Masood Abdulah is the new Commonwealth featherweight champion after outpointing George Stewart over 12 fast paced but increasingly one-sided rounds inside Bethnal Green, London’s York Hall.
The composed, tidy Stewart, 7-1 (1 KO), took the center of the ring and immediately fell into a comfortable rhythm as Abdulah moved away, surveying the job in front of him. He upped his own tempo in the second round, timing his attacks well and using his slight advantage in speed to get off first.
Abdulah, 11-0 (7 KOs), started the third with a couple of right hands but just when it looked like he was beginning to gain foothold, he slowed slightly and Stewart was able to pick a couple of nice counter shots.
Abdulah was now beginning to spend more time moving forward and a right hand caused Stewart’s legs to buckle as the fifth came to an end. It was a nip and tuck affair but Abdulah looked increasingly confident in his ability to talk Stewart’s power and get close enough to get his own best work off.
The 22-year-old Stewart was determined and capable but just lacked the flair and power to make Abdulah second guess himself. Still, despite only having stopped one of his professional opponents, he had success when he stood and forced Abdullah to trade, particularly when he forced him back to the ropes. Abdulah was happy to exchange but the seventh was a good round for Stewart who made it his kind of fight.
Abdulah came out for the ninth with a different spring in his step. He caught Stewart with a series of clean shots which brought blood from the Scotsman’s nose. It was a breakthrough round for the man from Barnet as Stewart began to show his first real signs of wilting.
Stewart was determined but slowing down. He looked to be on the verge of touching the canvas at various points during the tenth but always found a shot to keep himself in the fight. Abdulah targeted the body in the eleventh as he tried to sap the last of Stewart’s strength and he poured on the pressure in the twelfth. Stewart was spent and Abdulah let both hands go. Eventually, as the final bell sounded, the towel came in from Stewart’s corner.
There was confusion as to whether the bell had sounded before the towel came through the ropes but referee, Marcus McDonnell refused to accept it and the fight went to the scorecards. After such a brave effort, Stewart deserved to hear the final bell.
The scorecards were identical, all three reading 118-110 in Abdulah’s favour.
Steven Cairns has been on a tear recently, stopping his last three opponents in quick fashion and displaying some excellent punch picking and finishing instincts. The 22-year-old lightweight from Cork in Ireland Argentina’s Ezequiel Gregores.
Cairns, 9-0 (5 KOs), is usually adept at getting his feet into the perfect position and catching opponents at the end of his shots but although he stalked Gregores from the start, he found it difficult to establish his range against the awkward negative Argentinean and struggled to land anything cleanly.
Gregores, 3-16, had no intention of chasing a win and set out to make things as tricky as possible. He succeeded and although his approach made for a pretty uninspiring spectacle, Cairns will have learned plenty from the six rounds. He won every second of the fight but never came close to ending matters early. He was awarded a 60-54 decision win.
Super featherweight, Christian Fetti, notched up a routine four round win over Colombia’s Joshua Ocampo. Fetti, 2-0, was on the front foot throughout. The colorful Ocampo, 8-28-5 (6 KOs), offered little offensively but knew enough to survive against the inexperienced 22-year-old from St Albans. The 40-36 scorecard in Fetti’s favor was a formality.
“Classy” Charlie Hickford seemed intent on making an impression during his four round win over Nicaragua’s Darwing Martinez. The featherweight was a blur of fast hands and feet and showed plenty of imagination and invention. At times, Hickford was careless and ate a couple of wide hooks from Martinez but the 22-year-old controlled the first three rounds. He was stung in the fourth and final round but survived comfortably enough and was given a 39-37 decision.
Luke McCormack got his second professional victory with a second round blow-out of Petr Brodsky.
McCormack, 2-0 (2 KOs), digs his toes into the canvas and goes for the finish from the opening bell. He hurt the Czech fighter on a couple of occasions but the game Brodsky, 4-3 (3 KOs) absorbed everything and fired back himself, catching the 29-year-old super lightweight from Sunderland with a couple of counters.
McCormack found himself on his back early in the second round but referee Lee Every ruled that he had been bundled over rather than legitimately dropped. McCormack, didn’t seem in the slightest bit concerned and got right back to action, flooring Brodsky twice with heavy bodyshots and then finding another left hook to the body to force Every to step in and stop the fight at 2.08 of the second.
McCormack was a top class amateur and represented Great Britain at the 2020 Olympic Games. He is too good for this level of opposition and could be stepped up a couple of levels immediately.
For the best part of his six-round decision victory over Bulgaria’s Angel Emilov, Joshua Frankham, 11-0 (2 KOs), kept things straight and simple, scoring with the occasional right uppercut before getting some distance back between the two. Emilov, 11-57-3 (7 KOs), has an extremely deceiving record and continued to press forward but was always second best. Frustratingly for Frankham, he picked up a cut over his left eye after a sixth round clash of heads. Frankham was awarded a clear 59-55 decision 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
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