By Jeff Moore: In the main event, featherweight contender Josh Warrington (24-0, 5 KOs) defeated Patrick Hyland (31-3, 15 KOs) by a 9th round knockout on Saturday night at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK. Warrington put Hyland down three times in the fight with an accumulation of head blows.
Hyland was down in the 8th and two more time in the 9th before the fight was halted. Despite Warrington being unbeaten, it’s hard to know if he’s a quality fighter because he’s never faced anyone good as of yet. Hyland was just knocked out in 2 rounds last April by WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. Warrington facing a guy that was just knocked out in two rounds tells us nothing. Warrington isn’t being matched against the really tough contenders like Joseph Diaz, who you can argue should be ranked above him because he looks to be the better contender right now.
Warrington is the WBC mandatory for Russell Jr. With the little experience Warrington has in facing quality fighters, it might not be a good idea for his promoters at Matchroom Sport to put him in with Russell Jr. right now because he doesn’t have the experience to be ready for that kind of a fight.
Fighting for the second time since undergoing surgery on his left shoulder, heavyweight Dillian Whyte (18-1, 14 KOs) went the full distance in beating Dave Allen (9-1-1, 6 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. Whyte exclusively used his right hand to pound out a decision by the scores 00-91, 100-90, and 99-91. In beating Allen, Whyte won the vacant WBC International title.
It’s probably a bad idea for Whyte’s promoters to put him in with Dereck Chisora or Antonio Tarver right now. Whyte needs to be able to regain the full use of his left arm before he’s matched against better opposition, because right now he’s fighting with just right hand and he’s not looking very good. Before Whyte hurt his left shoulder last year, his left hook was a dangerous weapon. Whyte was a very good puncher, capable of knocking out anybody. But since his surgery, he’s not using his left to throw power shots.
In a case of good match-making, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell (14-1, 11 KOs) defeated former world champion Mendez (23-5-1, 12 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC Silver lightweight belt. Campbell had to get up off the deck earlier in the fight after getting put down with a right hand in round two. Mendez rarely threw any punches after round two, as he mainly was focusing on his defense. Once Campbell realized that he didn’t need to worry about getting hit back anymore, he gained confidence and was able to hit the 30-year-old Mendez at will with shots.
The final scores were 116-111, 117-110, and 115-112.
Campbell’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes that he’ll soon be winning a world title. It’s going to be a tough ask for Campbell because he’s still so vulnerable looking. However, with the lightweight division being so watered down with all the titles, Campbell could very well become a belt holder in the future.
Welterweight Frankie Gavin (23-2, 14 KOs) picked up a confidence booster in beating the over-matched journeyman Ivo Gogosevic (12-17-2, 5 KOs) by a 6th round TKO. Gavin knocked Gogosevic down in the 1st and then finished him off in the 6th. Gavin was knocked out IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook last year.
Other boxing action on the card:
Tyrone Nurse UD 12 Tommy Coyle
Gamal Yafai UD 12 Josh Wale
Ryan Burnett UD 10 Cesar Ramirez
Sam Eggington KO 1 Daza Usher
Vincent Feigenbutz TKO 2 Wilmer Gonzalez
Connor Seymour pts 4 Liam Griffiths
Reece Mould pts 4 Qasim Hussain
Felix Cash TKO 2 Edgars Sniedze