BY TRIS DIXON
Liverpool’s Liam Smith won an unsatisfactory clash against Tanzania’s Hassan Mwakinyo in the Liverpool bill-topper at the Echo Arena.
There was not a great deal between the fighters before the dubious fourth-round ending. The visitor appeared to hurt his ankle earlier in the session and later in the round took a knee and was given a count and a similar thing happened one more time before referee Victor Loughlin waved it off.
Mwakinyo had indicated to the official that he was hurt as Smith threw the final blows of the fight but it was an inauspicious end, with the Tanzanian and his corner complaining about the stoppage and Smith and his corner unsure about what had transpired. It was disappointing because the contest had been warming up.
Smith is now 32-3-1. Mwakinyo is 20-3.
“It wasn’t a proper finish, really,” admitted Smith. “I landed a couple of shots in round three and it was over in round four. I told him straight he quit and you don’t have to be a genius to see that. I never even got going, I knew he was going to be wild early on and then I was going to take over. Just get me a big fight.”
Natasha Jonas boxed well to add the WBC title to her WBO super-welterweight crown with a clear 10-round victory over Sweden’s Patricia Berghult, in front of her own fans at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
Joe Gallagher-trained Jonas won by margins of 100-90 (twice) and 99-91.
Previously-undefeated Berghult, now 15-1, started well enough against the Liverpool star but by the fifth-round southpaw Jonas was on top, working well to the body and head.
Berghult had some success in the eighth with a big right hand but Jonas battled back in a thrilling round and deserved her wide win. The 38-year-old unified champion is now 12-2-1 (8).
Heavyweight prospect Frazer Clarke, a Beijing Olympic bronze medallist, looked devastated and embarrassed to have not been given more of a test by 7-1 Bulgarian Pencho Tsvetkov.
It was a grotesque mismatch because the reluctant visitor didn’t want to know. Tsvetkov was down twice in a minute and referee Steve Gray hastily waved off the pointless abomination.
It was ridiculous. It was ugly. It wasn’t Clarke’s fault. It was abysmal matchmaking. Clarke wants to move quickly, but he needs to be matched better than this. He’s 31 and now 3-0 but yet to leave first gear in the pros.
Shane McGuigan’s rapid-fisted prospect Adam Azim impressed again with quickfire victory over Argentine Michel Cabral.
A left to the body took away any ambition Cabral had and two cuffing rights to the head saw him sit out the referee’s count.
Super-lightweight talent Azim is an exciting handful and is now 6-0, Cabral drops to 5-5.
The pressure of Londoner Dan Azeez proved too much for rangy Shakan Pitters, from Birmingham, in a highly-anticipated clash for the British light-heavyweight title. It was a tough fight. Pitters got off to the better start but Azeez started to work away in close and dragged Shakan into a tough contest. There was not a great deal in it, and Pitters was game to the final bell sporting a bloody mouth but his efforts were in vain.
Azeez retained his title by scores of 117-111, 117-112 and 115-113. Azeez is now 17-0 and Pitters is 17-2 (6).
.jpg)
