JACK RAFFERTY retained his British and Commonwealth titles with a hard-fought, and somewhat contentious, 12-round draw against a dogged Mark Chamberlain.
The pair squared off at Planet Ice in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, earlier this evening, delivering an enthralling super-lightweight battle at the top of the bill.
But in the end, a scorecard of 115-114 in favour of Chamberlain, 17-1-1 (12 KOs), was overruled by two 114-114 verdicts, with both men believing that they had done enough to emerge victorious.
A lack of action saw Chamberlain edge the opening round, especially after he landed a long left hand that momentarily knocked his opponent off balance.
The hard-hitting southpaw then stabbed Rafferty, 26-0-1 (17 KOs), in the pit of the stomach, once again making full use of his potent backhand, before soaking up an equally spiteful right hand upstairs.
Nevertheless, Chamberlain appeared to be growing with confidence after every exchange and, in the third round, was able to find plenty of success at mid-range.
Somewhere along the way, though, the Portsmouth man suffered a small cut on the inside of his left eye – courtesy of a thumping right hand from Rafferty – which was then expertly taken care of in the corner.
But even so, Rafferty continued to pile on the pressure, this time causing a cut to appear beneath the away fighter’s right eye in the fourth round.
Chamberlain, to his credit, responded with several promising flurries, yet it was ‘The Demolition Man’ who ultimately seemed to be gathering momentum with each exchange.
Despite his best efforts, the away fighter could not ignore the damage around his eyes, either, as Rafferty, quite rightly, wasted few opportunities to target the worsening cuts.
With Chamberlain extending his relentless punch output into the eighth round, however, it appeared that the grandstand finish was gradually slipping through Rafferty’s fingers.
In fact, Chamberlain showcased not just a sturdy chin, but also a refined boxing brain, with his tidy activity arguably swinging a few of the later rounds in his favour.
Either way, the 26-year-old’s effort down the stretch was truly remarkable, especially when considering the punishing spells he was forced to endure in several of the earlier rounds.
Yet despite giving a tremendous account of himself, Chamberlain was ultimately left feeling aggrieved, much like his opponent, after reaching a rather unsatisfactory verdict.
Unsurprisingly, both combatants then called for an immediate rematch in their post-fight interviews, verbally agreeing to collide in a second encounter before the end of this year.
