Last night, at the Derby Arena, Nick Blackwell made a successful defence of his British middleweight title.
Matched against the unbeaten Damon Jones, of Leeds, Blackwell showed composure and patience before scoring the 18th win of his professional career.
Jones was cheered on by some vociferous support from his Leeds supporters but seemed content to box Blackwell from a position on the ropes.
Blackwell showed great patience probing away but never leaving himself too open for a big punch from Jones.
Although some of the rounds were quite even, when the end came it was quite comprehensive.
In the sixth round, Blackwell caught Jones with a big right hand and floored the challenger. The referee, Victor Loughlin, rightly halted proceedings and Blackwell, who won the title by defeating John Ryder just eight weeks ago had made a successful first defence of his title.
Speaking about his nights work, Blackwell had this to say to Channel 5?s interviewer,
?I’ve been working on that right hand counter in the gym and it came off.
‘I knew he was trying to out-box me because of his amateur background but there was no power there so I knew he would tire if I put the pressure on him.’
For Jones, the comeback trail starts this morning, for Blackwell the future is starting to look exceedingly bright.
Blackwell Stops Jones in Six!
