Selby stops Simpson

Lee Selby defended his British and Commonwealth featherweight titles with a fifth-round stoppage of John Simpson on Wednesday night.

Welshman defends British and Commonwealth featherweight titles

Lee Selby made a successful defence of his British and Commonwealth featherweight titles against John Simpson at York Hall on Wednesday night. Referee Marcus McDonnell stopped the contest two minutes and two seconds into the fifth round after Simpson had been floored by a left hook. The Scot did manage to beat the count but McDonnell decided he was in no state to continue and waved off proceedings. It was the first time Simpson (22-9) had been beaten inside the distance in his 31-fight career and improves Welshman Selby's overall record to 12-1 (4 KOs). On the undercard, Hatfield middleweight Billy Joe Saunders won his 12th straight fight since turning professional with a technical knockout of Tommy Tolan after 67 seconds of the opening round. And Steve O'Meara defended the Southern Area light-middleweight title with a first-round knockout of Nathan Weise.