Cleverly stops Fry
Nathan Cleverly stopped Courtney Fry in 8 rounds to retain his British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles in a competitive fight.
Cleverly started quickly and looked to establish his dominance but Fry boxed smartly looking to land jabs and catch Nathan with counters. Cleverly was pressing the action and winning the rounds but Fry was showing why he was a top amateur and was making Nathan work all the way.
Fry was expected to be a stern test and he proved to be just that. Cleverly however, showed intelligence and he landed excellent body shots mixed in with some good head shots. He wasn't always landing cleanly to the head like he usually does but this was down to Fry's skills.
In the 8th Nathan's constantly improving power started to tell as he hurt Fry with shots to the head. Fry was in big trouble with Cleverly picking his shots well closing in for the stoppage. The referee jumped in with Fry under fire and Cleverly had passed this test with flying colours.
On the undercard Olympian Billy Joe Saunders was extended the full 4 rounds for the first time by Alex Spitko in an all action fight. Billy Joe was a clear winner but Spitko was very game and always fighting back.
Derek Chisora also had a 2 round win in a bad mismatch.
