Lightweight European Title: Gavin Rees UD12 Andrew Murray
This was a fight between a tall man with a high guard and a short stocky one with a left hand that dropped down and a right that was primed for action, so it was no surprise that the first half was dominated by the left jab. Few people would have predicted that it was the shorter man who dominated though.
Rees was too fast for Murray in the first half of the fight, able to get into range, fire off a few punches, and then retreat out of the way before Murray was able to land. In fact Murray was struggling to land at all, with punch after punch falling short. By the fourth round Rees was in total control, able to drop his guard completely at times, wait for Murray to advance, and then get his punches off first before moving away.
Round Six was all Rees with combinations stopping Murray in his tracks and it looked like it was only a matter of time before he was put down, but the fight was about to change as Rees fell off a physical cliff. The signs were there in the seventh that he was either taking a breather or the tank was empty, and in the eighth it was shown to be the latter, so much so that he was docked a point for holding in an attempt to slow the fight down.
The rest of the fight was a case of Rees holding on and hoping he had built up enough of an early lead, whilst Murray was able to land decent punches for the first time. Though he dominated the later rounds, it was not enough as he was unable to really hurt Rees, and a second wind in the last round meant that the Welshman was able to land enough punches to stop Murray from really unloading.
In the end Rees' early work proved to be enough, but it leaves serious questions about his conditioning.
In the end Rees' early work proved to be enough, but it leaves serious questions about his conditioning.
Frampton came into the fight with the belt and the big reputation as a man who is starting on a path that will take him a long way. He has a high guard and a measured, economical style, tending to wait for an opening and pick his punches whilst trying to hold the middle of the ring. Robbie Turley was as different as possible, active, awkward, switching stance, but with no firm base and so lacking punching power.
The first few rounds set the course for the fight with Turley moving around the ring and throwing a lot of punches. Most of them missed, but there was rarely a moment when he was static. Frampton was waiting for the opening and then landing with regularity, initially with single punches more than combinations.
As the fight progressed a cut opened up over Frampton's right eye but Turley didn't have the ability to capitalise and work on it. Whilst Turley was always the most active, the quality work and punches came from Frampton. On a few occasions he managed to rock Turley, and in R7 there was a knockdown, though it owed as much to a slip as to a punch.
Despite having a point deducted for a late blow Frampton was never in trouble and as the fight progressed he started to put together some heavy combinations, especially in the last round. Turley managed to see it through to the final bell, but was rightly a long way behind on the scorecards.
A tough fight for Frampton who had to take a fair few shots and against a stronger hitter could have found himself in more trouble. The cut would not have been welcome, especially as his other eye looked roughed up too. He'll have harder fights in the future, but probably not for a while.
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