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Gutsy Mitchell becomes first man to defeat Murray

Kevin Mitchell was rocked badly in the second round © Getty Images

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Kevin Mitchell and John Murray rescued an otherwise desperate night of boxing at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Saturday, putting on a first class lightweight battle as Mitchell stopped his rival in the eighth round following one the most impressive, gutsy performances seen in the ring this year.

The three previous fights on the card either ended in a disappointing or farcical nature, sometimes both, but Mitchell and Murray both deserve an immense amount of credit for a true war. Murray came forward relentlessly, head down as is his trademark, while Mitchell displayed the superior footwork and timing, showing a frequent willingness to stand his ground when questions were asked.

In the end, Mitchell came through a huge test of his mental resolve to inflict a first defeat on Murray, who ended the fight heavily bruised and swollen around his face. Having previously been rocked himself, the Dagenham fighter dropped Murray before forcing the stoppage at 1.46 of the eighth round to become the new WBO inter-continental lightweight champion.

Mitchell looked sublime as he picked off his opponent in round one, but a big right hand in the second stopped him dead. The effect of Murray's power was so telling that Mitchell began to dance significantly more in order to avoid the tighter exchanges, but both men still refused to allow a second to go by without a punch being thrown.

By the end of the fourth Mitchell had thrown 211 strikes to 209 from Murray, but it was Murray who appeared to be inflicting more cumulative damage. Almost on a round-by-round basis he would land a big right hand to set up an onslaught, roughing his rival up against the ropes.

Mitchell arguably had the greater need for victory after suffering the first loss of his career to Michael Katsidis, and he continued to find openings of his own, cutting Murray around the left eye. The Hammer enjoyed his best round for a while in the seventh, slamming Murray with a huge left uppercut that left him on wobbly legs as the bell came to his rescue.

Mitchell suddenly sensed victory, peppering his foe with left hook/left uppercut combinations, and one such hook floored Murray. He took an eight count, but Mitchell launched one more ambush that forced the ref to step in for arguably the biggest win of his career.

"This is Mitchell back. I'm listening to my corner, perfect, world champion next," a triumphant Mitchell told Sky Sports. "I'm not here to mess about, I lost my last fight, which was down to me, I'm not messing around - I'm flying. John's a true champion, he's a strong guy, I'll get the world title shot, and then I promise I'll defend it against him."

The third defence of Ricky Burns' WBO super-featherweight crown ended in farcical circumstances as Nicky Cook's corner threw in the towel during the opening round. Cook, who has a degenerative back condition, collapsed after six seconds and was eventually pulled from the fight by his corner after one minute and 33 seconds.

Burns had promised pre-fight to retire former champion Cook, who held the belt back in 2009. The prophesy should surely come true after a body shot crippled Cook inside six seconds. The 31-year-old got back to his feet only to keel over without another punch being thrown.

Nicky Cook's back gave out on him against Ricky Burns © Getty Images

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He battled on for a couple more exchanges, but Burns drilled more right hooks into the body, forcing the towel to be thrown. Cook exited the Arena on a stretcher, raising serious question marks as to how he even made it through his training camp for the fight.

Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Tony Bellew added the British title to his collection by outboxing Ovill McKenzie in a hugely disappointing rematch. The pair had put on one of the fights of the year in their first collision in December 2010, but they failed to live up to all their promises of a hate-fuelled sequel, with Bellew limping to a 118-111 118-111 119-110 decision.

The undefeated Bellew won the first battle courtesy of a controversial stoppage, but the Liverpudlian was dropped twice in that fight before he eventually fought back to overcome his rival. This time there was barely a punch thrown in anger, with Bellew tactical and McKenzie utterly clueless.

McKenzie had sparred with Nathan Cleverly in the build-up to the bout, but by round seven his corner was telling him he was making a boring fight. Bellew boxed off the back foot, flickering briefly with a flurry of punches in the eighth round, but the best moment of the contest was the final bell as a dire contest came to an end.

"Give me the guy from the Valleys, I'll put him to sleep," Bellew said of a potential future fight with Cleverly. "I never loaded up the big shot once all night, it was easy."

In the opening clash of the main card, Frankie Gavin was given a more difficult examination than expected by former Birmingham City footballer Curtis Woodhouse. The flamboyant Gavin took a split decision to defend his WBO inter-continental belt, but there were plenty in attendance who felt the result could have gone the other way.

Woodhouse's jab was the most telling punch early on, and in the third he landing a series of telling hooks. Gavin's first significant moment saw him land a left hand in the fourth, and in the next stanza he finally steered clear of Woodhouse's attack to dominate for the first time.

Things became scrappy the longer it went, benefiting Woodhouse as he smashed the gumshield out of Gavin's mouth in the 10th. But when the final scores were rendered it was the former world amateur champion who took a 117-112 116-113 114-115 decision.

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