A Bank Holiday Banger
World titles were retained and regained on a huge bank holiday boxing weekend.
It was a brutal night in Belfast for Mick Conlan, as his dream was uppercut into actuality by a spiteful Luis Lopez.
Packed to the rafters, the SSE Arena roared their man to the ring, and roared him through a brilliant opening two rounds. A sharp jab, fast feet, and aura of confidence - Conlan was dancing to the script that read Northern Ireland’s newest world champion.
The challenger accentuated his work with a big right hand that Lopez certainly felt.
But then came the third, and with it a momentum swing. Lopez began to throw with intent. The sort of intent that signified the champion had found his feet.
He threw an uppercut that wobbled Conlan back towards the neutral corner.
He then went on the hunt, throwing from every angle and sensing what could have been an early night. Conlan hung on, making it back to the corner for a much needed regroup.
Lopez’s foothold on the fight continued in the fourth, though, as things turned cat-and-mouse with Conlan doing all he could to avoid taking any more shots.
Then came round five. Whilst trading shots, Conlan dropped low to evade a Lopez hook, to which he was caught with a sensational counter.
Immediately the towel followed, and Lopez could celebrate another stunning win on the road.
Whilst one Mexican flourished another faltered as Mauricio Lara had a week to forget in Manchester.
After losing his title on the scales, he failed to deliver on a promise of savagery and violence, instead being beaten to the punch for 12 rounds by an excellent Leigh Wood.
Wood’s jab, in effect from minute one, set the tone that a frustrated Lara could not match.
But it was round two that got the Manchester crowd on their feet as a sharp right uppercut had Lara on the canvas. It was an untimely reminder for the champion of the power that resides behind the gloves of Wood.
Wood didn’t need reminding of Lara’s power, he’d felt it before, and he was doing his best to avoid feeling it again.
Three, four and five flew by with Wood in control. A stiff jab to the body was the scoring shot of choice, with Lara unable to work his way into Wood’s territory.
Lara did lunge in a few heavy uncalculated hooks but to no avail.
The fight took on a slower pace as it got into the second half, which bought the thinking that Lara may have been playing a waiting game.
But he never struck. Instead, he was driven to the ropes by Wood’s right hand at the end of the seventh.
Lara did trudge forward in an attempt to engage Wood into the firefight, but Wood’s ring smart had the champion incoherent.
As the fight drew towards the end, Wood knew to stick to the plan. The same plan that until this point had nullified the threat that many believed would strike twice.
The final bell bought with it celebrations of a now TWO-TIME world champion. A stunning feat just three months after being stopped in such a remorseless manner.
Leigh Wood, take a bow.
Whilst Manchester was making noise, Bournemouth was bouncing at the very sight of its new world champion.
Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith were under pressure for two very different reasons ahead of Saturday night. For Billam-Smith, the chance to strike gold on home turf would have sat heavy on the shoulders.
For Okolie, well, he is trying to rid the tag of being viewed as an uninspiring fighter.
A hard tag to rid when you open a fight with two clinches in 30 seconds.
It was a sign of things to come as Okolie grappled, hugged, and wrestled his way around the ring, sometimes spoiling his own work in the process.
Referee Marcus McDonnell was stern when it came to the holding, separating the pair at every opportunity. He even deducted a point in rounds five and seven.
But whilst Okolie played WWE, Billam-Smith stuck to boxing.
In round four, the challenger sent Okolie sent to the canvas for the first time as a professional with a thrusting left hook. He rose but was unsteady.
It was that same punch that saw him take a trip down in the tenth too. But to his credit, Okolie fired back, landing in flurries and rocking back the challenger.
Battle-worn, both men traded off as a scrappy affair came towards its championship rounds.
Billam-Smith then dropped Okolie for a THIRD time. Yet still, once the champion stood, Billam-Smith had to wear some more leather. It made for a brilliant end to a tumultuous fight.
And it was a fight in which the hometown hero came out as winner.
116-107, 115-108 and (quite disgustingly) 112-112 were the magical numbers as the WBO world cruiserweight title changed hands for the first time in two years.
Aaaaaand breathe.
Oscar Bevis