At the Copper Box Arena, Stratford, last night, John Wayne Hibbert beat his good friend Tommy Martin.
In a fight where Hibbert was defending his Commonwealth / WBC International lightweight titles, we witnessed a battle that ebbed and flowed and could, at one stage, have gone either way.
Hibbert started the fight the better of the two boxers, catching his young opponent with flurries of punches, Martin, although moving around the ring smartly, was only throwing single punches and, at times, was caught against the ropes on too many occasions.
But, as the fight wore on and we hit the middle rounds, Martin started to look the fresher fighter and started to trouble Hibbert.
Unfortunately for Martin, the fight seemed to be a couple of rounds too long and in the eleventh the young challenger looked to be tiring badly.
As we entered the 12th round it looked as if the verdict would be going to the judges scorecards. But Hibbert, sensing Martin was tired, launched an assault that saw Martin drop to the canvas.
Martin appeared to be looking towards the corner for instructions and looked to have misjudged the count, rising to his feet as the referee hit ten.
The win takes Hibbert to 17-3 with 11 of those wins by stoppages whilst Martin drops to 13-1 with 5 wins by knockout.
Hibbert Retains Titles With Late Stoppage
