Binman Rendall Munroe added the Commonwealth title to his collection - but was taken the distance by Isaac Nettey.
Uninamous win for Rendall, but it's a hard night's graft
Binman Rendall Munroe added the Commonwealth title to his collection after a gruelling win over the game Isaac Nettey.
The Leicester super-bantamweight was boxing for the sixth time in a year and it showed as he turned in a flat performance in front of an expectant Sunderland crowd.
But it is mark of his growing maturity and ability that he was still able to pitch a virtual shut-out, taking the title with a unanimous points win, 119-110, 119-110, 120-109.
Despite his hectic schedule - he is still a refuse collector of course - Munroe's fitness never falters, but he needed all his poise and patience to outwork Nettey, who was never completely overwhelmed.
At times ther Ghanaian was an utter nuisance and there were times, in the fight and in his corner, that the Commonwealth champion was bothered that he was unable to get the job done.
Overwhelmed
But the one thing Munroe knows is how to win fights and as game as his opponent was, he was never in any real danger of what would have been a disastrous defeat.
After a typical feeling and fact-finding first round, Munroe soon took control, using his jab at will and often backing the smaller man up. The second followed suit and it was not until the third session that he really found his range.
He had far greater success when he was able to establish some distance between them. Three lefts to the body suggested that Nettey would soon be overwhelmed and when a straight left wobbled him in the fifth, thoughts suddenly switched to a stoppage.
But Munroe seemed to take his foot off the gas. Nettey kept coming forward and although Munroe teed off regularly, there was more than enough coming back to keep him honest.
Antagonistic
In fact it soon got him hot and bothered. After an impressive seventh round when he bullied and bossed his opponent around and pinned him on the ropes, the frustration boiled over in a brief exchange with cornerman Jason Shinfield.
Munroe though, knows how to follow instructions. He was told to get the jab going again and just did that and perhaps the fact that he knew the win was in the bag led to him being tagged once or twice.
But Nettey was never going to produce anything more than the odd antagonistic offering on the counter and as the 10th round came to a close, Munroe landed a big right to the body, the most telling blow since the first half of the fight.
He was caught by a lone right in the 11th, but by come the close, there was no doubt whose arm was going to be raised as the boxing binman had cleaned up once again, even if he wasn't afford the easy night his recent efforts surely deserve.
