MTK continue to produce good quality shows, and they arrived at the Liverpool Olympia to put on a card packed full of world class talent.
Top of this bill saw James “Jazza” Dickens put on an impressive performance to outscore Australian visitor, Nathaniel May, wining the IBF European Featherweight Title in the process.
It was an absorbing contest, fought at close quarters, and you couldn’t take your eyes off the action.
Scores of 97-92, 97-91 and 96-92 saw Dickens send his home crowd happy.
The damage was down in rounds four and five, as Dickens dropped may once in each round. In a close, phone booth type fight, Dickens scored a knockdown with a short hook that appeared to be with May off balance. He repeated the trick in round five, with nothing more than a jab, that seemed to drop May with a tangle of feet.
With the knockdowns in the bank, the second half of the fight was much calmer, and Dickens kept on the jab, and out of trouble, to record a solid win.
Martin Murray hit the comeback trail yet again, and had to go ten rounds with the tough Portuguese, Rui Manuel Pavanito.
St Helens’ Murray took the contest 98-92. Murray applied the pressure mainly for the first half of the fight, which allowed him to coast to victory in the second half of the contest. Uppercuts and hooks appeared to wobble Pavanito in the eighth, and he was buzzed again in the ninth, before retreating to safety.
Murray couldn’t quite manage the stoppage win in the end, with Pavanito game throughout to see the fight out on his feet. Ex WBO Lightweight Champion, Terry Flanagan, appeared early on in the broadcast in an eight rounder against the Tanzanian, Jonas Segu.
Terry Flanagan was retiring at his natural weight, following back to back defeats at Super Lightweight.
“Turbo” wasted no time in getting back into the groove, decking Segu with a rapid right/left combination as the visitor was throwing his own shot. Segu gingerly got to his feet, and survived the count and the round. Flanagan would have to wait until the fifth ro register a stoppage victory, as Segu stuck around by swinging for the fences, leaving him exhausted at the start of the fifth frame. Flanagan sensed this, and ended matters just ten seconds into the round, punishing the African in the corner, with a short left forcing Segu to sit in the corner, and see to the referee’s count.
Natasha Jonas continued her rebuild following a shock first professional defeat last year, with a fourth round stoppage of Bec Connolly.
“Miss GB” scored a knockdown in the opener, but it did appear to be more of a slip than a clean punch that caused it. Jonas did catch Connolly clean later on in the round though, this time there was no doubt that it was a knockdown, but Connolly again beat the count.
Jonas stepped on the pedal in round four, and, with not a lot coming back from Connolly, the referee had seen enough to stop the contest in the Liverpudlian’s favour.
