Dave Oakes recaps this past Friday night's Prizefighter tournament.

Gavin Rees won the Prizefighter tournament on Friday night after beating Colin Lynes in an enjoyable final. The tournament was perfect for Rees’s all-action style, although I still have my doubts as to how well he’ll fair once he gets back into proper title fights.

He said afterwards that he hoped to use Prizefighter as a spring board to another world title. Sadly for him, I wouldn’t favour him against Paul McCloskey or Ajose Alusegun, the European and Commonwealth champions respectively, never mind anyone like Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander or Amir Khan.

Tournament Recap:

Quarterfinals

Jason Cook battled to a third round stoppage of Michael Grant. Cook won the first two rounds with ease against his inexperienced foe but seemed to be fading in the third before a nasty looking cut brought proceeding to an abrupt end.

Gavin Rees out-pointed Ted Bami in a disappointing clash. Bami couldn’t find his rhythm and looked like an old man at times. The far busier Rees won all three rounds.

The most talented fighter in the tournament, in my opinion, was David Barnes, but it seemed the Prizefighter format didn’t suit him at all well as he allowed a busier Colin Lynes to pinch a split-decision verdict over him. If they fought in ten twelve rounders, I’d pick Barnes to win nine of them but over the shorter distance he couldn’t establish his technical superiority. To his credit, Lynes battled well to take the decision.

Young Mutley survived a late onslaught to out-point Barrie Jones in the final quarterfinal. Mutley dropped Jones with a beautifully timed right in the opening round; bizarrely the referee didn’t seem to score it as a knockdown. Mutley then controlled the second before tiring badly in the third and final round. One judge gave Mutley the third round; I’ve no idea what he was watching.

Semi-finals

Rees and Cook exchanged bombs in a fight that could’ve taken part on the cobbles rather than in a ring. The more accurate Cook took the first round but it was Rees who took control from there on. He dropped Cook in the second with a hefty looking left hook; Cook was hurt badly from the shot but got to his feet and recommenced the toe to toe battle. Rees won the third due to his work-rate and better combinations but both fighters could hold their heads high at the final bell. Rees took the fight on all three judges scorecards.

Lynes busted up a tired looking Mutley in all three rounds but only won via split-decision. I felt Lynes dominated the fight and scored it 30-26, with a knockdown being awarded to Lynes in the third round even though it didn’t look legitimate. Two judges agreed with me scoring the fight 30-27 (apparently not scoring the knockdown, even though the referee issued a count), whilst the other judge inexplicably scored it 29-28 in favour of Mutley.

The Final

Lynes battled bravely but was out-worked by the little bundle of fire from the Valleys. Rees’ superior stamina proved to be his most vital attribute of the night as he unleashed a frenzied flurry of fisticuffs to take the title on the judges scorecards 30-27 and 29-28 twice.

e-mail Dave Oakes