All the action from Joshua Buatsi vs Daniel Blenda Dos Santos reported right here
BBN are reporting live at the AO Arena, Manchester as Joshua Buatsi defends his WBA International Light-Heavyweight Title against unbeaten Frenchman Daniel Blenda Dos Santos, live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the US and more than 200 countries and territories.
Don't miss a single minute of action right here:
17:15 LIVE ON SKY SPORTS FACEBOOK
Fight #1
4 x 2 mins International Super-Welterweight contest
ELLIS HOPKINS vs BORISLAVA GORANOVA
Making history as the first ever female boxer from a travelling background to become a professional boxer, Ellis Hopkins (1-0) won every session of her four-round debut over an 80-bout experienced Bulgarian, Borislava (11-65-4), who once fought for a world title (in 2006).
Hopkins looked good against such a seasoned operator and had her opponent hurt in the final round.
18:00 LIVE ON SKY SPORTS/DAZN
Fight #2
6 x 3 mins International Heavyweight contest
SOLOMON DACRES vs MLADEN MANEV
Guilty of loading up too much and being overeager to score the stoppage, which is common with debutants and understandable, Dacres peppered Manev with punches throughout the entire contest, hurting him several times.
Dacres spends the final round battering Manev but he can't get the stoppage, so it's left to the judges to rightfully score the bout 60-54 to the ex-rugby player from Warley. 27-year-old Dacres has a great work-rate and punch output and will be disappointed not to get the KO on his pro debut. Central Area cruiserweight champion Damian Chambers (11-1, 7KOs) was the last person to stop the Bulgarian.
Smith's jab is sharp and crisp, and sounds painful when it lands. The Rotherham man isn't doing enough to claim the rounds but is firing back enough to still be a danger. In round three, Smith peppers him with some hard jabs and one-twos. The best shot of the round was when Smith slipped a jab to counter with an overhand right that knocked Appleyard off balance.
One double jab and straight right hand combo landed beautifully, then an uppercut hit the target, followed by a short right hand and there's no way any opponent can sustain that punishment for too long. It was the strongest round yet from Dalton Smith.
Smith's jab is a thing of beauty and keeps landing. He mixes a jab to the body then comes up top with a right and it's clean and spiteful. In the final minute, Smith really ups the tempo and relentlessly lands for fun with such a great variety. Despite the punishment sustained, Appleyard looks unscathed still. The commentators described it as a 'brusing round'. An accurate description that Appleyard's corner clearly agrees with as they allow him one more round to show them something before they pull him from the championship contest.
Fight #3
10 x 3 mins vacant English Super-Lightweight Title
DALTON SMITH vs LEE APPLEYARD
Top prospect Dalton Smith starts strongly, growing in confidence with every punch landed, but former English lightweight champion Appleyard finishes the opening round unloading with a volley of left and right hooks.
In round two, 24-year-old Dalton is firmly on the front foot. Appleyard double jabs his way out of the corner, where he continually keeps ending up, courtesy of Smith's aggression and ring generalship.
At the end of round five, Smith missed wildly with a left hook then pulled Appleyard down with an ensuing hook, which was ruled out as a knockdown instantly.
Referee Mark Lyson stops the fight in the middle of round six, which was the right decision. It was a right hand to the left temple of Appleyard that was the final catalysyt for the official to step in, although it's quite likely the corner would have ended it after that round anyway. Dalton was not surprised by the intervention in the slightest.
Trained by his father Grant at the Steel City Gym, Dalton Smith becomes the new English super-lightweight champion in just his eighth fight, joining a list of names that includes Curtis Woodhouse; Lenny Daws; Tyrone Nurse; and Akeem Ennis Brown.
Fight #4
12 x 3 mins European Cruiserweight Title
TOMMY MCCARTHY vs ALEXANDRU JUR
Belfast's McCarthy is defending his European cruiserweight title for the first time to Romania's Jur, who is a former Belgian light-heavyweight titlist, as well as an ex-EBU EU crusierweight champion.
The 30-year-old Irishman is in control of the contest following the opening two rounds, which has been lukewarm so far. When in with higher level competition in his last two fights, McCarthy has been forced to go the distance, all the way up to round 12.
McCarthy begins to close the gap and box with more intent from round three. He looks inspired to settle matters early, knowing his opponent is not too much of a threat. In fact, Jur looks more like a journeyman, here to survive, rather than a title contender. The writing is, perhaps, on the wall for this Eastern European.
A right hand to the body downs Jur in the final 20 seconds of round four, but the tough Romanian survives.
The 36-year-old Romanian is on his bike in round five, moving as much as possible, practically running away from McCarthy for the full three minutes.
30-year-old McCarthy is beginning to look frustrated and impatient in round six, knowing he should have his man out of here by now. Not his fault, Jur may have well have been on a motorbike in the last round. The first knockdown was good, but it needs a follow up. And it finally happens, as McCarthy downs Jur again with another left hook, which didn't look like much at all, but stops him for good in the final minute of round six.
