Munroe Shocks Martinez To Win European Title
(MAR 10) This past Friday evening at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in
Nottingham, England, Frank Maloney staged a promotion that saw super
bantamweight Rendall Munroe take the European title from hard punching
Spaniard, Kiko Martinez, by majority decision, televised by Sky Sports.
Munroe, 14-1 (6), masterfully controlled the pace of the bout to his
advantage, never letting the Spanish bull set up shop on the inside and
deterring Martinez, 17-1 (14), with a stiff southpaw jab. In the later
rounds, Munroe put the champion in the unexpected position of having to
fight backing up and peppered the Iberian along the ropes enroute to taking
the 115-113, 115-113 and 114-114 majority decision victory.
In the chief support bout, Commonwealth bantamweight champion Jason Booth,
29-5 (11), fought off the spirited challenge of Ghanaian hard man Lante
Addy, 5-1 (3), responding to the aggressive African's efforts with stinging
counters and heavy left hooks. Addy never stopped pressing the action but
after 12 rounds, Booth emerged to retain his title for the first time via
scores of 118-110, 118-111 and 117-111.
Veteran light heavyweight Brian Magee, 30-3-1 (19), was also in action,
snapping the five fight win streak of fast-handed Nottingham man Tyrone
Wright, 7-2-1 (3), taking the referee's scorecard 58-54 after six rounds.
Promising light welter Scott Haywood, 17-2 (3), won his fifth bout in a row,
outboxing Stoke strongman Gary Reid, 13-19-1 (8), on points 59-55, over six
rounds.
Belfast heavyweight prospect Scott Belshaw, 7-1 (6), was shockingly upset by
Russian journeyman Daniel Peret, 12-12 (3), in a six rounder, losing by a
single point, 59-58. Welsh light welter Gary Buckland, 13-0 (5), stopped
Alexander Spitjo, 4-4 (3), in three.
There were a quartet of four rounders on the bill. Light heavy Adie
Whitmore, 7-0 (4), outpointed Hamed Jamali, 9-5 (1), light heavy Rod
Anderton, 10-2-1 (3), decisioned Mark Nielsen, 6-6 (2), featherweight
Barrington Brown, 5-3-1 (2), posted a winning verdict over Peter Allen,
5-29-2 (0), and light heavy Rasham Sohi, 3-0 (1), stopped Phil Goodwin, 2-1
(0), in the final frame.
