Sean Noakes impressed to defeat Inder Bassi and win the English welterweight title via unanimous decision at London’s O2 Arena.
The 29 year old largely dominated. The judges saw it closer, however, and scored 96-94 twice and 97-94, all in favour of Noakes.
Noakes started to push forwards in the second round and landed a couple of good uppercuts. Bassi succeeded with some stiff jabs and right hands in round three, but he was unable to deter the game Noakes from attacking.
The fourth and fifth were messy, and at times involved Noakes manhandling the frustrated Bassi. The smaller Noakes was surprisingly getting the better of the battle of the jabs, and in the sixth started to land his right hand.
Noakes increased the pressure in the seventh and caused a cut under Bassi’s right eye. He continued his dominance in the eighth and hurt Bassi with an uppercut that meant him finishing the round on shaky legs.
He then walked Bassi down in the ninth, picking off his demoralised opponent, who seemed like he couldn’t wait for the final bell. Noakes then pushed for the knockout in the 10th and final round, but Bassi resisted his onslaught to survive.
The junior-welterweight prospect Aadam Hamed recorded the second win of his professional career when he shut out Georgi Velichkov.
Hamed started by using his height and reach to outbox the smaller Velichkov, who seemed reluctant to exchange. The second round was similar; the Bulgarian stayed in his shell while Hamed used his long levers to box from range.
Hamed increased the pace in the third, by when the 36 year old Velichkov seemed unfazed by his work rate. The fourth round was Hamed’s best of the four — he pushed the pace but was unable to put a dent in Velichkov, before the referee Sean McAvoy scored the contest 40-36 in his favour.
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