Paul Butler became British super flyweight champion last night when he delivered a devastating one-round stoppage win of John Donnelly.
A punishing left hook to the body saw the end of the main event after one minute and nine seconds of round one.
Donnelly counted out by Steve Gray during British strap bout
Following the landing of the hook, Donnelly sank to the floor and had no reply. There was no chance of the fight continuing as referee Steve Gray gave 28-year-old Donnelly the mandatory eight count, upon which he never returned to his feet and the fight was stopped.
It was a fierce shot that ended the fight – a punch that anybody in the super flyweight 8st 3lbs division would struggle to deal with.
Following his win, Butler said, “This is the best feeling of my life.”
“As soon as the ref got to [the count of] seven there, I knew and then seen him roll over on to his back and I knew for a fact it was over.”
The chief support to the main event was a Commonwealth title defence for Ovill McKenzie of Derby against 32-year-old former cruiserweight world champion Enzo Maccarinelli. It ended in controversial fashion as referee Ian John-Lewis stepped in during round two after Enzo Maccarinelli was on the ropes. John-Lewis jumped in but then realised that Maccarinelli was okay to continue, but because he was stood in front of the Welshman, Ian John-Lewis had to wave off the contest. The whole arena was outraged. In contentious circumstances, though, Ovill McKenzie retained his Commonwealth light heavyweight title.
The brothers Smith were on the card last night too.
Paul stepped back into a professional boxing ring for the first time in over a year to secure a stoppage win over Irishman Tommy Tolan at the end of the fourth round of a super middleweight division contest as 30-year-old Tolan retired on his stool. Tolan, a former victim of Rocky Fielding, had his nose broken by a punch thrown by Smith.
Liam Smith, 24, earned a points’ victory against Scotsman Gary McMillan in a British light middleweight eliminator. Despite McMillan having a point deducted in the third session for holding, ‘Beefy’, who was calm and composed in his ten-rounder, couldn’t get rid of the 25-year-old southpaw. The pace was a slow one, one that Smith could’ve gone all night with. He didn’t look, at any stage of the 30 minutes, look phased by his opponent. Smith won on points by unanimous decision with the referees scoring the contest 98-92, 99-91, 99-91.
Last but not least, 21-year-old Andy Colquhoun moved to 4-0 with a routine points’ win against Youssef Al Hamidi over 6 2-minute rounds, while debutant Matty Fagan secured his first win in a paid bout with Limehouse’s game Francis Maina.
Fozzy's Fighting Talk 