Scottish Amateur And Professional Boxing
| Scottish Amateur And Professional Boxing |
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Craig Docherty successfully defended his Commonwealth Super Featherweight title at the Kelvin Hall on Thursday night by stopping challenger Kpakpo Allotey in the sixth round.
Victory was never really in doubt as Docherty kept his opponent on the backfoot, firing off the more accurate and telling punches as he did so. By the fourth Docherty was taking control of the fight and in the fifth Allotey sustained a cut above his left eye.
The sixth round saw Docherty tear into the Ghanaian and after just 46 seconds referee John Keane saved Allotey from further punishment and awarded the fight to Docherty by way of a technical knockout.
Afterwards a jubilant Docherty described the fight as "definitely the performance of my career", and manager Tommy Gilmour was full of praise for the 24 year old Glaswegian. "It was one of the finest performances I've ever managed a fighter through. I saw a Craig Docherty I never even knew existed. Without a doubt he is the No.1 super-featherweight in the UK."
It was a watershed victory for Craig Docherty who is now the number one contender for the British and European titles and who may be in line for a pop at the IBO champion Cassius Baloyi, the South African who is co-managed by Gilmour.
It was a great night all round for Scottish boxing.
20 year old Buckhaven welterweight Kevin Anderson took just two rounds to knockout Belarus' Dmitry Yanushevich - much to the delight of his travelling support who witnessed his ninth straight win.
Motherwell's light welterweight Barry Morrison also remains unbeaten, but he was floored in the first round by his game Russian opponent, Andrey Devyataykin, and in another ring in another town might not have been given his one point victory.
Glenrothes lightweight Stevie McGuire beat Englishman Paul Billington when the referee stopped the contest in round three and there were points wins for Greenock featherweight John Simpson who beat London based Sri Lankan Jus Wallie on points, Bannockburn welterweight Jamie Coyle who beat Peter "Desperate" Dunn and Port Glasgow featherweight Barry Hawthorne who beat Cardiff's Henry Janes.
RESULTS
Craig Docherty Beat Kpakpo Allotey TKO (Rd 6)
Kevin Anderson Beat Dmitry Yanushevich KO (Rd 2)
Barry Morrison Beat Andrey Devyataykin PTS
Stevie McGuire Beat Paul Billington TKO (Rd 3)
Jamie Coyle Beat Peter Dunn PTS
Barry Hawthorne Beat Henry Janes PTS
John Simpson Beat Jus Wallie PTS