Matchroom Boxing returned to London’s O2 Arena on October 11th and it was a strong card. Lets take a look a the fight results.
The first televised bout featured, John Ryder vs Teophilus Tetteh, who was a late substitute for Sergey Khomitsky. The fight for the the WBO Inter Two Bob Title was as one-sided as it gets. The fight was scrappy to begin with as ref Richie Davies issued warnings to Tetteh for holding. In the 5th round Davies took a point off Tetteh as his patience wore thin with the continual holding. As things continued, the night got worse for Tetteh after a good left hook from Ryder forced a stop to the the contest. Ryder seemed to be able to tee off at will in this one, and the stoppage was well-timed. He certainly earned his victory.
The second bout was Ricky Boylan vs Tyler Goodjohn for the English light-welterweight title. This was a real nip and tuck affair as the crowd showed plenty of support for both boxers. Boylan was bustling forward and winging in body shots, but Goodjohn was boxing well on the outside and firing in some good overhand rights. There were many feisty exchanges and Goodjohn suffered some facial damage on the eye lid but came out a winner with a deserved majority verdict. The scores read at 96-96 and 96-94 twice for Goodjohn.
Next up was Lee Selby vs Joel Brunker of Australia in an IBF featherweight title eliminator. Brunker ploughed forward in the first round and Selby picked him off with straight punches without too much bother. The second round featured much of the same with Selby moving around on his back foot and firing out fast shots and the occasional hook downstairs. Round three saw Selby land a good left hand to the chin and Brunker felt it, wobbled by the shot, but showed his resolve and continued his march forward. Rounds four through seven continued to see Selby dominate the fight with his counter punches as Brunker ploughed forward, it seemed he had no plan B. Finally in round eight Brunker’s persistence seemed to slow Selby down somewhat. However, Selby was still moving around and winning the round comfortably. Round nine saw Selby digging in some hard body shots but not really denting the Aussie’s confidence but with about a minute to go of the round Selby caught him with a shot to the body and the fight diminished in Brunker. One more big right hook to the body dropped Brunker and referee Marcus McDonnell rightly stopped the contest at 2.49 of the round. It was complete domination and a smart gameplan from Selby that earned him the knockout.
The main event saw Olympic super heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua up against Denis Bhaktov for the WBC Inter two bob title. Bhaktov came into the ring with a 47 bout ledger, lots of experience and a possible stiff test for Joshua. Joshua had it all his own way in the first landing straight rights and lefts and even took a shot or two himself forcing a grin like a Cheshire cat when caught, relishing the scrap. Bahktov suffered damage to his eye and the damage was worsened in the second round when Joshua carried on where he left off. The punches he rained in were hard, strong shots which Bahktov had no answer for. Referee Ian John-Lewis wisely stepped in at 1.00 of the round, and Joshua retained his title by TKO.
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