George Liddard took the Commonwealth Silver middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Derrick Osaze on a Matchroom NXTGEN card at the Indigo at the O2 Arena on Friday
Liddard (11-0, 6 KOs) was taking his biggest step-up to date in this one, while Osaze (13-3, 3. KOs) won an Ultimate BOXXER tournament in 2019, but was blasted out in two rounds by the heavy-handed Denzel Bentley last August in his most recent outing.
Both had their successes in the opening round, but Liddard found his groove in the second, landing with some crisp right hands.
The action was toe-to-toe, with the pair taking turns to unload, and the fourth saw the Essex man momentarily stun his rival with a hard left hand, but Osaze dug deep, and kept coming forward.
The 31-year-old was doing well to smother Liddard’s work, with neither taking a step back as they exchanged hard shots almost throughout.
The sense was that the 22-year-old was just a step ahead with his workrate, but he was being kept very honest by his opponent, all the way until the final bell.
Two scores of 96-94, and a third tally of 97-93 saw Liddard run out the winner.
Bostan-Fawaz fight to draw
The chief support saw Junaid Bostan truly tested for the first time, and was held to a split decision draw in his bid for the vacant English super welterweight title against Bilal Fawaz.
Fawaz (9-1-1, 3 KOs) gave as good as he got with Bostan (10-0-1, 8 KOs), and after weathering an early storm he grew into the contest, with the seventh round seeing the 36-year-old wobble the Rotherham man with several unanswered shots.
The 22-year-old was beginning to tire and unravel in the later rounds, but rallied in rounds eight and nine, and Fawaz poured the pressure on in the final round to ensure he was in with a shout of getting the nod at the end of the fight.
One judge had it 97-93 for Fawaz, with another tallying 96-94 for Bostan. The third arbiter judged the bout a 95-95 draw. Both exchanged barbs in the post-fight interview, with a rematch presumably the logical next step for both.
Sains sees off Rosadini
Middleweight Jimmy Sains (9-0, 9 KOs) produced a clinical display in his first eight rounder, breaking down Pierre Rosadini for a seventh round stoppage.
Rosadini (6-7-3) was down in round five, and two rounds later, a solid right hand buzzed the Frenchman, with a follow up attack putting him on the canvas.
🚂💨 Jimmy Sains keeps the KO train going with a 7th round stoppage 💥#SainsRosadini | @DAZNBoxing | #LiddardOsaze pic.twitter.com/Yqs6lRAlus
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) January 31, 2025
He rose groggily, and the referee had seen enough, and stopped the contest.
Remaining Undercard
At super featherweight, Giorgio Visioli (6-0, 5 KOs) forced Columbia’s Francisco Javier Lucero (16-7-4, 12 KOs) to retire after five rounds of their scheduled eight rounder.
In six rounders, Maisey-Rose Courtney (8-1) won all available sessions in her flyweight contest with Jasmina Nad (11-34-5, 4 KOs), while Jesse Brandon (5-0, 1 KO) did the same at lightweight against Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira (6-19, 5 KOs).
Bevan’s a Beast! 💥💥@taylorbevan__ drops and stops Kajda in round two! #NXTGEN #LiddardOsaze pic.twitter.com/5JIEuBAbA3
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) January 31, 2025
Middleweight prospect Emmanuel Buttigieg (7-0, 1 KO) took a competitive 58-56 win on the referee’s scorecard against James Todd (4-5-2), and at super middleweight, Taylor Bevan (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a second round stoppage win against Poland’s Szymon Kajda (1-1-1, 1 KO), who was down twice from uppercuts prior to the stoppage.
