Anthony Fowler kept his winning run going as he geared up for a potential all-Liverpool battle with Liam Smith on October 9 as he battered Rico Mueller, from Germany, to defeat in the eighth round at Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex.  

The Liverpudlian, who became a father during the week, dominated. Sometimes he loaded up on his punches too much, but game as Mueller was, he never found the shot that could turn things his way. 

“I needed the rounds and that’s what I got,” Fowler said. “I’m learning plenty in the gym but in there is where it counts. 

“Smith is ten times better than that lad so I need to be on my game.” 

Mueller’s punishment went on for at least 30 seconds more than it should have done. As Fowler unloaded, catching the German repeatedly, referee Bob Williams hovered indecisively. 

One of Mueller’s cornermen even got up on the ring apron, without throwing in the towel, but Williams finally ended it with Mueller getting a pounding on the ropes, at 2:12 of the eighth round. 

“You’re one tough guy,” Fowler said to him. 

Campbell Hatton extended his unbeaten record to 3-0 with a straight-forward four-round points win over Jakub Laskowski, from Poland. 

Hatton, the son of former double world champion Ricky, is a bundle of energy but still pretty raw and tended to get greedy at times by winging his punches in a bit wide and wild. Laskowski backed away and moved around, seeing out the four rounds with little risk of being stopped. 

Referee Mark Bates scored it 40-36. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.