Luke Campbell was a class above Tommy Coyle plus four other things we learned in Hull
By Isaac Robinson
Last Updated: 02/08/15 11:21pm
After Luke Campbell's classy stoppage of Tommy Coyle here are five things we learned from a memorable night in Hull.
Luke has the force
Some suggested the occasion might get to him. Others said Tommy Coyle would. It was the first time he'd been beyond eight rounds, but Luke Campbell answered some pretty serious questions on Saturday night.
Magnanimous in defeat, Coyle said afterwards he had only provided the test of "a domestic fighter at best" but regardless, the manner in which Campbell dealt with the underdog's committed if slightly crude attacks impressed everyone.
The hand speed is a natural gift but Campbell showed a maturity and patience to compliment it and will now be regarded as a serious threat in a packed division.
Sat at ringside, Alex Arthur reacted by claiming he would "put his house" on Campbell becoming a world champion and with Eddie Hearn hinting that a world title fight at the same venue next summer was the target, it's hard to think otherwise.
Looking like the real Dill
Anyone who passed Dillian Whyte off as a 'hype job' being built up only to be knocked out by Anthony Joshua just the same as everyone else may be due a rethink.
The Brixton man maintained his unbeaten record with a headline-grabbing first-round stoppage of Irineu Costa and while there were question marks over the conditioning of the Brazilian, the efficiency with which Whyte exposed him was encouraging.
For the first minute and a half, Whyte popped out a sharp jab that gave Costa no chance to settle. With Johnathon Banks now in his corner, he looked more refined in his work and although he missed with his first attempt at a big right hand, it was merely a stay of execution for the visitor.
The knockdowns weren't the results of the cleanest shots in the world but they confirmed at least that Whyte possesses arguably the most precious commodity in heavyweight boxing - true punching power.
David Price has been hailed as one of the hardest punchers in the division and he took six rounds to halt Costa. Whyte dispatched him inside one - making his claims of repeating his amateur victory over Joshua in the professional ranks more believable.
Rose can tough it out
This was a Brian Rose we hadn't seen before. He had a real bee in his bonnet and went what seemed the wrong way about securing a rematch victory over Carson Jones via a wide points margin.
It was understandable, given his pride had been so wounded by February's shock first-round stoppage defeat to the American, but his corner must have been more than a touch concerned by his insistence on trading so often.
The first round yielded no clues. The Blackpool man was at his smooth best with some clever movement in and out of range and textbook jabbing.
In the second, the horror of the first bout threatened to return as Jones connected with a big right hand and followed up with the uppercut - but this time Rose's recovery was quicker and he grimly set about beating Jones at his own game.
Bloodied by a persistent cut on the bridge of his nose, Rose was a picture of hard-fought victory at the final bell and while he did little to rubbish Jones' pre-fight claim he lacks power, he'd proven his point.
Rickster on the rise?
We didn't quite 'learn' this for sure but Ricky Burns seems back at home at lightweight at least - recording a one-sided but bizarre fifth-round stoppage of Prince Ofotsu, whose corner threw in the towel to everyone's surprise.
He's not yet the Burns of old who seemed so comfortable in beating Kevin Mitchell emphatically in September 2012, but dipped confidence is inevitable given Burns had won only one of his last five fights heading in to this.
Ofotsu wasn't the most intimidating opponent. Burns was comfortably the bigger man and seemed all too aware of it. There was a slight air of desperation in the manner in which the Scot launched his attacks and little economy in his punching.
That being said, the bully-boy tactics paid off eventually and Ofotsu had seemed unsteady at several times by the time the towel came.
Burns re-enters the lightweight division with a host of domestic rivals ahead of him in the queue for world titles and although he'll need to improve on Saturday night's performance, it was a step in the right direction.
The late Laight show
What a story this was. The stuff they make films about.
Before facing the unbeaten Carl Chadwick, Kristian 'Mr Reliable' Laight had lost 202 of his 218 fights. In June, he'd been suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control following 31 consecutive defeats.
Reinstated the following month but warned he would be monitored on a fight-by-fight basis, Laight suffered two more losses before being booked to take on Hull's Chadwick, who had followed up his debut win with a second-round stoppage of Kevin Hanks in April.
Laight frustrated the home fighter from the opening bell and although his victory was not televised and happened before the majority of the crowd arrived, it reaffirmed his status as a professional boxer.
He's also a southpaw, but not sure that new Hollywood film is about him...
