Dan Azeez scored the biggest win of his career as he made a successful first defence of his British light-heavyweight title, securing a unanimous decision over former champion Shakan Pitters at the M&S Bank (formerly Echo) Arena, Liverpool.
At 33, Azeez was a latecomer to boxing, having taken the sport up when he was at university. But he seems to be going places now as he outworked and outpunched Pitters in an impressive display. Some of the rounds were close and Pitters finished well, but Azeez deserved his win.
“I had a feeling it was going to be that sort of fight because I know it means a lot for Shakan to try to regain the British title and it means a lot for me to keep it,” Azeez said.
“I heard Lyndon Arthur said he would like the winner. Why not?”
Pitters had a big height advantage but struggled to keep Azeez off him. Azeez carried more power and when inside he had more success.
Azeez rocked Pitters early in the second with an overhand right, although Pitters fired back with a right uppercut.
Pitters tried to use his jab and walk Azeez on to the uppercut, but Azeez moved his head well as he came in low and used his jab, coming up with punches from under Pitters’s guard.
In the sixth, Pitters began to stand and trade but any success was fleeting as Azeez was able to beat him to the punch.
But Pitters just couldn’t gain control, as Azeez outhustled him, dragging him into a fight at close quarters. In the ninth, Pitters had success as he nailed Azeez with an uppercut, but Azeez finished the round well, landing a good left hook.
While Pitters kept it competitive, he was just getting outworked. Pitters had some success working to the body but Azeez, who had Buddy McGirt in his corner, kept going well in the last two rounds despite seeming to tire. Pitters landed well in the last, but Azeez’s workrate overall
Phil Edwards scored it 117-112, Terry O’Connor 117-111 and Victor Loughlin 115-113.
Nathan Quarless carries a famous Liverpool boxing name as his uncle, Noel, boxed Lennox Lewis. Nathan moved to 11-0 as he claimed a 60-53 decision over Croatia’s Toni Visic, who was on the floor once.
Scott Forrest continues his 100 percent stoppage record in his third pro fight as he dropped and stopped Dmitrij Kalinovskij in the third round. A big right hook dropped Kalinovskij. Referee Steve Gray waved it off as the count reached around five at 1:34.
Frankie Stringer, a 21-year-old lightweight from Liverpool, moved to 2-0 by beating Karl Sampson, referee John Latham scoring it 40-36.
Manchester welterweight Clark Smith made a successful professional debut with a points win over Bulgarian journeyman Petar Aleksandrov, referee Steve Gray scoring it 40-36.
In a clash of unbeaten super-middleweights, Musa Moyo, who was originally from Zimbabwe, beat UK-based Brazilian Diego Costa, referee John Latham scoring it 58-56.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.