Haywood ends a long layoff by taking title
EARL Shilton’s Kyle Haywood claimed the vacant Midlands Area super welterweight title with a onepoint win over Derby-based Alex Fearon on Saturday evening, writes Paul Mason.
A packed Morningside Arena enjoyed a Carl Greaves-promoted show with plenty of local interest.
Haywood was coming off a lengthy lay-off of some two-and-a-half years, with his last contest taking place at the same venue, a tight March 2019 points loss in a challenge for the same belt against CJ Challenger. Fearon had twice previously unsuccessfully challenged for Midlands titles at welterweight and super lightweight, and came in at three weeks’ notice, stepping in for Ryan Amos.
It was a feeling-out opening round, but Haywood warmed to his task in the second, his effective counterpunching landing to both head and body, trapping Fearon on the ropes.
Haywood was the busier of the two and pressured Fearon with quick attacks that left him unable to establish a rhythm. The fourth saw close quarters action where Haywood would have success with flurries of punches, but Fearon had success of his own with his short, sharp attacks.
Haywood hunted down his opponent and landed the cleaner and more accurate shots, looking clearly ahead going into the final few rounds.
Understandably, with ring rust a factor, Haywood tired slightly down the stretch, allowing Fearon to land with more regularity, but the visiting fighter had seemingly left himself too much to do to win the bout.
The two clashed heads in a frantic final round that left both men nursing cuts, but Haywood dug deep, exchanging punches until the final bell.
With the crowd on their feet, referee Shaun Messer judged a delighted Haywood a 96-95 winner.
“I thought I was in control of the whole fight, but it was close,” Haywood told Fightzone.
“I couldn’t afford to lose concentration and let things slip.
“I’ve been out of the ring for twoand-a-half years. I didn’t want to go on the road or fight journeymen, I wanted to fight for titles and get back up there. I’m 30 years old now, and I need to push on if I want to do anything
in boxing”.
Elsewhere on the card, Harbybased Stanley Stannard, backed by a vociferous following, defeated Kyle Fox over an entertaining six rounds at middleweight.
Stannard was first to the punch with regularity and ran out a 58-56 winner.
Shepshed’s Benn Norman won his bantamweight contest with Reiss Taylor, coming through by a 60-54 margin.
Loughborough’s Joe Ducker tasted success as he took all six rounds against Simas Volosinas, from Lithuania.
Connor “Tiger” Ireson, of Leicester, remains unbeaten after recording a sixth straight win with a four-round victory in his middleweight clash with Sheffield’s Qasim Hussein, who had only been stopped twice in 111 professional contests. Ireson took a 39-37 win on the referee’s scorecard.