Prizefighter: Tom Doran takes middleweight spoils as Cello Renda finishes runner-up again
Sunday 15 February 2015 15:48, UK
Cello Renda suffered Prizefighter heartbreak again as Tom Doran walked away from Blackpool with the £32,000.
More than four years after coming up short against Martin Murray in Prizefighter's fourth edition Renda was again runner-up among the middleweights, stopped by a perfect left hook in the third round of his final.
The knockout earned Doran a £2,000 bonus on top of the winner's prize - not a bad night's work for the Welshman who spent three years away from the ring before returning in May last year.
The 27-year-old remains unbeaten, although that record looked under real threat as he struggled to work out the relentless Renda in a one-sided opening round.
Doran recovered the poise that was evident on his run to the final, levelling it up with an impressive second that included a crunching left to Renda's body.
That shot - on the back of two typically energetic heats - appeared to take a toll on Renda, who was never in the third and stumbled forward into the ropes after walking on to a huge left that caught him flush on the chin.
The Peterborough man beat the count but offered no argument when the fight was waved off with 1 minute 44 seconds on the clock.
Afterwards Doran told Sky Sports: "I like proving people wrong, and I think I've done that. Onwards and upwards now, I'm putting the inactivity behind me and looking to the future."
Of his slow start he said: "Cello's a massive puncher and you've got to take that into account. I got the first out of the way and picked it up from there."
That punching power was in evidence as Renda stopped Liam Conroy in his first-round contest before outworking the more precise Jack Arnfield to take his semi-final on points.
Doran disposed of pre-tournament favourite Luke Keeler by unanimous decision in his semi-final having seen off southpaw Craig Cunningham in the first round.