Fight #5
12 x 3 mins European Super-Bantamweight Title
GAMAL YAFAI vs JASON CUNNINGHAM
Yafai is straight out on the front foot, but Cunningham lands a decent right hand within seconds of the start. His southpaw stance counter-punching is really sharp immediately. Cunningham is peppering Yafai on the counter, who misses wildly with overeager left and rook hooks in the last 30 seconds of the opener. Exciting, fast start, which will delight spectators. Cunningham raises his hand in victory as he walks to his corner.
Yafai is caught in round two with a one-two and goes down. 'The Beast' from Birmingham is straight back up but his tactics are not working for him thus far.
Doncaster's Cunningham, a former Commonwealth titlist, is rangey and elusive and is using his skills perfectly in this contest. Once-beaten Yafai closes the gap in round three to make it more his kind of fight but the defending champion still has lots of work to do here. Better work from the 29-year-old though, who could be turning the tide after a shocking start.
'The Iceman' looks marked up above his right eye by round four, as Yafai comes on strongly, not allowing a second of respite, but then Cunningham's straight left hand sends Yafai down for the second time, who looks ragged and wobbles when he walks to his corner at the end of the round!
In round six, a left hand sent Yafai crashing to the canvas again. Only a stoppage will win this fight for him now. Cunningham boxing perfectly.
A lovely right uppercut lands cleanly in round eight for the southpaw challenger.
What will the judges go for – the clean punching of Cunningham or the aggression of Yafai? Andy Clarke has Yafai down widely on the scorecards.
The championship rounds begin and should be a chance for the champion to take over. And he does! He sends the challenger crashing to the canvas in round 10, what a fight! The body shots from Yafai did the damage. That knockdown will help to bring the scores a bit closer, but there's still a lot of work for the champion to do to retain his belt. Unfortunately, it was actually ruled as a slip instead and doesn't register.
Yafai is like man possessed in round 11, knowing he has to do everything he can to win this. The champion looks energised but the challenger looks slightly zapped. It's a dogfight by the final minute of the penultimate round.
Cunningham peppers Yafai with straight shots in the final segment, and has done more than enough to win this contest. Fans would love to see a rematch though, what an exciting contest! The challenger raises his hands on the klaxons, knowing he has won the contest unanimously.
The scores are read as 115-110 and 114-111 twice to the underdog and new European super-bantamweight champion, Jason Cunningham!
Chief Support
12 x 3 mins vacant European Super-Middleweight Title
LERRONE RICHARDS vs GIOVANNI DE CAROLIS
As expected, the stylish Lerrone Richards is winning every round and looks more aggressive than usual. He is stepping up in levels expertly.
In round four, Richards is looking so good defensively, De Carolis just cannot hit him at all and is breathing heavily already.
Richards is a puzzle and his opponents just cannot work him out.
In round eight, he stood in close and traded with De Carolis, despite being so ahead on the scorecards.
In roud 10, Richards looks like he wants to force the stoppage, but De Carolis comes back firing. Richards' reflexes are just sublime. Any movement from his opponent and he reacts to it before it even happens. He is elusive and slick and makes his opponent miss all night long. That said, a De Carolis jab lands 30 seconds to the end of round 10, but the unbeaten Londoner is cruise control.
The Italian comes on strong in the penultimate round, but Richards answers everything perfectly. De Carolis' last three bouts have all been title fights that he has won by unanimous decision, but he is not in the runnings here.
Richards doesn't have knockout power but he can go 12 rounds with absolute ease. He looks as fresh in the final round as he does in the opener. Surely he has won this entire contest by a shutout. It was a masterclass from start to finish. Dominent, cool and relaxed, in full control from start to finish, never troubled in the slightest, and Barry Jones from ringside called his performance 'flawless' and 'fantastic'.
Scores of 120-108 twice and 119-109 to British, Commonwealth, now European super-middleweight champion Richards.
He is going to be a hard man to beat. Does Dave Coldwell have the man to trouble Canelo?
Main Event
10 x 3 mins WBA International Light-Heavyweight Title
JOSHUA BUATSI vs DANIEL BLENDA DOS SANTOS
Dos Santos was caught in the corner in round two and went down uder a flurry of shots from Buatsi. Half hurt, half panicked, but survived the round.
The Frenchman is cautious and deensive but does land a good counter-punch every so often, but looks on borrowed time here. He is moving away constantly and doesn't want any big exchanges here. He is on his toes , but Buatsi slips back on his backside and there's a time out called in round three.
Towards the end of round four, Buatsi lands heavily with a right hand over the top on the chin and Dos Santos cannot get up. He is down for a while, Buatsi is respectful and doesn't celebrate his win while his opponent is in trouble, but fortunately looks like he will be fine.
The new alliance with Virgil Hunter looks fruitful and a world title shot could be imminent for the talented Olympian soon. Buatsi genuinely consoles Dos Santos at the end and it's heartwarming to see the compassion between the pair.
Buatsi said in the post-fight interview, "Virgil gave me the perfect instructions and I followed them. I haven’t got here by being given it. The little that I’ve earnt, I had to work hard for it. I thank god for everything that we’ve got but I work hard for it. When I step in that ring it’s a dog mentality. This is a fight. I’m here to take everything. We’re here to win but we’re not here to hurt anyone. The time that we’re in the ring, yes, we want to win, and we want to entertain. We’re not here to hurt anyone in the long-term."
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