Bakhodir Jalolov TKO7 Agron Smakici ... Two-time Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov opened the main card in Manchester, England with a win against Agron Smakici who quit on his stool at the end of the seventh. It was an underwhelming performance from the Uzbek heavyweight who failed to deal with his opponent in quick fashion. Smakici's determination has to be praised, he kept coming forward and made things awkward. He even managed to land a few notable shots of his own. However, an eye issue, which was checked by the ringside doctor, saw Smakici quit on his stoool at the end of the seventh session despite it being his best performance.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
Jack Rafferty’s welterweight debut was a rousing success after Ekow Essuman withdrew from their scheduled ten rounder at the end of the sixth. It was a cagey start, but Rafferty set the tone with a left hand in the closing stages. Rafferty quickly gained confidence, a straight right in the second led to an exchange on the ropes and led to an exchange on the ropes. This was the only time Essuman had any success. The left hand from Rafferty continued to cause issues and, in the end, it proved too much for ‘The Engine’ whose team pulled him out of the fight at the end of round six. Rafferty now moves to 27-0-1, and an exciting journey awaits at 147 pounds..
Light heavyweight Brad Rea bounced back from a disappointing loss to Lyndon Arthur last year with a demolition of Liam Cameron in front of his passionate fans. Rea looked strong at the end of the first with two successive left-right combinations, and from that point he was in control. There were signs of damage inflicted on Cameron in the third, his face was marked up and Rea made his punches count in the fourth.
Gavin Gwynne inflicted the first loss of Khalil Majid’s career with a majority decision win. Gwynne was fast out of the blocks, in the opening session, landing shots to the head and body. Majid did improve, but Gwynne was still dominant until the fifth round where momentum appeared to swing. Majid managed to stifle Gwynne, forcing the bout into close quarters and not allowing him to throw the eye-catching punches. Despite showing signs of tiredness, Gwynne kept on going and managed to throw short, sharp blows in the small windows of opportunity which presented themselves in the later rounds of this ten-round affair. Majid had proven many wrong ringside with his durability, but it wasn’t enough, with two judges scoring the bout 96-94 in Gwynne’s favor, while the third judge scored it a 95-95 draw.
