal assault on Stubbs which eventually finished the fight. A big right hand hurt Darren and he looked set to go. He lurched against the ropes and Dodson followed up his attack. The referee gave Darren some respite as he split the pair up but he was only delaying the inevitable. Stubbs was once again forced against the ropes and Dodson continued his merciless barrage. As Stubbs began to sag the referee jumped in with a perfectly times stoppage. The war had come to an end and Tony Dodson was victorious. Time was called at 2:45 of the seventh round.

For Dodson, who rises to 28-6-1 (14 KOs) this has to be a springboard to even bigger fights, either at domestic or international level. For Stubbs, now 21-7-0 (8 KOs) he once again proved himself one of the country's toughest operators. If he doesn’t get another big domestic fight after this it will be a travesty.

The show started off with a bit of a shock in the featherweight division as Welshman Dai Davies (9st 2lbs) snapped the unbeaten record of Glaswegian Sean Watson (9st 1lb) over six-twos.

Watson, who was a gifted amateur and who had sparred the likes of Ricky Burns, John Simpson and Paul Appleby looked second best throughout against Davies. Dai has fallen into the role of journeyman but has far more talent than his record suggests. Throughout the encounter Davies was sharper than his opponent, and would be the only one to score with clean work. Working off a stylish jab, the straight shots would ram home and catch the eye of the observer.

Though the third and sixth rounds were closer, I scored every round for Davies and I was not surprised when the referee raised his hand at the end. The score of 59-56 was a bit closer than my own but the right man won.

Davies rises to 8-17-1 (1 KO) and may still have a future at area title level. Sean Watson, now 1-1 goes back to the drawing board. He has plenty of time to come good, but maybe his second fight was too early to face Dai Davies.

Joe Tonks of Liverpool (10st 2lbs) got his second win in a row when he outpointed Graham Fearn of York (9st 13lbs) over six-twos. I had seen Tonks before when Sid Razak had snapped his unbeaten record a few months previously. Since then he had lost another fight and if Graham Fearn could punch a bit harder he would have lost this one as well. Tonks has very nice offensive skills but is upright and open. Tonks would land with good shots, but Fearn’s overhand rights couldn’t miss as they crashed into the Scouser's head. Tonks would always do more work and this is what would win him the fight, but he seems in danger of getting brutally knocked out. The score of 60-56 in favour of Tonks may have been a little kind but he certainly deserved the win, despite Fearn’s protestations.

Tonks rises to 3-2 and will have to work on his game with trainer Oliver Harrison if he wants to be a success. Thankfully Harrison is a quality operator and he is in good hands. Fearn falls to 5-8-2 (1 KO) but is a good workout for anyone.

Phil Smith (8st 5lbs) improved his record to 2-0 with a routine points victory over Anwar Alfadli (8st 4lbs) over six-twos.

Alfadli was as wild as ever, throwing punches from all angles, but Smith was always the more skilful and did the clean work.

The third round saw Smith floor his opponent with a right hand. Alfadli vaulted back up and claimed the ‘knockdown’ was caused by a push. Smith went for the stoppage but in doing so became wilder. This resulted in a clash of heads causing a cut over the Liverpool fighter’s right eye in the fourth.

From then on the quality wasn’t great but Smith deservedly took the fight with a score of 60-53.

Smith looks one to watch. Alfadli is another one of those journeymen who give it their all and make their fights competitive; a good thing for the paying fan. He falls to 1-18-2 (0 KO’s)

Former ABA semi finalist Andy Colquhoun (9st 6 1/2lbs) made his debut when he faced off against of Glasgow tough man Ryan McNicol (9st 4lbs) over six-twos.

Colquhoun is very tall for his weight and understandably kept his smaller opponent behind the jab throughout, throwing in good shots to the body for good measure. McNicol showed great heart but the gap in talent was just too much. By the fifth and sixth round, a bloodied McNicol looked ready to go, but he deservedly heard the final bell where he lost by the inevitable score of 60-54.

Colquhoun rises to 1-0 and looks a welcome acquisition to the scene. McNicol falls to 2-12-2 (0 KOs) and will surely have easier nights than this one.

So all in all a great night of boxing. The joint stars however have to be Tony Dodson and Darren Stubbs. Where either will end up in the next few months nobody knows, but anyone who saw their display of guts and bravery will be taking a special interest from now on.