BRITISH TITLE DELIGHT

Wow! This was a fight that British boxing was looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint – take a bow … Tommy Frank and Matt Windle.

The little big men treated a vociferous crowd at a packed Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield to a 12 round war, that saw local man Frank become the first fighter from the ‘Steel City’ to win the British Flyweight crown.

A distance fight didn’t look on the cards after Matt was down on his haunches in round two from a solid right hand, but the Birmingham man showed the mettle he is known for, got back up and battled back.

Both men had success in a seesaw contest, but Windle appeared just too small to dent ‘Super’ Tommy, who ran out a unanimous winner on all three judges cards.

Watch as Tommy chats to Secondsout after making boxing history:

In the main event, Rotherham’s Kash Ali made a successful first defence of his International Boxing Federation (IBF) European Heavyweight Title with a retirement win over Germany’s Roman Gorst.

Gorst was 7-1, with six KOs before the bout, but didn’t get much chance to land anything significant on big Kash’s chin.  Ali – who is now 20-1 (11) – never looked in danger, controlled the action, and landed an uppercut in round seven that broke the German visitor’s jaw – forcing a corner retirement. Kash will look forward to a step up next as he continues to cement himself in the European and world rankings.

Also om the card, Levi Giles remains unbeaten at 10-0 (3) after an eight round shutout win over the spirited Jonny Phillips; Michael Gomez Jr took out the frustrations of the last few months that have seen successive Central Area Title fights fall through with a stoppage win over Midlander Jahfibus Faure; Irishman Lee Reeves got some rounds in against the always tough MJ Hall with a six round win; Charlie Schofield ticked over with win number 17 against journeyman Lewis van Poetsch; Sheffield’s Shakiel Thompson made a winning return to the ring after a two year hiatus with a first round KO over Pavel Albrecht from the Czech Republic, whilst local fighter Perry Howe was all at sea after a big right hand from Nathan Junor, being stopped in three rounds.