Brilliant South African Zolani Tete returned to familiar surroundings at the Echo Arena in Liverpool and once again left with a stoppage victory. Tete, who halted Ellesmere Port’s Paul Butler in eight back in 2015, needed seven rounds to win the vacant IBF International bantamweight belt and get the better of Jose Santos Gonzalez.
Tete was going through the motions early on, although a swift counter off the ropes put the Mexican down in the second. However, he decided enough was enough in the seventh and ruthlessly finished Gonzalez, dropping him with a right uppercut, before another big shot forced referee Steve Gray to step in.
His skills were once again on display for all to admire, as they were last time against Butler, and he could become a regular fixture in the UK after signing a deal with Frank Warren.
Tete’s last opponent in Liverpool, Butler also picked up a new title, the WBO International super-flyweight belt, following a dominant display against Sebastian Sanchez.
The Mexican was tricky to get to grips with, but the Ellesmere Port man slowly ground down his man and stopped him with two thunderous body shots in the ninth after winning all the previous rounds.
We could well finally see the long awaited clash between Butler and his domestic rival, who is also well ranked by the WBO, Jamie Conlan next.
Tommy Langford retained his WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title and added the Commonwealth title to his collection with a unanimous points decision over Dronfield’s Lewis Taylor, who holds the English title.
The scorecards of 118-111, 118-111 and 118-110 were perhaps a little unfair on Taylor, although not far off, who was industrious. But it was the champion from Birmingham who carried more power and the more meaningful blows.
There could be no argument with the eventual winner.
Matty Askin retained his English cruiserweight title over Simon Barclay, after referee Steve Gray waved it off after 1:18 of the second round. Askin dropped Barclay early in the first and opened the cut up, but it was one way traffic and rightly waved off. Barclay unfortunately looked out of his depth.
European bantamweight champion Ryan Farrag warmed up for the first defence of his title on June 4th against Karim Guerfi with a second round stoppage of Stefan Slavchev. Farrag smashed in a crunching body shot that left Slavchev unable to beat the count after 2:12.
Jazza Dickens took out his frustration following the withdrawal of Guillermo Rigondeaux, by forcing Reynaldo Cajina to quit on his stool at the end of the sixth. Dickens will fight for the vacant European super-bantamweight belt on June 4th against Abigail Medina, back at the Echo Arena, sharing top billing with Farrag.
Farrag and Dickens’ fellow ERT fighter Kevin Satchell returned to the ring and winning ways, as he got the better of Argentine Adrian Dimas Garcon 80-72 on points. The former British, Commonwealth and European champion will be targetting some bigger fights in 2016.
Former Indian amateur sensation Vijender Singh improved to 4-0, all inside the distance, with a third round stoppage of Alexander Horvath. The Hungarian went down, claiming an injured shoulder and didn’t beat the count, leaving the contest all over after 1:02.
Highly touted lightweight prospect Zelfa Barrett put on a classy performance to win 60-54 after six over Damian Lawniczak in the opening fight of the evening. Leicester’s Leon Woodstock was also a points winner, this time 40-36, over the durable veteran Ibrar Riyaz.
– Matt Bevan / @MBevs68
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