To the delight of the home fans, Lewis Ritson finally landed at the super lightweight limit.
‘The Sandman’ was a destructive force at 135 pounds but hadn’t enjoyed the same success at 140.
Lewis Ritson
Against Robbie Davies Jr., a visibly bigger man, Ritson showed his improvement after growing into the division.
In a sure Fight of the Year contender, Ritson took a decision triumph in what was a WBA eliminator.
Ritson had to take some shots in order to land, but it was his flashier combinations which won the day.
At the end of twelve, judges carded 117-112 and 116-112 (twice) in the Newcastle fighter’s favour.
Scott Fitzgerald
Ted Cheeseman proved he’s more than just a brawler in an entertaining clash with Scott Fitzgerald.
The British champion heading into the bout, ‘Big Cheese’ was hoping a change of tactics would stop a slide of one loss and one draw.
It wasn’t to be for Cheeseman despite dominating the fight from the second until the eighth.
Fitzgerald did enough on two of the judges cards to take some of those earlier rounds to seal the Lonsdale Belt for the first time.
Now 14-0, the ‘Mad Man’ was handed the decision 116-113 (twice) and 115-113.
Martin Bakole became only the third man to stop Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson after taking out the veteran American in the fifth.
Bakole proved too powerful for Johnson, pinning his for against the ropes and producing a barrage to force the ref to step in.
He now moves on to tougher tests in the future.
Prior to the main bouts, Savannah Marshall continued her rise with a third round victory over American Ashleigh Curry.
It was a punishing display by Marshall, who wants a world title shot, sooner rather than later.
LAWS
In a floater squeezed in by Sky Sports, Joe Laws once again impressed in front of his beloved home fans.
Laws made it 8-0 against a game Justice Addy but just failed to get the early ending he wanted.
Addy seemed ready to go on more than one occasion as Laws went head-hunting from the off.
With seconds remaining, Addy was out on his feet but made it to the final bell. Laws scored the points win.
In what ended up as a startling draw, Lawrence Osueke and Ricky Summers shared the spoils after ten rounds.
The end didn’t come without controversy. An unfathomable 100-92 score to Osueke was cancelled out by tallies of 96-95 to Summers and 95-95 even.
A rematch looks on the cards as the contest was a British title eliminator.
