Matthew Macklin wins title defence

Birmingham's Matthew Macklin had to fight tooth and nail to retain his European middleweight title after a bruising battle against Ruben Varon at Liverpool's Echo Arena.

Macklin was cut late on and endured heavy swelling to both eyes on his way to a 12-round points win over the competitive Spaniard on Saturday night.

In the main event, Olympic gold medallist James DeGale took the British super middleweight title after a nine-round stoppage of hometown hero Paul Smith.

Nathan Cleverly also became the interim WBO world light heavyweight champion, while there were successful title defences for Kell Brook and Tony Bellew.

But it was real hard work for Macklin, defending the European belt for the first time, against an opponent who came to town clearly fancying his chances of an upset.

The champion tested the durability of the challenger by using uppercuts up close in the first round, before Varon followed suit with a body shot of his own as the two came together in the second.

Macklin used the ring to make space to rock back the head of his opponent in the third, although Varon was right back with him in the fourth.

But it was during that session that his work started to get a little too low, although he got it away with it the first time as Macklin somehow ended up reprimanded by referee Giuseppe Quartarone.

However, one low blow too many in the following round saw a point taken off Varon.

Macklin went back to using the short uppercuts up close from the eighth that had served him well early on and Varon came off worse after a trade-off between the two.

Heavy swelling then began to hamper the left eye of the champion, who guarded the wound for the last two rounds and looked to see the fight out.

But he was hanging on in the last round as Varon threw caution to the wind, after Macklin had put three punches together to catch the eye of the judges.

Two uppercuts drew blood to Macklin and, although not a serious cut, it was a relief for the champion to hear the final bell.

However, a close fight was not reflected in the judges' scorecards in a unanimous call of 116-113, 116-111 and 117-111, giving Macklin an advantage of three, five and six rounds.

The highlight of the rest of the bill was DeGale, whose power and speed were too much for British champion Smith, who was pulled out to the dismay of the home crowd in the ninth.

DeGale was well ahead and had cut his opponent when referee Howard John Foster stepped in, after Smith had been rattled with a right hand, which left him open for a follow-up left and right.

The time of the stoppage was two minutes and eight seconds into the ninth round.

Cleverly had to go the distance to see off the challenge of European Union champion Nadjib Mohammedi, stepping in at two days notice to replace the flu-ridden Alejandro Lakatos.

The two were vying to become the acting world champion of the WBO, with title holder Juergen Braehmer facing a prison term for assault.

It represented a huge opportunity for rising star Cleverly, at age 23, as the No 1 contender after winning an eliminator in September.

The Welshman has made his name through a series of sterling performances but it was a rare off-key night, as he struggled to get into the fight.

Cleverly was even in trouble in the sixth round, coming under fire in the ropes after Mohammedi rattled him with a left hook and followed it up with a good couple of shots.

It was again looking shaky in the seventh after Cleverly was harshly docked a point for holding, losing him two rounds as Mohammedi went on to win the session.

But Cleverly did enough to win the fight on points recording scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 115-113, an advantage of five, three and two rounds.

However, Brook encountered little problems defending his WBO Intercontinental welterweight title after taking Ghana's Philip Kotey to the cleaners inside two rounds.

It was the British debut of Kotey, which had been due to take place at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in September, and it was over quickly.

The Ghanaian simply had no answer to the power of Brook as every shot made a dent, with a right hook dumping Kotey onto the seat of his pants in the first round.

He survived the bell but only lasted 38 seconds of round two, after a left hand shot him back across the ring and put him under more pressure until Manuel Oliver Palomo pulled him out.

In the last title fight of the night, Tony Bellew defied the odds to successfully defend his Commonwealth light heavyweight title against former champion Ovill McKenzie.

Bellew was down in both the first and second rounds, sinking under a punch to the top of the head then a right hand coming into the centre of the ring.

But 'the Bomber' rebounded with a killer left hook that dropped McKenzie onto his back in the eighth round, who answered the count on unsteady legs.

Referee Phil Edwards allowed him to continue, but McKenzie couldn't get his defences back when play resumed, with the fight waved off 14 seconds before the end of the round.

Before Sky Box Office went on the air, Larry Olubamiwo won the International Masters heavyweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of late replacement Paul Butlin.

Birmingham's Tony Randall was also taken apart by super middleweight prospect Billy Joe Saunders, falling to a left-right combination that put him down in the first and second rounds.

There were also points wins for Joe McNally, Joe Selkirk, Liam Smith and Paul Butler.

West Bromwich welterweight Wayne Downing rounded off the night, but only lasted 43 seconds with big prospect Ronnie Heffron.

Downing had just got a left hand away before a right hook over the top put him down and unable to answer the count.

By Craig Birch