Munroe marches on

Munroe: Fourth defence

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Rendall Munroe capped off a remarkable year by retaining his European Super-Bantamweight title after the fifth round retirement of Fabrizio Trotta in Dublin, while Jason Booth rolled back the years to beat Sean Hughes.

Leicester bin man Munroe had a tricky start to his fourth European title fight in nine months, with Italian opponent Trotta causing problems with his speed.

Trotta was buzzing around in the opening two rounds and making Munroe look a little bit off the pace, but 'Two Tone' had his plan to work the body.

Munroe got back into the contest in the fourth round with more shots to the body, and they seemed to cause Trotta problems as he went back to his corner.

After one minute and 27 seconds of the fifth round, Trotta pulled up sharply after attempting a right uppercut, and immediately he turned away from the fight.

Pulled out

After a quick consultation with his corner, Trotta was pulled out of the fight as he still seemed to be in pain around his right wrist.

"Every fight I expect it to be tough, but I think I was too strong for him really," Munroe told Sky Sports.

"I think it was just an excuse, I think he was looking for a way out really.

"I could see him after the fourth round heading back to the corner shaking his head like he didn't want to know.

"You could see from the start that I was going for the body shots, I'm a good body puncher and you could see it hurt him."

Next up for Munroe is a re-match with Spaniard Kiko Martinez, which could come in February according to promoter Frank Maloney.

"It'll probably be at the end of February somewhere in the UK," Maloney said.

"We've done a deal with Martinez's people for him to come to the UK and the only stipulation is that they don't want to fight in Nottingham."

Too Smooth

Jason Booth rolled back the years to defend his Commonwealth bantamweight title with 10th round stoppage of Sean Hughes.

'Too Smooth' Booth was exactly that against Pontefract fighter Hughes, looking a lot sharper and finding the target almost at will in a one-sided contest.

The first eight rounds probably all went Booth's way, but 'Short Fuse' Hughes was not hurt until the ninth round, when a right hand buzzed him up before a hurtful body shot had him sagging.

Another body short forced Hughes to his knee in the 10th round, and although he made the count and then the bell, his corner had seen enough and pulled him out before the start of the 11th.

"My punches were bit lacklustre but I had good boxing skills, I was feeling sharp," Booth told Sky Sports after the fight.

"There's always something to work on, and I'll go home and work on them, but I was a bit polished with some of my shots.

"I've still got a few years left I'm still showing these young kids a thing or two."