Dean survives cuts to win

Dean Harrison emerged from his toughest fight with two cut eyes but still accused Gary Reid of “punching like a fairy” after their exciting bill-topper at Wolverhampton Civic Hall last night.

Harrison, from Wolverhampton, admitted he came through a step up in class against the smaller but powerfully-built former Commonwealth title challenger as he won by 78-76 on referee John Keane’s card.

Harrison lost the last round as Reid came out all guns blazing and cut his opponent’s left eye with a straight right. But the 24-year-old bricklayer was already three rounds ahead by that point and only a KO – or series of knockdowns – would have taken a 12th straight victory away from him.

The Wolverhampton man was left with a deep gash to his right eyebrow from a clash of heads as early as the third round, but cornerman Bob Plant did a superb job halting the flow of blood.

And Harrison left Stoke-based Reid with a cut right eye in the fifth as the fight came to the boil. 

Harrison admitted he had faced a step up in class but said he saw none of Reid’s renowned power.

“It was definitely a step up in class and it was definitely my hardest fight,” said Harrison.

“But he wasn’t as strong as I thought he’d be – I was pushing him back all the time.

“He punched like a fairy, to be honest – he never hurt me once. I’ve been hit a lot harder than that and there was no way he was stopping me.

“He cut my eye in the last round and that affected me because the blood kept going in my eyes so I was just wary.”