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British Scene Recaps

British Scene: Bellew Survives Scare From McKenzie, Cleverly & Macklin Win Close Contests, Brook Dominant in Two

Dave Oakes recaps the rest of Saturday's Echo Arena action.  Check out Dave's recap of the main-event: DeGale Stops Smith to Claim British Title

Having produced a tepid performance in his last fight, Tony Bellew was intent on making an impression on Saturday. His opponent, Ovill McKenzie, gave him a much sterner test than Bob Ajisafe did though.

The Commonwealth champion came out looking to land a big punch early, which wasn’t exactly unforeseen; McKenzie was also expecting such an attack and caught Bellew coming in with a hard right hand that floored the champion. Bellew quickly got to his feet, looking more annoyed with himself than hurt.

It wasn’t the best of starts for Bellew and things got even worse for him in the second round when McKenzie detonated an enormous straight right that sent him crashing heavily to the canvas once again.

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British Scene: DeGale Stops Smith to Claim British Title

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Dave Oakes recaps Saturday's British super-middleweight title match-up.

James DeGale produced a superb performance on Saturday night to win the British super-middleweight title. Whilst he was the clear betting favourite, there was a feeling that Paul Smith, the defending champion, would pose him plenty of problems. That wasn’t the case though, as DeGale used his superior speed and skills to dominate proceedings virtually from start to finish.

The first round was a cautious affair with neither man wanting to overcommit early. There was a brief glimpse of what was to come towards the end of the round when DeGale connected with a quick straight left from the southpaw stance followed a few seconds later by an equally fast left hook.

DeGale began to find his range in the second round, catching Smith with more fast and accurate blows, the best of which was a left uppercut to the body. Smith was trying to counter DeGale but wasn’t having a great deal of success, his punches either missing or being partially blocked.

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British Scene: Haye-Harrison Recap - A Damaging Night For British Boxing.

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Dave Oakes recaps this past Saturday's heavyweight match-up between David Haye and Audley Harrison.

One Punch. That was how Audley Harrison backed up all of his words on Saturday night, with one solitary prodding jab. In the aftermath words such as disgrace, joke, laughingstock and embarrassment have all been used copiously by the media, and this article will be no different.

The majority of boxing fans knew what was going to happen but it didn’t make it less painful for those who paid good money, whether at the M.E.N or via PPV, to witness such a laughable display of cowardice. I’ve never been one for ripping into boxers without having good reason to - it takes a hell of a lot of courage to get inside a ring and get punched for a living. The trouble is that a boxer participating in a world title fight should be a proven competitor and one who’s not far off the pinnacle of their sport, Harrison was neither and had shown that throughout his career.

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British Scene: Rees Shows Watson the Value of Experience in Cracking British Title Scrap

Andrew Harrison recaps Saturday night's British Lightweight title clash between Gavin Rees and John Watson.  For more from Andrew, make sure to check out his blog: Safe Side of the Ropes.

Experience won the day in Newport on Saturday evening as Gavin Rees used his second wind to blow the resilient John Watson off his stride and out of the fight. After a shocking start, Watson had managed to claw himself back into a bout he had initially appeared not to have had any real business being involved in, only for Rees to grit his teeth down the stretch, dropping his man in the tenth before closing the show in the penultimate round.

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British Scene Weekend Recap: Webb Stops Concepcion - Arthur Outworks Hughes

Dave Oakes recaps this past weekend's British boxing action.

Sam Webb made an impressive first defence of his British light-middleweight title on Saturday night, outboxing Martin Concepcion before unleashing a brutal right hand that brought proceedings to an abrupt end in the eleventh round.

Concepcion started quickly, clearly trying to make Webb engage in a toe to toe battle. Webb showed great composure though, coolly boxing off the back foot, catching Concepcion with fast and accurate combinations.

The fight took on a similar pattern of Concepcion walking Webb down but landing very little whilst being caught by the constantly moving Webb. Eventually Concepcion began to feel the pace; the result being that Webb found more opportunities to land and could now sit down on his punches more than he’d done so far in the fight.

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British Scene: Murray Seeks a Big Fight After Dealing With Kudriavtsev

John Murray catches Andrei Kudriavtsev through the guard with a right hand / Photos © Chris Royle

Andrew Harrison has the ringside report from Saturday night's European Lightweight title clash between John Murray and Andrei Kudriavtsev.  For more from Andrew, make sure to check out his blog, Safe Side of the Ropes.

It’s Saturday evening and a popular local lad auditions for the big time as family members and well wishers look on, pensively chewing their fingernails. A succession of tuneless renditions have left the audience amused and irritated in equal measure whilst a pantomime villain on the judging panel puts the wind up them, dragging attention away from the headline acts. The only thing missing is a couch, a takeaway and Simon Cowell’s ubiquitous and woeful singing contest.

Instead I’m on a plastic seat in a Wigan leisure centre, here to witness the British and European lightweight champ John Murray do what he does best. In a demanding, arduous and often absorbing contest, Manchester’s new pressure fighting idol found a way to outlast and overwhelm the game Ukrainian Andrei Kudriavtsev before closing the show in the bout’s final third.

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British Scene: Magnificent Seven Recaps

Dave Oakes is back with recaps for the rest of Saturday's Magnificent Seven Action.  Check out Dave's recaps for Nathan Cleverly vs Karo Murat & Matthew Macklin vs Shalva Jomardashvili.

Derek Chisora vs Sam Sexton

Derek Chisora added the Commonwealth title to his British belt on Saturday night after stopping Sam Sexton in the ninth round of their rematch.

The fight was very similar to their first meeting - it was competitive, though Chisora always seemed to be in charge, until Sexton tired badly and was clubbed around the ring, forcing the referee to jump in to save him from taking further punishment.

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British Scene: World Class Cleverly Wins Again - Macklin Reclaims Euro Belt

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Dave Oakes recaps this past weekend's British boxing action.

The most impressive performance of the Magnificent Seven show belonged to Nathan Cleverly, who showed he belongs in world class with an impressive victory over Karo Murat.

Cleverly, clearly riled by some of Murat’s pre-fight comments, attacked the unbeaten German from the first bell. The Welshman landed some hefty hooks and uppercuts in the first three rounds, surprising Murat with how aggressive he was and how strong he was on the inside.

Despite the impressive start, Cleverly hadn’t discouraged Murat from marching forward, and by the end of the fourth it looked like Cleverly might’ve adopted the wrong tactics as Murat gained a foothold in the fight by landing several solid hooks.

Cleverly could’ve made life much easier for himself by boxing at range, he was the quicker and far superior boxer and could’ve controlled Murat with the jab before stepping in with the heavier shots. He obviously wanted to prove a point to Murat though, and continued with his pugilistic gun-slinging.

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