Tor Hamer clinched the Betfair Prizefighter International Heavyweights title at York Hall after beating Kevin Johnson on points.
New Yorker upsets favourite Johnson
Tor Hamer clinched the Betfair Prizefighter International Heavyweights title at York Hall after beating Kevin Johnson on points in an all-American final.
New Yorker Hamer triumphed by a unanimous decision, the three judges scoring the fight 30-27, 29-28 and 30-28 in his favour.
Johnson landed two nice shots in the opening round but that was pretty much all 'Kingpin' - the pre-event favourite - had to offer, while the busy Hamer got through plenty of work.
The second round was a little more even but Hamer, a former Golden Gloves champion as an amateur, finished the round well and again seemed to land the more blows.
Seeming to believe he had the fight in the bag, he then took things a little easier in the final round and Johnson landed a pair of jabs but he had not done enough and the judges gave Hamer the nod.
Explosive
Sky Sports statistics backed them up, suggesting Hamer had landed 37 punches in the final, to 26 from Johnson.
Hamer had also shown off his slick boxing skills in his first round by picking off Marcelo Luiz Nascimento at ease to win on points, while he proved he packs a punch in the semis.
An explosive performance saw the compact Hamer stop Tom Dallas in the first round after attacking from the bell and rocking his Kent-based rival with a big right.
Dallas, though, had given his all in a terrific all-British scrap with Tom Little in the last of the four quarter-finals. Dallas finally stopping Little in the final minute after a toe-to-toe encounter.
Johnson also picked up a knockout en route to the final as the 32-year-old despatched of Noureddine Meddoune.
But he failed to live up to his pre-tournament prediction of a knockout in every stage - with Johnson earning a fairly laborious points win over fellow former world title challenger Albert Sosnowski in their semi-final.
