Foster Retains In Draw, Edwards Marches On & Davies Prevails

It was another cracking night of action at the atmospheric York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, as Queensberry Promotions and BT Sport rolled into the East End.

Bumped up to the top of the bill was Lichfield’s Brad Foster, who slightly fortuitously kept hold of his British and Commonwealth Super Bantamweight belts, with a majority draw against West Ham’s Lucien Reid. It wasn’t the most thrilling fight, but Reid looked like he had done enough to get the nod, seemingly pulling away in the second half of the fight.

It wasn’t to be though, as, although one judge tallied 116-112 for Reid, he was over ruled by the remaining judges scoring the fight a 114-114 draw to ensure the Titles remain in the Midlands for the time being.

It was a competitive affair, and with a distinct lack of talent in the 122 pound division in the UK, a rematch looks like the natural next step for this pair.

Sunny Edwards again went through the motions against a foreign import, as he dominated all ten rounds against the limited Mexican, Rosendo Guarneros.

Scores of 100-90, and 99-91 twice reflected Edwards’ simple night’s work, as he picked up the vacant IBF and WBO International Titles in a drop down to Flyweight.

The visitor didn’t offer much at all in the way of ambition, and the main talking point was a damaged hand for Croydon’s Edwards, which shouldn’t turn out to be too serious.

Edwards will now look to truly make a mark at world level, as surely he has now done enough to leave limited continental opposition behind him.

The British Light Heavyweight Title eliminator in a battle of unbeaten fighters, went the way of Welshman, Kody Davies, who survived an early knockdown to outscore Fulham’s Zak Chelli over ten hard rounds

It was an even enough opener between the two undefeated foes, but Davies, backed by British boxing legend,Joe Calzaghe from ringside, made decent inroads in the second but was then decked following an exchange of wild punches for the first time in his career. It was a flash knockdown though, and there were no lasting effects.

Chelli tired after halfway, and couldn’t build on his earlier success, resorting to holding with regularity as he struggled to keep Davies at bay.

An absorbing contest went to the cards, where 96-94, 96-94 and 97-92 saw the Pontllanfarith man move on to next contest for the Lonsdale Belt, currently held by Joshua Buatsi.

Kicking off the live portion of the card was the intriguing English Light Heavyweight Title match between the Champion, Dec Spelman, and the man that defeated him in a recent Ultimate Boxxer final in Birmingham beanpole, Shakan Pitters.

Spelman was roared on by a vociferous following from Scunthorpe, and it was an energetic start to the contest from both men. Spelman landed a solid left hook that momentarily stunned Pitters in round two, and the champion bossed the round in the main. A huge left hook landed flush on the Midlander’s chin at the start of round three, as Spelman was determined to prove that his three round points defeat to Pitters was a fluke result. Pitters was busy enough, but found himself pinned on the ropes more than he would have liked, allowing Spelman to enjoy regular success, although his nose was bloodied by Pitters in the fourth.

Pitters was beginning to close the distance by the fifth, and, with his languid style, he began to beat the Cleethorpe’s man to the punch as Spelman’s energy began to reduce. Pitters was moving with much more confidence going into the second half of the fight, and he began to turn the screw with great accuracy in round six, with Spelman mainly chasing his opponent. “Kid Nytro” Spelman didn’t take a backward step in the contest though, and it bought him right back into things in the seventh.