Bell Wins British Title From Edwards

By Boxing News - 03/30/2008 - Comments

Andy “Iceman” Bell put on the performance of his young career on Friday night at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England by taking the British super flyweight title from reigning champion Chris Edwards in a thrilling fight on a Frank Maloney promotion televised by Sky Sports.

The 22 year old from Nottingham put his height advantage to good use against the five foot tall Edwards, nullifying the champion’s buzzsaw-like attack with the jab and well-educated footwork while hammering Edwards with sharp counters.

Bell canvassed Edwards in the third with a perfect right hand but the champion wasn’t hurt and battled his way back into the scrap. The middle rounds featured riveting two-way traffic that saw Edwards finally take control but the younger man managed to regain the upper hand.

Edwards somehow managed to step up his efforts over the final frames but the lead built up by Bell proved to be insurmountable as he deposed Edwards by unanimous decision 115-113 and 117-111 twice to become the new British super flyweight champion.

On the undercard, Danny Reynolds ripped the Central Area light middleweight crown from Jason Rushton with a first round knockout on the strength of a crushing body attack.

Super flyweight southpaw Lee Haskins won an important contest, narrowly defeating Jamie McDonnel by single point, 77-76, after eight rounds. With the victory, Haskins puts himself in position to possibly challenge Andy Bell for the British title in the near future.

Also on the bill, red-hot lightweight prospect John Fewkes stayed busy with a four round decision over Frederic Gosset, middleweight Kevin Conception knocked out Darren Rhodes in four and super feather Gary Sykes outpointed Peter Allen over six.

Other fighters in the winner’s circle include super bantam Danny Wallace, light middle Karl Chiverton, light heavy Billy Boyle, lightweight Tyrone Nurse and super bantam Mike Holloway.

Press Release composed by Jane Warburton and Curtis McCormick for www.frankmaloney.com

Photo of Chris Edwards vs. Andy Bell and Jamie McDonnel vs. Lee Haskins ©Jane Warburton/MMG and free for use only with credit given to same.