Results from Sheffield 21st May 2010

On one of the most sweltering days of the year, Sheffield southpaw Ryan Rhodes turned up the heat in his quest to win a world title.

Rhodes making the first defence of the European light-middleweight title he won when he stopped Jamie Moore last October, looked sensational as he blasted veteran Italian Luca Messi in six one-sided rounds.

And now with a high ranking with the WBC he can turn his attention to nailing down his third shot at world honours.

33-year-old Rhodes lost in challenges for the WBO strap in the late 1990s and was written off in the middle part of this decade when he was struggling to find fights and fast becoming British boxing's forgotten man.

But now he's truly proven his global potential and can hope to fight for the WBC crown at his natural light-middleweight, a classification he has never been defeated at.

Rhodes forced his mark on the fight in the opening round. After hooking well with single shots to the body, he clattered the challenger with a straight left hand that forced him to the canvas.

Messi complained when he got back to his feet but it looked a legitimate knockdown from ringside.

The champion picked up from where he left off in the second. He moved around comfortably on the back foot, beckoned Messi in and then punished him with wicked hooks.

Round three saw Messi on the canvas for the second time. Rhodes connected with a meaty right hook to the body before a heavy left hand sent the Italian to the seat of his pants.

Bravely, Messi got back to his feet and battled through a subsequent barrage when other fighters would have folded.

And in the fourth and fifth sessions the visitor even tried to mount a comeback as he stepped forward behind a high held guard before winging in hopeful hooks, but once more Rhodes coolly stepped out of harm's way before smashing home heavy blows to the head.

The end came at 1.09 of the sixth. Rhodes hurt Messi with weighty left that forced him to take a knee. Again the challenger rose before the end of the count, but when Rhodes hammered in a barrage of shots upstairs referee Manuel Oliver Palomo was forced to call it off.

Rhodes, now 44 - 4 (30 KOs) is ranked number four by the WBC and said that if he cannot get a direct shot at the crown, he would like to face Mexican puncher and former welterweight kind Antonio Margarito in a final eliminator.

If St Helen's Martin Murray was disappointed not to be fighting for the Commonwealth middleweight strap, he didn't let it show.

27-year-old Murray was due to face Tanzanian Francis Cheka for the belt vacated by Darren Barker but that chance had to be scrapped at the last minute due to Cheka not being granted a UK visa.

Instead Murray found a scheduled eight-rounder against Sheffield's Lee Noble and put in a professional performance to see off the home town fighter after three rounds.

Murray got close to his foe in the opening stanza and clattered home shots to the torso. Noble, constantly on the defensive, threw little in reply and after Murray's fusillade continued in rounds two and three, the Steel City man bowed out with a damaged rib.

With a perfect record of 19 - 0 (7 KOs) Murray will be looking to move onto bigger and better things as soon as possible.

After two rounds of the light-middleweight tussle between home town favourite Lee Edwards and Birmingham's Dee Mitchell it looked like an upset might be on the cards.

Mitchell, coming into the fight with a record of 9 - 6 (2 KOs), was a heavy underdog against the taller and faster Edwards but didn't let those factors stop him winning the first couple of rounds.

In fairness, it wasn't a case of Mitchell starting well it was more a case of Edwards starting badly. The Sheffield man simply took two long to throw his punches and when he did pump out his jab there wasn't anything else behind it.

And it wasn't until the third that Edwards began to show the skills that trainer Glyn Rhodes believes will one day take him to British title level. Now, unlike before, Edwards was stepping out of the way of Mitchell's lunges and firing home straight lefts and solid uppercuts.

After some scrappy and hold-laden moments in the fourth, Edwards continued to dominate and did enough to secure a tight but undisputable 58 - 57 points win on the card of Howard Foster.

Heavyweight giant Richard Towers is hot on the heels of fellow heavy handed prospects such as Tom Dallas, David Price and Tyson Fury.

