Jason Booth shrugged off his late arrival at York Hall to comfortably retain his British super-bantamweight title against Rocky Dean.
Champion defends belt at Bethnal Green despite delayed arrival
Jason Booth retained his British super-bantamweight title with a comprehensive points win over Rocky Dean.
The Nottingham boxer shrugged off his late arrival at York Hall in Bethnal Green with a polished performance in front of the
Sky Sports cameras.
While a stoppage never seemed likely, Booth's phenomenal work-rate meant he was always well ahead of his opponent from Norfolk.
After throwing over 1,000 punches in 12 rounds, Booth was a lopsided winner on the scorecards, getting a shut-out 120-108 verdict on one of the scorecards.
Short notice
The two other judges gave it 119-109 in favour of the 31-year-old who claimed the title from Mark Moran back in April on just 11 days' notice.
"I couldn't break him down - I hit him hard but he wasn't going," Booth told
Sky Sports afterwards.
"I thought 'I'm not going to win the fight inside, I've just got to keep moving all night'. I didn't throw every power shot but he had a good game plan. He's a tough kid Rocky Dean and anyone who fights him knows that they've been in with him."
Booth's display was even more impressive considering he had only turned up at the venue barely 30 minutes before the opening bell due to traffic problems.
The lack of time to prepare didn't seem to bother him though. From the opening round onwards his non-stop movement and tremendous work-rate bamboozled Dean.
The biggest concern for the champion turned out to be an occasional clash of heads between the pair, with referee Richie Davis forced to have a word with both boxers about it midway through the sixth.
The warning from the official failed to prevent the odd coming together, though, and one such incident left the challenger with a nasty wound on his forehead.
"He was too good for me, too good in every department," Dean, who lost to Matthew Marsh in his previous bid to win the Lonsdale belt, admitted.
"The movement was too much for me. That's what beat me. I'm not disappointed; I've lost to a great champion."
Future plans
Promoter Frank Maloney intends to sit down with Booth to work out a plan for the future, though his close friendship with Rendell Munroe rules out a crack at the reigning European champion.
"We are going to sit down and talk. I think he's got a future at super-bantamweight," Maloney confirmed.
"With Munroe we are going to move into world-class level hopefully, then maybe he (Booth) may be able to step in and fight for the European title.
"He and Munroe are friends, it's a fight we could make down the road but at this moment it's not on the agenda."
