THE MIDLANDS featherweight belt changed hands on Bulkington ABC’s show at The Weston Hall Hotel.
Liam Harper defended the title in front of his home crowd, but Tom Jones (Lions) took it off him with a split points win.
Jones was rewarded for a strong finish.
Harper is a hot-and-cold talent who was good enough to be named Best Boxer at the Hull Box Cup in July.
The 22-year-old looked to be on course for another good night – but it only lasted for two minutes.
Harper started off smoothly, boxing around Jones, landing jabs and walking him onto lefts.
Jones connected with a right after Harper held his feet in the last minute of the round, and that encouraged him to quicken his feet and let his hands go.
Jones started the second on the front foot and showed a willingness to walk through Harper’s single punches to unload threes and fours.
Again, Jones did his best work in the final minute of the round when he landed rights to the chin.
He started the last round aggressively as well, sensing the bout could be up for grabs in the final three minutes.
Harper moved, looked to score with singles and then held his feet in the final minute, but Jones had more left in the tank and he got through with a burst of punches.
Harper wasn’t hurt – but didn’t have any time to respond.
