McKenzie Scoops Prizefighter
Cruiserweights Title
May 19, 2009
Photos: Lawrence Lustig
(MAY 19) OVILL McKENZIE has won the
Prizefighter Cruiserweights title after an exciting night of knockdowns
and shocks. Former Commonwealth Champion McKenzie defeated John
Keeton on points in a thrilling final in front of a capacity crowd at
the Earl’s Court in London to scoop the £25,000 top prize.
Every one of the eight fighters in the
line-up had fought or held either a European, Commonwealth or British
belt and it promised to be the best Prizefighter event so far.
The Sky Sports-televised show did not disappoint as there were six
knockdowns before the final, the most in any of the seven Prizefighter
events, with three contests not going the distance. The final was
between two outsiders as Keeton and McKenzie were priced at 16/1 and
12/1 respectively at the start of the competition.
Keeton, a former British Champion, was celebrating his 37th birthday but
could not get the ideal present as he lost 28-29, 28-29, 27-30 in a
hard-fought final.
McKenzie, who was drafted in as a late replacement for the injured Mark
Krence, was the lightest of the fighters but that did not stop him
performing at his best in one of the biggest nights in his career.
He had moved up from light-heavyweight to be in this competition and had
only had two weeks notice. But he clinched the title thanks to victories
over former IBF world title challenger Terry Dunstan and Darren Corbett
before triumphing against Keeton.
It was an evening of big shocks as three
of the four highly-fancied fighters lost in the first round before
favourite Dean Francis suffered a surprise defeat in the first
semi-final.
Francis had produced one of the best performances of the night when he
dominated against Neil Simpson before it was stopped in the third round.
However, Francis, who was priced at 1/9 to make the final after the
quarter-final, was floored twice in two and a half minutes against
Keeton in the opening semi-final.
The other quarter-finals saw Keeton gain a points win over Bruce Scott
and Darren Corbett do likewise against Micky Steeds.
QF 1: Dean Francis bt Neil Simpson – RSF R3
QF 2: John Keeton bt Bruce Scott – PTS – 29-28, 29-28, 28-27
QF 3: Terry Dunstan lost to McKenzie – PTS – 25-30, 27-28, 28-29
QF 4: Micky Steeds lost to Darren Corbett – PTS – 26-29, 27-30, 27-30
SF 1: Dean Francis lost to John Keeton – KO R1
SF 2: Ovill McKenzie beat Darren Corbett – RSF R2
F: John Keeton lost to Ovill McKenzie – PTS – 28-29, 28-29, 27-30
