By Edward Chaykovsky & Alexey Sukachev
>>>>Cleverly Fight Result<<<<
O2 Arena, London, England - Former British amateur superstar Frankie Gavin (10-0, 8 KOs) got his first professional belt after a lopsided victory over experienced veteran Young Mutley (29-6, 14 KOs). 2007 Chicago lightweight champion boxed both as a junior welterweight and as a welterweight in the paid ranks. This time he went up in weight to give a boxing lesson to a former British welterweight beltholder in a pretty one-sided performance.
It wasn't a pleasant win for one of the top young guns of British boxing; which Gavin admitted in a post-fight TV quickie. The flashy southpaw was too safety-oriented and too cautious to open up and try to knock the 35-year old Mutley out. Gavin, 25, boxed in offensively but immediately jumped back to avoid Young's counters after sticking one or two fast left hands, mostly to the body of Mutley. His opponent tried to engage Gavin in a brawl (sort of) but had little success doing so. Gavin gave the taste of his sharp jab and continuously pummeled overmatched Mutley time and again but was never close to score a stoppage.
All three judges scored it (a bit closer than one could imagine) for Frankie Gavin: 119-109 (Danny Nelson and Cesar Ramos) and 118-110 (Carlos Ortiz Jr.). BoxingScene saw a clear shutout for the Brit: 120-108. Referee was Richie Davis. Gavin acquired the vacant WBO I/C welterweight belt, which will help him to crack the top-15 of the WBO ranks.
Former British Olympian Billy Joe Saunders (9-0, 6KOs) stopped Kevin Hammond (8-7-1, 4 KOs) in two rounds in a middleweight contest. A hand injury has hindered the 21-year-old's progress in the pro ranks, but he will be hoping to hunt down title shots after Hammond was halted for the first time in his career. Saunders seemed keen to show off his full repertoire of punches in the opener and he stunned Hammond with a looping right before forcing home body shots and uppercuts.
Hammond struggled to hold off the razor-sharp youngster and a crunching body shot followed by an uppercut forced the Lincoln man to take a knee. He climbed to his feet, but Saunders sensed a quick finish was on the cards and a further body shot forced Hammond to seek refuge on the canvas again. And the fight was mercifully waved off when Hammond rose a second time.
Paul Smith (30-2, 16KOs), now campaigning as a middleweight, returned to stop Jozsef Matolcsi (29-16) in the first round of action. Smith back for the first time since last December's crushing TKO defeat to James DeGale.
Former WBO super featherweight champion Nicky Cook (30-2, 17KOs) returned for the first time since his loss to Roman Martinez in March of 2009, and stopped Youssef Al Hamidi (8-34) in the sixth round.
Cruiserweight prospect Stephen Simmons (2-0, 1KOs) won a four round decision over Hari Miles (6-3).
Junior middleweight Gary O'Sullivan (12-0, 8KOs) returned to stop career journeyman Ryan Clark (1-33) in the first round.
Junior welterweight Lewis Rees (1-0, 1KOs) made his pro debut, stopping Sid Razak (6-66) in the second round.
Junior welterweight prospect Francis Luke Robinson (2-0, 0KOs) won a four round decision over Johnny Greaves (3-62).
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