IT was, in many ways, a mixed night of action on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester. I thought the card that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing had put together, with one notable exception, was balanced and a series of fights that few could complain about. It probably didn’t quite deliver what we expected on the night, but good fights on paper don’t always deliver in the ring.
The intriguing welterweight main event showdown between Jack Catterall and Harlem Eubank always carried a hint of risk about it. Two styles that were never going to give us blood, guts, and thunder. Although we did get the blood. But pre-fight, I thought the price of victory and the cost of a defeat would inspire both to serve up a much better fighter than the one we got.
But it was a beyond frustrating headline fight. Eubank had the chance to make his career. But in simple terms, he blew it. Catterall did what he had to do. Eubank did practically nothing. An accidental clash of heads in the sixth round was the catalyst for the premature ending.
Catterall deservedly got the technical decision after the six completed rounds, by scores of 69-65, 69-66, and 69-66. Some may say the early stoppage saved the crowd from further punishment. I wouldn’t argue too much with that.
Eubank celebrated as though he had won, which was just bizarre, deluded even. From ringside, I could only give him one round. On the biggest night of his fighting life, Eubank didn’t give anywhere near enough. He said his game plan was to come on late. But you can’t do so little in giving so many early rounds early.
It might be hard for his career to recover from a performance like that. He called for a rematch. The Catterall team said they would move on. We all should.
Joe Cordina made his return from an extended hiatus after losing his world super-featherweight title in 2024. Cordina outpointed the tough Mexican Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz. Cordina showed clear signs of ring rust, and his performance was most certainly on the workmanlike side. I’m not convinced he is back to his best, and he’ll definitely need to improve on this showing if he wants to be a world champion at lightweight.
Aqib Fiaz and Alex Murphy had 10 hard rounds in their competitive lightweight contest. I saw plenty of online discontent when Fiaz had his hand raised, but I had no complaints. I preferred the work of Fiaz, albeit in a fight where most of the rounds were up for at least some kind of debate.
The blue-chip cruiserweight prospect Pat Brown continued his march to major titles when he stopped Lewis Oakford inside a round. Brown started with patience. But when he found his first real taste of success, he quickly and impressively ended the fight. Brown is going places.
Heavyweight prospect Leo Atang sold enough tickets to be bumped up the card, and he made the perfect professional debut in dispatching the Bulgarian import Milen Paunov inside a round. The 18-year-old has been heavily hyped. It’s extremely early days, but Eddie Hearn may have found his next heavyweight star.
William Crolla lost his unbeaten record to Frazer Wilkinson. Crolla had impressed in his eight previous fights before running into Wilkinson. Crolla never really got going, and he was always seemingly chasing the fight.
But Crolla was always in it, and you sensed he would eventually turn the fight around. Crolla had his moments in the 5th round until Wilkinson hurt and dropped him. But even in that pivotal 6th round, Crolla was threatening a quite remarkable comeback, with Wilkinson appearing to be fading.
However, when Crolla was hurt again and pinned up against the ropes, the referee called a halt to the action. At 26, Crolla will come again and can draw inspiration from his brother in overcoming adversity. But Wilkinson deserves his moment, and hopefully, he is duly rewarded for his upset victory over the home fighter.
Skye Nicolson returned after losing her WBC world featherweight title to Tiara Brown in March. The Australian is on her way down to super-bantamweight, and she won her first fight to what she hopes will be a second world title.
I would use the word “fight” incredibly loosely. In truth, it was a horrible one-sided mismatch. I’d even call it embarrassing. Carla Camila Campos Gonzales had no business sharing a ring with Skye Nicolson. Gonzales has nine wins on her record. The fighters that the Bolivian has beaten have no victories between them. It was an incredibly poor piece of matchmaking.
There is taking it easy, and there is taking something else. Gonzales was badly overmatched, and nobody can seriously defend making or sanctioning a fight where the difference in levels was so apparent. Pre-fight, Nicolson was 1/100 to win. But even those odds flattered Gonzales.
Nicolson looked good, and I certainly don’t blame her for the match-up, but Gonzales offered little or no resistance, so we have to offer some kind of context to the performance of Nicolson. It lasted two rounds, I’m surprised it lasted that long.
All concerned, can, and should do better when finding opponents for Nicolson going forward. One-sided fights like this need to be called out for what they are.
You can never be sure how things look and feel for those watching at home on DAZN, but from ringside, overall, I felt the card was solid enough in terms of the live experience. The main event was somewhat of a disappointment, but that happens. I do think the UK market, with some notable exceptions, has suffered of late.
Too many fights that belong on UK soil go elsewhere, and some cards suffer as a consequence because of a lack of depth. There was perhaps an element of that on Saturday night, but all things considered, and the Skye Nicolson fiasco aside, I think the majority of the crowd would have had few complaints with what they got served up.
