Salford's Stephen Foster Jnr is the new European
super-featherweight champion after he upset the odds by knocking
veteran Armenian puncher Leva Kirakosyan.
Foster Jnr, son of the former world light-middleweight challenger,
didn't allow Kirakosyan to bully him in the same way other British
fighters have in the past and opened a cut on the champion's nose
in the first round with a whipping left hook.
The Englishman had more success in the second but had to take two
solid right hooks early in the third before he unleashed a
devastating left hook which sent Kirkosyan crashing to the canvas
and the fight was over.
"After all the training and missing my family and kids and
everything, I'm glad it paid off," Foster said.
"We had a game plan, but we didn't think he was going to go right
early. We thought he might have ran out of gas a bit.
"He tried to bowl me over, I could just see openings and threw the
left hook and goodnight."
Anthony "Million Dollar" Crolla grabbed the vacant English
super-featherweight crown and moved a step closer to a rematch with
reigning British champion Gary Sykes by halting fellow Mancunian
Andy Morris at 2.51 of the seventh.
Crolla, now 19 - 2 (7 KOs), started by trying to walk his foe down
behind a high-held guard but in the opening two sessions often
walked on to Morris' bursts of body punches.
In the third Crolla's tactic of pressurising began to pay
dividends as Morris, a former British champ four pounds south at
featherweight, started to tire. Two solid left hooks found the
target from the younger fighter.
Marked up around his right eye, Morris battled back in the fifth
by again drawing Crolla in and connecting with punches in twos and
threes.
But his moment of success ultimately proved fruitless as Crolla
demolished him with heavy hooks to the body in the seventh before
three blows upstairs forced referee Dave Parris to step in. 
St Helen's 28-year-old Craig Lyon became the English
bantamweight king by seeing off Sheffield's Ross Burkinshaw after
five rounds.
A looping left hook sent Burkinshaw to the seat of his trunks in
the opening 30 seconds and things never really got any better for
the serving soldier from the Steel City.
Lyon, a two-time ABA champion, continued to find the target with
right hands and as the pattern never looked like abating,
Burkinshaw's trainer Glyn Rhodes elected to pull his man out before
the start of the sixth.
Rhys "Pure Silk" Roberts lived up to his moniker as he used a
variety of punches to take his ledger to 11 - 0 (2 KOs) with a
second round stoppage of Spanish southpaw Manuel Sequera.
Sequera was sent to the ring apron from a burst of blows to the
torso before another sustained attack forced star referee Howard
Foster to halt the fight at 2.25.
2008 ABA cruiserweight champion Matty Askins is now unbeaten in
eight after he defeated Doncaster's John Anthony by 60 points to 54
on the card of Steve Gray.
Derby light-welter Jack Perry moved to 13 - 0 - 1 (2 KOs) with a
shut out 40 - 36 win over Ben Lawler in a four-threes
encounter.
Full results
European Super Featherweight title:
Levan Kirakosyan lost to Stephen Foster TKO 3rd
English Super Featherweight title:
Andy Morris lost to Anthony Crolla TKO 7th
English Bantamweight title:
Craig Lyon bt Ross Burkinshaw rtd 5th
Rhys Roberts bt Manuel Sequera TKO 2nd
Jack Perry bt Ben Lawler pts 4th
Matty Askin bt John Anthony pts 6
Adam Etches bt Lester Walsh TKO 2nd
04/10/2010 12:47:39