Derry Mathews defeats Tony Luis, captures interim WBA lightweight title

By Boxing News - 04/18/2015 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: In a controversial fight, #4 WBA lightweight contender Derry Mathews (38-9-2, 29 KOs) defeated #9 WBA Tony Luis (19-3, 7 KOs) by a very, very questionable decision on Saturday night to capture the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title a the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

The final judges’ scores were 114-112, 114-112 and 115-112.

Referee Howard John Foster constantly broke up the action when Luis was attempting to work on the inside. It was really strange because there was no reason for Foster to break the two fighters apart because Luis frequently had his hands free and was nailing Mathews with shots in close. Foster really got in the way of Luis’ ability to work. Foster further got in the way of the fight by docking both fighters a point in the 8th round for a little extracurricular activity. I thought Foster should have just let the two fight on instead of taking matters in his own hands and taking points off.

Taking the fight on short notice, Luis, 27, outworked the 31-year-old Mathews in the 2nd half to deserve at least a 12 round draw if not the win. I had the fight a draw, but if there was a winner of the fight, I had Luis winning because of how he finished strong in dominating the last six rounds.

“He’s a warrior. He’s got a chin on him,” Mathews said after the fight.

Mathews further said that if he wins the WBA lightweight title, he’ll give a rematch to Anthony Crolla, who he fought to a 12 round draw against in their fight in March 2013.

Luis complained after the fight about how Howard John Foster frequently broke him when he was trying to work on the inside. Luis wasn’t too happy about the constant breaks in the action.

Luis had Mathews against the ropes a lot in the 2nd half of the fight, and clearly hurt him on at least one occasion late in the action. Mathews reacted poorly to the pressure from Luis, as he retreated again and again to the ropes to try and cover up. It didn’t work out too well for Mathews because Luis was able to bombard him with heavy shots through his guard and around it.

Other boxing news on the card:

Liam Smith TKO 7 David Ezequiel Romero
Joe Selkirk TKO 6 Yuri Pompilio
Josh Leather pts 6 Ryan Hardy
Steven Lewis TKO 1 Reece Smith
Andrew Cain TKO 2 Patrik Bartos
Macaulay McGowan pts 4 Arvydas Trizno



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