Savannah Marshall vs Lolita Muzeya – Results & Post Fight Report

Savannah Marshall ruthlessly defended her WBO middleweight title for a second time with a second round stoppage of the overwhelmed Lolita Muzeya at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle.

Marshall won the vacant belt in October last year with a stoppage win against Hannah Rankin, and defended in April with a knockout of Maria Lindberg.

The Hartlepool native was at her brilliant best here, beginning off a peppering jab, and throwing to the head and body of her Zambian opponent in a wild opening frame, with both exchanging. Marshall’s power would prove to be the difference though, and towards the end of the second, she unloaded with power shots to head and body that visibly moved the visitor. With Muzeya taking punishment on the ropes, the referee rightly ended the contest. The impressive win was watched by Marshall’s amateur rival, Claressa Shields, who could well be a blockbuster opponent down the line, and the pair will fight on the same bill in December.

Chris Eubank Junior had his second contest of 2021, and he completely bossed the action in his middleweight contest against Wanik Awdijan, before the German retired after five rounds. It was pretty much one way traffic for as long as it lasted, and an accumulation of power punches took their toll, with Awdijan seemingly hurt to his ribs, and in between rounds his corner pulled him out.

Hughie Fury also scored a retirement win, as he forced Christian Hammer to withdraw from battle, also after five rounds. It was a much more engaging contest for Fury, who has been bogged down in several of his contests, but he was in control of proceedings here. Fury forced the pace, and stepped up his attack in round five, which was too much for Hammer to handle, and he withdrew with a bicep injury at the end of the frame.

Bradley Rea remained unbeaten, knocking down Jez Smith in the first round, and that was the difference in their middleweight eight rounder. Rea dropped Smith with a body shot, and took the contest 77-75 for referee, Ron Kearney.

There was an upset at welterweight, as April Hunter lost her unbeaten record in a points defeat to Kirstie Bavington over six rounds. Bavington took a 59-56 win on the referee’s scorecard.

Georgia O’Connor made her professional debut, and the 21-year-old from Durham notched a six round points win over Ester Konecna. ‘Geo’ took a 59-55 win for the referee.

Ivan Drago lookalike Steve Robinson moved to 4-0, and the heavyweight wiped out Reece Barlow inside a round. Barlow was nailed with a left to the temple, and a right hand to the chin that robbed him of his senses, and the contest was halted.

At cruiserweight, Michael Webster made it six wins from as many contests, retiring Gennadi Stserbin after two rounds.