Terri Harper retains title, Dalton Smith and Charles Frankham impress on debuts while 'Swifty' Smith returns from injury
Friday 10 May 2019 22:00, UK
Terri Harper retained her WBC international lightweight title after Claudia Lopez was stopped in six rounds.
Harper started the opening round on the front foot against the former two-weight champion Lopez, who suffered a cut high on her forehead in the second following an accidental clash of heads.
The experienced Argentinian, fighting in her 35th contest, began to chase after Harper in the third but was caught with a heavy right and uppercut in the fourth.
Lopez, with blood streaming down her face, fought back again in the fifth but was rocked by an uppercut and in the sixth, a heavy right saw her hold before the referee waved off the fight.
Dalton Smith shined on his professional debut as he won all four rounds against Luka Leskovic.
The highly-rated super-lightweight showed off an impressive variety of shots in the opening round and continued to impress in the second.
Smith's confidence grew as the fight wore on and the 22-year-old dropped his hands in the fourth, whipping in punches from all angles as he pushed for knockout win over the Croatian.
Charles Frankham made a successful winning debut in the professional ranks after outpointing Tzemal Xouseinoglou over four rounds.
Frankham, an 11-time amateur titlist, bossed his shorter Greek opponent from the opening bell but was caught by left-hook and right-hand counters on more than one occasion.
The 19-year-old super-featherweight let his hands go in the final two rounds but was unable to secure a stoppage, claiming a 40-37 decision.
American super-featherweight Raymond Ford cruised to a points decision over Aleksandrs Birkenbergs on his UK debut.
The former Team USA star showed off superior footwork and an impressive range of shots to claim his second victory in the pro ranks after winning all four rounds.
"I tried to get him out of there but he was tough, he wasn't going anywhere. I tried body shots, head shots, everything but he's a tough guy," said the 20-year-old southpaw.
Stephen Smith made a winning return from a gruesome ear injury after 17 months out of the ring.
The former two-time world super-featherweight title challenger secured a unanimous points victory over Des Newton after winning all six rounds.
Smith almost lost his ear in his last fight against Francisco Vargas at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in December 2017.
