Career best wins Midlands title for Rob Hunt
Stafford's Rob Hunt produced a career-best performance to claim the Midlands welterweight title with a points victory over Sullivan Mason at Walsall Town Hall.
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It's proved a long road to the area crown for Hunt, who claimed the belt he has coveted for years in his 26th professional contest, writes Craig Birch.
The 29-year-old has experienced plenty of ups and down over eight years of professional boxing, claiming his first strap in his previous contest at the same venue.
Hunt's over-the-distance victory over Liam Richards for eight-round British Masters Bronze honours put him in contention for Midlands glory.
Mason, who would be beaten for only the second time in 13 pro contests, stood in his way over 10 on Saturday's fight night.
The Nuneaton stylist would leave well-beaten and also visited the canvas for the first time in his paid career, the bell sounding in timely fashion at the end of the third.
The feeling out process saw both boxers cautioned by referee Shaun Messer, from Dudley, for holding in a scrappy first round.
But Hunt started to take command come the second, landing a right hook to the body and catching Mason with straight shots to the head more than once.
The third ebbed and flowed until Hunt switched to floor Mason with a left hook, which saw him drop to the mat.
He answered the count fine but only had to survive a few more seconds, anyway, the call to signal the end of the session sparing him a sustained period of pressure.
Given heart and with the bit between his teeth through knowing he was ahead, Hunt built his lead further by working off the jab.
But then came the Mason fightback as he windmilled forward throwing wild hooks, forcing Hunt onto the back-foot.
Mason came back swinging in the sixth and got through again, Hunt forced to hold on and battle his way out of trouble.
Hunt resumed the role of aggressor from the seventh, although he absorbed a couple of left hooks in the eighth.
Mason, who had put everything into trying to save the fight, started to tire as the bout went into his dying embers.
Hunt put his stamp onto proceedings and connected with a couple of rights in the 10th and last round, with one that again tested Mason's jaw.
It went to the cards, without anyone in real doubt of the result was. The title was Hunt's by three rounds, 96-93, with Mr Messer.
The evening's other title fight proved a compelling war that finished before time, as Stoubridge's Steven Pearce sliced and diced his way to glory.
Pearce, now a potential rival to Hunt as the former champion, took home the British Masters light middleweight crown, with Amir Unsworth a bloody mess after six.
The Sleaford slugger retired in his corner at the end of the round with three cuts. He was hurt by his right eye, just above his eyelid and on the top of his head.
Referee Kevin Parker ruled only the last cut was accidental with Unsworth having taken a significant amount of punishment, with the blood shed beginning nearly on.
They went toe-to-toe from the off and rarely kept away from each other, in what became a constant trade off at close quarters.
Pearce's right hand consistently landed to the head and caused significant damage, as Unsworth played into his hands.
The only time Unsworth backed off when he was rocked by a stiff straight right in the fourth, with Pearce tracking him down and resuming his attack.
The battering Unsworth took was too much come the end of the sixth, when he was left with little option but to quit on his stool.
Mr Parker looked on as trainer Carl Greaves and the corner frantically tried to work on the cuts, but they all agreed there was no way he could last another two rounds.
A delighted Pearce jumped up in the air and celebrated his victory, as he gleaned his third pro title from 14 outings. Like Hunt, he's back in the game.
And the stage has been set for the Black Country derby, with the Midlands light middleweight title on the line, at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday June 6.
Dudley's Ryan Aston, the challenger, went face-to-face with champion Jason Welborn, from Rowley Regis, after the latter boxed at the Town Hall.
Welborn was tuning up for Aston with a four-rounder against the teak-tough Dan Blackwell who, usually a campaigner at the higher weights, was the naturally bigger man.
Blackwell hadn't come to go through the motions, either, and Welborn was forced into defence mode for much of the first.
But Welborn settled in the second and, as a puncher, had enough meat in his gloves to bloody Blackwell's nose with a straight right to the mush.
That failed to deter Blackwell as he continued to try and take him out, with a defiant Welborn smiling before he replied with his own shots.
Having performed on the front and back foot, victory was Welborn's 40-37 on points with Mr Messer, the rarely-stopped Blackwell handed a share of the first.
There was another keep-busy contest on the card with a battle for the belt at the Civic in mind, with Luke Paddock in action.
'Cool Hand,' from nearby Bloxwich, will defend his Midlands light welterweight title against Aston's Chris Truman on that June bill.
Paddock tackled veteran Matt Seawright for a second time, this time over six twos, having outpointed him over four at the Civic on his pro debut in 2012.
Even Seawright conceded he's come on leaps and bounds since then and looked good in there, as he racked up the rounds.
The Tamworth-based Scot deployed his usual tactics of getting in his face, bobbing and weaving wildly with his hands down.
Paddock had to display a range of punches and use his skill to outbox Seawright, who was wobbled most by a right uppercut in the fifth.
He went into survival mood but Paddock couldn't finish him before the bell went, Seawright seeing another round. There was nothing for him on the cards, in a 60-54 points shut-out.
Essington's Ben Wilkes returned for the first time in five years elsewhere on the card, taking on James Child over four.
The 28-year-old middleweight recorded his seventh victory from eight, moving from the corner and back into the ring.
Child proved game but basic and was caught time and again by Wilkes' right hand. It landed regularly although not always to its full effect, as his adversary kept his head moving.
Intestinal fortitude got him to the final bell but he was outclassed by Wilkes, who enjoyed a landslide 40-36 success with Mr Parker.
Two debutants completed the line-up with Wolverhampton's Sid Bowater and Craig Morris, from Ludlow in Shropshire, also scoring four-round shut-outs.
Welterweight Bowater, brother of fellow pro Des, opened the show against Ali Wyatt and looked composed after the longest of training camps.
His turning over proved belated, after complications with his medical held up his paid bow for several months.
He teed off with left uppercuts before lunging in with right hooks although the wily Wyatt, evergreen at 37 years old, knew how to survive.
Light middleweight Morris found himself in with Stourbridge's Kevin McCauley after all, due to the withdrawals of Robert Studinzski and Warren Sinden.
Morris set his stall out early and clubbed the former area champion with a right hook which irked him, adding needle to the bout.
The Shropshire new-boy wouldn't be bullied, though, and stuck to his boxing as both got on their toes and upped the pace.
Morris landed more right hooks in the third and fourth, with a defiant McCauley screaming 'come on' at him. However, the TKO just wouldn't come.
