Bradley Rea hopes victory over Adam Hepple will set up a big UK fight

Bradley Rea picked up the Commonwealth Silver light heavyweight title and put himself in the picture for a big domestic fight by stopping Adam Hepple inside three rounds in Bolton. 

A couple of years ago, Rea, 20-1 (10 KOs), looked like one of England’s brightest middleweight prospects but was somewhat unfairly cast into the wilderness after losing an English title fight with future European champion Tyler Denny. Rea regrouped away from the cameras. He moved from Manchester to Blackpool, where he trains under Andy Abrol, and is now campaigning at light heavyweight. After stringing together five straightforward wins, capturing the Commonwealth Silver title should provide Rea with a route back onto television screens. 

Hepple, 4-2 (1 KO), is a former Northern Area champion at super middleweight but was badly outgunned.

Although he has moved up from middleweight relatively quickly, at 6ft 3ins tall, Rea is a big and solid light heavyweight and has carried his fight-ending power up to the higher weight. He began landing straight punches from the opening bell, but it was a well-picked left hook behind the elbow that dropped Hepple inside the opening two minutes. Hepple got up and made it to the bell.

Rather than rushing, Rea took his time in the second round. The patient approach allowed Hepple to find his feet and he landed a hard right hand of his own as the round came to an end.

Rea quickly stamped out any slight hopes Hepple may have held of springing an upset. He answered the bell with a renewed sense of urgency and found another hard left to the body. Hepple went down and although he managed to get to his feet, was in clear discomfort and the fight was halted after 1:25 of the third round. 

Rea will now look for a major title fight.

“I’ve just gotta keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “What more do they want from me? Get me a big fight, come on. I know the level of opposition apart from tonight hasn’t been there but I’m blasting them out in one or two rounds. Hopefully, next year, the big fights are gonna come.

“Anyone. I’ll fight any of the domestic light heavyweights. Get me back on them big shows. For me, it’s where I belong. When I was a little kid I used to watch it every Saturday night and dream of fighting on them shows. I had a little taste of it and had it taken away and it’s hard to take that.

“That was an eliminator for the English title. The English title is the one I fell short for last time so I want to tick that one off. We’ll see what comes but I’m ready for anything.”

The tall, tidy Owen Anderton, 5-0 (1 KO), dominated every second of his middleweight fight with Connor Meanwell, 2-16. The aggressive Anderton pressed forward behind a hard accurate jab and Meanwell quickly switched to survival mode. Anderton mixed his attack up nicely to head and body and rather than coasting to the final bell, he held his feet in the final round and began looking for lead uppercuts. 

The final score was 40-36 in Anderton’s favor. 

Harry “The Hatchet” Martin, 1-0, got his professional career off and running by easing to a four-round win over Blackburn centurion, Naeem Ali, 3-134-1 (2 KOs).

Martin gave up 10lbs to Ali but controlled matters from the start. He used a steady jab to keep Ali occupied and used that shot to set up a chopping right hand to head and a straight right to the body. Martin kept a high tempo and tried to mix some combinations into his work but Ali knew enough to stay safe. Martin won all four rounds

In September, Efstathios Antonas, 8-3-2 (2 KOs), gave former British lightweight champion Maxi Hughes a serious test before being stopped in six rounds. “The Greek God” got back in the ring and took on Mexico’s Ramiro Garcia Lopez, 8-15 (7 KOs), at junior welterweight but what looked like being an entertaining scrap quickly petered out into a drama free, one-sided stroll. 

Two weeks ago, Lopez sprang a surprise by knocking out the 18-1 Hamed Ghaz in six rounds but kept his weapons safely holstered tonight. Antonas didn’t land anything of note but at least showed willing and kept his hands moving. It wasn’t a great spectacle but Antonas emerged with a 60-54 win.

Unbeaten lightweight, Billy Hervey, 3-0, opened the show against Karl Sampson, 6-42-1 (1 KO).

Ignore Sampson’s record. He chooses to box on the road and, if he truly pushed himself, would beat the vast majority of the prospects he fights.

Sampson had a look at Hervey in the opener, got on the front foot in the second and then decided not to get hit. He danced and moved and prevented Hervey from setting his feet and, with another fight booked in for next week, made sure he got to the final bell. Nineteen-year-old Hervey seemed to accept that he was unlikely to make any impact on Sampson but held his shape, stayed active and kept chipping away.

Hervey was awarded a 40-37 victory. 

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79