Gavin Rees put his name back in lights by being crowned light-welterweight Prizefighter champion at London Olympia.
Hard Lynes for Colin inside London Olympia
Gavin Rees put his name back in lights by being crowned light-welterweight Prizefighter champion at London Olympia on Friday night.
The former WBA super-lightweight world champion reached the final with victories over Ted Bami and Jason Cook before over-powering former IBO World, British and European champion Colin Lynes in the final.
Roared on by close friend Joe Calzaghe at ringside, 'The Rock' Rees landed a flurry of answered punches on Essex fighter Lynes to claim a points victory and the prize purse of £32,000.
Lynes had shown admirable bravery throughout the evening, seeing off highly-fancied David Barnes and Young Mutley to reach the final.
But the final proved one step too far, all three judges voting in favour of Rees.
Telling punch
The first bout of the evening saw Michael Grant put his undefeated record on the line against former IBO Lightweight champion Cook.
Welsh veteran Cook rocked Grant with a crunching right in the opening round, and the cut sustained as a result eventually saw the contest stopped midway through the third.
Grant was visibly disgusted with the decision from the referee as his undefeated record was left in tatters.
Bami and Rees then took to the ring to decide who would book a date with Cook in the semi-final.
The high-profile fight failed to live up to its billing and neither boxer was able to land a telling punch throughout the duration of the contest.
Although there was little between the two fighters after the three rounds, Newbridge-based Rees landed the cleaner punches and was awarded a unanimous victory by the judges to set-up an all-Welsh semi-final.
Former IBO World, British and European champion Lynes and Manchester's Barnes then went toe-to-toe in another tightly-contested quarter-final encounter.
Neither man was able to land a knock-out blow and, after a split-decision, it was Hornchurch fighter Lynes who progressed.
Revenge
The fourth quarter-final saw former British welterweight champion Mutley scrape past young Welshman Barrie Jones to set-up a semi-final bout with Lynes.
The first semi-final saw powerful Welsh duo Cook and Rees go head-to-head.
Rees picked up where he left off in his quarter-final win before unleashing a jaw-juddering left hook which floored Cook in round two.
The Maesteg man failed to haul back the deficit from there on in and Rees celebrated his spot in the final with a comfortable win on the scorecards.
Lynes and Mutley then squared off for the right to fight Rees in what was the second meeting between these two.
West Bromwich fighter Mutley was gunning for revenge after losing to Lynes in their European title fight back in 2007.
However, fatigue set in for Mutley, and Lynes prevailed via a split-decision to seal his place in the final.
And although the Hornchurch man fought gamely in the decider, Rees showed his class to put his name firmly back in the frame for future honours.
