On Tuesday at London’s famed York Hall, Jason Booth led the way on a massive Frank Maloney fight card televised by Sky Sports.Now fully at the height of his powers, Nottingham’s Booth was in the form of his career as he picked apart seasoned opponent Rocky Dean with a blistering array of offense that the Thetford man simply had no answer for..
On defense, Booth, 33-5 (13), presented a impenetrable wall of angles, footwork and stinging counters that nullified nearly everything that the veteran Dean, 14-11-2 (4), threw.
Booth swept the cards 120-108 and 119-109 twice to retain the British super bantam title for the first time. The 31 year old has now set his sights upon the European stage.
Former amateur star Jamie Arthur, 15-2 (4), engaged in a pitched battle with previously undefeated London prospect Akaash Bhatia, 14-1 (5), in an eliminator for the British featherweight title.
The comebacking Welshman was awarded a 96-95 points verdict after 10 heated rounds. Following a nearly three year absence from the ring, Arthur has now realized his early potential and will contend for the British title.
Irish super middle sensation Darren Sutherland, 4-0 (4), once again stopped the man put in front of him with crippling power and blazing handspeed. To his credit, Ukrainian battler Gennadiy Rasalev, 2-2 (1), was not intimidated and gave his all before suffering a fourth round stoppage at the hands of Dublin’s dazzler.
Two of Britain’s top prospects were on display as hard working flyweight Ashley Sexton, 7-0 (3), saw off Kemal Plavci, 4-28 (1), with accuracy and skill while towering heavyweight Tom Dallas, 6-0 (4), needed just two rounds to belt out opponent Stas Belokon, 3-2 (1).
Ex-British bantamweight champ Martin Power, 20-4 (8), returned to the win column with a six round points victory over well-traveled Sid Razak, 3-28 (1), while big ticket seller Liam Shinkwin, 2-0 (1), had a tougher time of it as he was held to a draw over six by Ibrar Riyaz, 3-5-1 (1), at lightweight.
Light middle hard man Tomas Grublys, 4-0 (3), stayed undefeated by overcoming spoiler Alex Spitko, 6-14 (4), via a dramatic fourth and final round stoppage.
Three professional debutantes were on the bill as light heavy Mene Edwards, 1-0 (1), stopped Lee Nicholson, 3-15-2 (0), after one round of combat, light welter Martin Welsh, 1-0 (0), outpointed tricky Khristian Laight, 6-61-5 (0), over four while light welter Ryan Evans, 1-0 (0), did the same against Johnny Greaves, 1-35 (1).
WORLD TITLE PLEDGE FOR BOOTH
PROMOTER Frank Maloney says delivering a world title fight for Jason Booth would be one of his greatest ever accomplishments.
The Nottingham throwback impressively retained his British super-bantamweight title at York Hall, Bethnal Green on Tuesday night outpointing Rocky Dean and throwing an amazing 1,127 punches!
Booth, 31, has also held major titles at flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight during a fantastic 13-year career.
Maloney said: “If I could get Jason a world title fight before he retires it would give me as much pleasure as I got when Lennox Lewis won the world heavyweight championship.
“Maybe the world champions at super-bantamweight are a bit too big, but at bantamweight and certainly super-flyweight he would be a match for anybody.
“I will be at the WBC convention later this year lobbying on his behalf and I will see what possibilities there are with the other governing bodies.
“He is an old school fighter who isn’t worried who he fights. Plenty of fighters moan about opponents, well they should look at Jason as an example.”
Booth beaten just five times in 38 fights has also battled alcoholism and is now only interested in getting drunk on ring glory.
Maloney hopes to keep him busy with a domestic title defence against Michael Hunter in the autumn and doesn’t rule out the possibility of a clash against his close pal, Rendall Munroe, the European champion.