By Oli Smith

Jason Booth can seemingly do no wrong in his late renaissance, at 32 years old, the Super Bantamweight was riding on a seven fight win streak going into Friday’s bout.

Some believe his challenger tonight is the true champion of the division; Matthew Marsh turned his back on boxing in 2008 and ever lost his title in the ring. Marsh was out to pick up where he left off. Fittingly, he could regain the British title hardware on the night that Booth is eligible to take it home for keeps, this being his third defence.

Marsh, 13-1 (1KO), won two ABA championships and has progressed well in his professional career, despite the inability to put his opposition to sleep. In many ways this bout represented the culmination of hard work and exercising of demons for both men, and with the possibility of a European title shot –should Rendall Munroe vacate – the timing had never been better for two of Britain’s best Super bantamweights to face off against each other.

Jason Booth started the first with a characteristic spring in his step; taking little time to size up Marsh, a big right hand whistled passed the challenger’s head, signifying the intentions of the champion. It was Marsh who soon took control of the action however, a clash of heads midway through the first opened up a nasty cut above the bridge of Booth’s nose which was clearly causing him some concern. It was all Marsh needed to open a considerable gap on the scorecards.

Through the first four rounds Marsh dominated with well chosen combinations and a constant peppering with the jab. Good lateral movement meant Booth hit nothing but air. Marsh had clearly come with a game plan, the cut to Booth was certainly helping him implement it more effectively. Yet the fact remained; for the first time since his 2007 defeat to Ian Napa, Booth was being outboxed.

In the fifth round Marsh caught Booth off balance and landed a left hand which dropped him to the floor. Sensing the fight was slipping from his grasp, Booth swung wildly for Marsh. The desperation in his work was smothering any opportunities he made for himself and once again Marsh was able to counter with short, sharp shots. 

Right around the midway point in the fight Jason Booth began to turn the tide. Marsh still popped the jab, frustrating the challenger, but gone was the head movement and lateral movement which had caused Booth so many problems until then. It slowly enable the champion to raise his connect rate landing his trade mark blows to the body. With new found success Booth seemed to relax and for the first time in the bout things looked ominous for Marsh.

Whilst not showing the same movement as before, Marsh remained light on his feet and bar pot shots from the outside, remained relatively elusive. What he needed to display at the point was some punching power, to keep Booth honest, an aspect in his game that is lacking. As such, Booth had no reason to respect the range that Marsh set up, he ducked in an out at will and began to plant his feet before unleashing thudding shots to the ribs.

As the championship rounds loomed a cut over Marsh’s eye from an earlier started to deteriorate. Booth targeted it relentlessly with slashing hooks, and between rounds it seemed as though the challenger’s corner was having some difficulty in stemming the flow.

Cuts like these became inevitable as the fight moved up close, both men were guilty of leading with their heads and both had the battle wounds to prove it. In a reversal of the first few rounds, it was Booth causing Marsh to over extend in the Eighth, the reigning champion punishing Marsh every time he did with a stinging straight right.

In the ninth round Booth had well and truly stolen the momentum and had began clawing back the rounds he gave away in the first half of the fight. Marsh seemed to be struggling with the pace that had been set, this was no problem for Booth, who time and again has shown, above all else, world class stamina. Booth’s straight right over top was beginning to land at will and as the seconds ticked by Marsh was beginning to get pushed and pulled around the ring. A huge body shot in the last minute of the round seemed to cause Marsh to dip slightly, though he recovered quickly and held his own as they squared off toe to toe, landing the better shots as the round came to an end.

By the end of the tenth round the cut around Marsh’s eye had worsened dramatically and despite holding his own during the action the possibility that the fight would be stopped was looming large. Booth seemed back to his best in the Eleventh, living up to his “Too Smooth” moniker he posed questions that Marsh was unable to answer. Just as the action look destined for the final round referee John Keene stepped in to assess the cut above Marsh’s eye, the doctor shook his head and the fight was waived off.

Disappointingly for Matthew Marsh, two judges had him ahead by two and three points respectively, yet there was a silver lining to be found in the post-fight interview. Frank Maloney, obviously impressed by the quality of bout stated he would go about organising a rematch to include not only the British and Commonwealth titles but the European belt as well. Either man would make a great champion, British or otherwise.

Booth perhaps showed signs of age tonight; 32 is often viewed as the twilight of a smaller fighter’s career, and there comes a time when reactions begin to slow. This may be unfair, Marsh has bags of talent as and as tonight proved, bags of heart too. It would have been a difficult fight for Booth at any age. A controversial ending tonight is of course disappointing, but the anticipation of a rematch to settle the score is the best consolation prize anyone could ask for.