Title glory for Truscott

Local boy comes good in front of home crowd to take Commonwealth belt

Last updated: 9th May 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Title glory for Truscott

Truscott: New Commonwealth champion

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Paul Truscott produced a stunning performance to beat Osumanu Akaba on points and claim the vacant Commonwealth featherweight title.

The local boy delighted the raucous home crowd in Middlesbrough by claiming the belt after 12 tough rounds of boxing.

Fighting for only the 11th time as a professional, Truscott caused an upset by taking a unanimous verdict on the judges' scorecards.

What makes the victory even more impressive is the fact that the 22-year-old had never before been beyond eight rounds in his career.

Emotional

"All the knockdowns I've had since I was a kid, I've proved them wrong there," an emotional Truscott said to Sky Sports.

"I didn't think I lost a round, maybe some of them were close but I didn't think I lost one of them.

"A lot of his shots were hitting my gloves and not getting through. He didn't hit that hard either, people said he was a 'banger' but he wasn't.

"I was learning round-by-round. Now I've done 12 rounds and I've proved I have got a chin."

Although the verdicts gave it 116-112 twice and 115-113 in Truscott's favour, it was a close call throughout.

Power

Akaba showed at times some of the power he possesses, although he seemed to struggle with the pace - no surprise, considering he had boxed just five rounds since September 2005.

The Golden Boy from Ghana came out with some wild shots at the start of the fourth, causing blood to stream from his opponent's nose.

However, to his credit Truscott overcame the early onslaught and landed plenty of telling punches on the counter.

Roared on by his loyal supporters, the hometown hero produced a rousing finish in the last as both men almost fought themselves to a standstill in front of the Sky cameras.

In the end it was Truscott who had done enough to get the nod from the judges, a fine result not just for the fighter but also for a region that is in desperate need of a champion after some lean times in the ring.