Manchester southpaw Terry Flannigan upset the odds to win the
lightweight version of Matchroom's Prizefighter tournament last
night.
The 23-year-old, who is the reigning English super-featherweight
champion, moved up a weight class on short notice to take the
£32,000 winner's cheque.
After seeing off Liam Patrick Walsh, Flannigan defeated former
British lightweight titlist Derry Mathews in the semis before
beating Dewsbury's Gary Sykes in a close finale.
Sykes, who admitted beforehand that he hates to face southpaws,
struggled to land cleanly in the early going but ratcheted up the
pressure in the second round and made it a tight affair that could
have gone either way.
In the end, one judge had it 29-28 for Sykes but he was
overruled by two scores of same margin.
One the same bill former Prizefighter winner Rocky Fielding won
the vacant English super-middleweight title by stopping fellow
Liverpudlian Carl Dilks in the fifth round.
07/10/2012 20:59:58