Murray vs Rosado: Rocky Fielding claim British super-middleweight title with points win over John Ryder
Sunday 23 April 2017 00:19, UK
Rocky Fielding claimed the British super-middleweight title after a split decision victory over John Ryder in Liverpool.
The Liverpudlian edged out Ryder in a hard-fought encounter to earn the vacant Lonsdale belt with tallies of 116-113 and 115-114, while the other judge scored it 115-114 for the Islington man.
A scrappy opening round set the tone, with Fielding struggling to impose his superior size on Ryder, although he did land a clean hook in the closing seconds.
Ryder was content to fight at close quarters and landed a crisp straight left in the second round, while he ripped punches into Fielding's ribs in the fourth.
But the Merseysider unloaded a couple of jolting uppercuts to stop Ryder in his tracks and seemed to dictate the fight from range in the middle rounds.
There was a determined response from Ryder in the ninth, forcing Fielding back with a flurry of punches, and both fighters traded hooks in the corner.
Ryder stepped up his assault in the 10th and hurt Fielding with a big right hand, but the Londoner's urgency was too late as he could not close the gap on two of the scorecards in the closing rounds.
Watch Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book the event online here or via your Sky remote.
