By Alan Vincent: Michael ‘Rocky’ Fielding won the latest Prizefighter trophy and £32,000 cheque on a thrilling night of boxing at the Olympia in Liverpool tonight.
The Stockley man took the title with a victory over Welshman Tobias Webb in the final.
Fielding, 23, knocked Webb down twice in the first round and the fight was stopped before he could come out for the second.
‘Rocky’ became the first man to win the tournament with three successive stoppages.
Watched by Liverpool boxing legend John Conteh, eight Super-Middleweights, including former World Champion Robin Reid, came together for the knockout tournament with each bout over three rounds.
Former Super-Middleweight World Champion Steve Collins said before the action started that it was one of the best line up ever for Prizefighter and the opening bout didn’t disappoint.
Unbeaten Fielding took on big punching Patrick J Maxwell and both fighters came out swinging in a blistering opener.
Local man Fielding had height and reach advantage but Maxwell, who has seven ko’s in the first three rounds, drew him into a slugfest which didn’t seem to bother Fielding.
Maxwell has been a pro since 1998 whereas Fielding was fighting in only his 4th bout, but the less experienced man piled on the pressure in the second round, putting Maxwell down.
Fielding followed up with a flurry of punches and the referee stopped the fight with Maxwell being battered onto the ropes.
In the second quarter-final, scouser Joe Ainscough took on 23-year-old southpaw Wayne Reed.
Brave Ainscough had overcome life threatening injuries after a street attack, to make a comeback and he started like a tornado, taking the first round.
Reed came back to make the second a close affair, and with Ainscough seemingly tiring, took over in the final round to put the scouser down with 10 seconds remaining.
Ainscough got up and survived the round to see the judges give him a win on a split decision. It was a controversial choice with pundit Jim Watt feeling Reed had done enough for the win.
The biggest name in the event, 40-year-old Robin Reid, who had given Joe Calzaghe a hard time in his prime was next up in a battle against Tobias Webb, nephew of Enzo Maccarinelli..
Reid struggled in the opening round with the 22-year-old Welshman Webb, in only his 6th professional fight, taking it.
Reid started to get sharper in a close second round and another scrappy final round was hard to call, but the judges awarded Webb a unanimous verdict, leaving Reid unhappy with the decision.
Over last 10 Prizefighter events no pre-tournament favourite has ever won, which didn’t bode well for bookies choice Carl Dilks.
Liverpool’s Dilks, knocked out in a round by James DeGale in his last fight, took on Jahmaine Smyle in the last quarter-final.
Leicester’s Smyle, a 16-1 outsider, in just his 6th pro fight, made a mockery of the odds coming forward aggressively and, after a close opener, almost stopped Dilks in the second round.
Dilks tried to pick his punches and box on the backfoot but Smyle kept marching forward and took the fight on a split decision.
Another pre-tournament favourite had bitten the dust.
Three of the four quarter-finals had been won by the underdog for the first time in the history of Prizefighter.
Scousers Fielding and Ainscough were back for the first semi-final, but it was all over in the first round.
Ainscough looked tired after his tough quarter and was easily picked off by Fielding’s skilfull punches as he bravely came forward.
A knockdown was ruled a slip by the referee but Ainscough was suffering and the referee stopped the fight with a nasty cut developing over his eye.
It was England against Wales in the second semi, with Smyle v Webb.
Smyle had been sparring with James DeGale in his preparation, but Swansea man Webb boxed beautifully in the first round to comfortably keep the more aggressive man at bay.
Rounds two and three were closer with the relentless Smyle having more success but Webb’s slicker boxing saw him through to a unanimous win on the scorecards and a decider against Fielding.
It had been a gruelling semi and this may have been decisive with Webb looking tired in the final but, with age on their side, both he and Fielding could now go on to bigger things.
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