Unbeaten Towers, who only took up boxing again three years ago after a seven year jail term, increased his tally to six knockouts from eight wins with a one round blow out of Czech Ladislav Kovarik and looks set to become a major player in the domestic heavyweight landscape.

Towers, 30, came out ripping two fisted shots into the flabby body of the visitor before targeting the head.

A solid right hook behind the ear forced Kovarik to take a knee but after the mandatory count had been issued and the action resumed the Czech did something unusual for a wounded fighter. Rather than cover up like most would, he elected to plough forward and try to score revenge.

His determination, however, proved to be his undoing as it allowed Towers to set himself and pick quality shots. A three punch combination repelled Kovarik before a chopping right hand landed flush and dropped the Czech close to the ropes.

Kovarik did manager to scramble to his feet but he was on rubbery legs and referee Steve Gray did the correct thing by not allowing him to continue. The time was 2.01.

Two months on from his close British title tussle with Gary Sykes, Wythenshawe's Andy Morris returned to the ring against Georgia's Nugzar Margvelashvilli and looked like a man intent on making a statement.

Morris threw punches in bunches to the head and body through the first two rounds while Margvelashvilli, having trouble with his shoes as he slid around on the canvas, struggled to stay on his feet.

At 1.57 of the third session Morris detonated a heavy right hand to the side of the Georgian's head and Howard Foster stepped in to call a halt to proceedings.

Morris, who had been the British champion at featherweight, now has a record of 19 - 3 (7 KOs) and he'll be looking for maybe one more warm up fight like this before fighting for a title again.

Speaking of fighters keeping busy while waiting for title fights to materialise, Salford's Stephen Foster Jnr. ticked over with a fifth round stoppage of Aleksander Vakhtangashvilli.

Foster chipped away at the Georgian with body shots in the opening three rounds before forcing him to take a knee early in the fourth.

That was also the round that we saw shades of Kermit Cintron and against Paul Williams as Vakhtangashvilli slipped on the advertising hoardings and fell under the bottom rope. Thankfully, unlike Cintron, he managed to grab hold of the stand and pull himself back into the ring.

However, his luck run out at 0.44 of the fifth as Foster ripped in another quality combo to the ribcage and the Georgian crumpled to the canvas. He did get up, albeit very slowly, but it was clear he wanted to be somewhere else and Steve Gray waved the action off.

Sam Sheedy came through his toughest test to date as he outpointed Birmingham's Terry Carruthers 38 - 37 on the card of Mr Gray.

22-year-old Sheedy, who fights out of Glyn Rhodes' Sheffield Boxing Centre stable, boxes with a wide stance and his hands held low and that allowed Carruthers to get in shots early on but the home town fighter nearly had a first round knockdown as he fired in a huge left hand that forced Carruthers back - the ropes were the only thing that kept him up.

The second was a close pick 'em affair but Sheedy landed much more effectively in the third, a solid left hook being particually eye catching.

But Carruthers almost spoiled the party in the final session as he sent Sheedy to the mat for the first time in his career with a big right hand. Sheedy was quickly back up and wasn't hurt but he did feel relieved to get a 38 - 37 verdict from Steve Gray.

Former English lightweight challenger John "Fireball" Fewkes continued his comeback with a four round points win over durable Stourport gypsy Billy Smith.

Fewkes, now 19 - 1 - 1 (2 KOs), boxed smoothly, switching his assaults between the head and body to earn a 40 points to 36 margin from Mr Gray.

Another former title challenger keeping busy was Fewkes' stablemate Ross Burkinshaw.

The former English champ who lost out to Lee Haskins in a tilt at the domestic super-flyweight strap last year outboxed and dropped veteran journeyman Delroy Spencer on way to a clear cut 40 - 35 win over four rounds.

In the bill opener Ingle stabled prospect Kid Galahad stopped Dougie Curran at 2.53 of the second in a scheduled four rounder. Galahad is now 3 - 0 (1 KO).