• Boxing

Tyson Fury survives third-round scare to stop Firtha

Tyson Fury came through a stinging overhand right to defeat Nicolai Firtha © PA Photos

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Tyson Fury extended his undefeated record to 16 fights on Saturday night, stopping Nicolai Firtha in front of a boisterous crowd in Belfast.

Firtha, the North American champion, is known for possessing a strong chin, as shown when WBA belt holder Alexander Povetkin failed to finish him back in December. Fury was able to succeed where Povetkin failed, forcing the referee to step in midway through the 12-round fight.

It was a largely impressive performance by the British and Commonwealth champion, who worked cleverly behind his punishing jab, using it to set up his powerful right hand, which would eventually finish the contest. Firtha was rocked and bloodied in round one, dropped in round four, and then eventually rescued by the referee in the fifth - despite the fact he was still standing.

The only concerning moment for Fury came in round three, when he left himself open to a combination at close quarters, which clearly hurt the champion as he went staggering backwards towards the ropes.

"I had to take a good shot there and come back," Fury told Channel Five. "It was an action-packed fight and I really enjoyed it. He was taking some tough shots, and in the end he took too many.

"I've got to keep working the jab, keep working the right hand behind it, and keep improving my defence. I'm learning, you don't become a finished product overnight.

"He was seconds away from being blasted out of there, I caught him with a swinging right hand and he was gone. Povetkin hit him with every shot in the book, but I've been in there and stopped him with a stinging right. It shows big men are big men and little men are little men. Stay out of my way."

Elsewhere on Saturday, Lee Selby became the new British and Commonwealth featherweight champion after a brutal knockout of Stephen Smith. Welshman Selby had arrived at the Olympia promising to shock the champion, and he delivered in spectacular fashion, stopping his rival dead with a huge left in the eighth round that left Smith on the canvas for several minutes.

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