By David P. Greisman, Terence Dooley & Alexey Sukachev

ExCel Arena, London - Birmingham’s Frankie Gavin (10st 6lbs 8oz) struggled to get going against Tooting’s Bradley Skeete (10st 6lbs 2oz) in their British and Commonwealth welterweight title fight.  Gavin brought his Lonsdale belt to the table and hoped to pick up the Commonwealth belt to ease the pain of his EBU loss to Leonard Bundu in August, a split-decision loss.

The former star amateur’s right eye started swelling as early as the second round.  Referee Phil Edwards told his corner that the damage had come from a punch, so it was no surprise when he tried to work his way inside behind a high guard in a bid to protect his features and find his range after a lethargic start.

Kerry Kayes, Gavin’s cutsman, had to patch up a nick on the right side of the bridge of Gavin’s nose after the third, stemming the trickle of blood while Tom Chaney, Gavin’s trainer, ordered his man to concentrate on his own game.

Gavin did just that, putting his “Eat the jab” strategy into place sporadically, but without the confidence he brought to the early part of his career.

“We need to win every one of them (the rounds), we’re in it but two behind,” implored Alan Smith, Skeete’s trainer between the seventh and eighth rounds.

Skeete did land some flashy single shots, seemingly unfazed despite taking part in the biggest fight of his career thus far, only to fail to build on these successes—he posted a solid round ten, not to mention a stiff right uppercut, only to ease off a little in the eleventh.

Like Gavin’s style, it was nip-and-tuck going into the last round simply because of the lack of clean, scoring shots, which invariably splits the judges, but, as was the case all night, neither man took the fight by the scruff of the neck.

Michael Alexander and Marcus McDonnell had it for Gavin by two scores of 116-113, Terry O'Connor had it 116-112.  Gavin’s willingness to press the issue was probably a factor in the win—that’s a lesson for Skeete to take going forward.

Gavin rises to 21-1 (13); Skeete now knows the pain of defeat, he’s 18-1 (7) with a lot to fight for.

BoxingScene had it 115-113 for Gavin.

Harrow’s Mitchell “Baby Faced Assassin” Smith (9st 3lbs 5oz) showed plenty of spirit when tussling with Hungary’s “Caramel” Zoltan Kovacs for the vacant WBO European Super featherweight title over a scheduled ten-threes, but he was unable to set the ExCel crowd alight as Frank Warren’s mammoth night of boxing continued live on BoxNation.

Smith floored Kovacs in the second, although it looked more of a slip and shove, and stalked his 22-year-old opponent throughout.  The 22-year-old won the BBBoC English Super featherweight belt by out-pointing the previously undefeated Peter Cope over 10 in July, the experience held him in good stead as he did not over-extend himself during the early going.

Jason Rowland, Mitchell’s trainer, seemed pleased with his man’s work.  The former WBU light-welterweight titlist lost by fourth-round KO to future 140lb king Ricky Hatton in July 2001; he knows what to look for in a young fighter and has compared his charge to Manchester’s “Hitman”.

There was a moment of concern at the end of the fifth when Smith told Rowland: “I’ve broke my left hand, 100%”, but he was told to put it out of his mind.  Smith continued to work away, albeit without too much steam behind his jab.  BoxingScene has been unable to confirm the extent of his self-declared injury.

Apart from that second round count, referee Steve Gray had very little to do throughout, although this was down to the anodyne display from both men.  Mitchell, though, was deservedly declared the clear winner by scores of 97-92, 97-92 and 100-89 from Ingo Barrabas, Ferenc Budai and Dave Parris respectively.

Smith moves to 10-0 (4); Kovacs is now 11-5 (3).

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He can be the next Big British Italian, but for now Frank Buglioni looks like an incarnation of Enzo Maccarinelli at his worst - a solid puncher with questionable chin and defense. That has been proven once again in his fight against previously undefeated but untested Jamaican Andrew Robinson (13-1, 4 KOs) - a fight he has won with a unanimous decision after all.

Robinson showed sharp teeth early on, tagging Buglioni (now 15-1, 11 KOs) with several big right hands on round one. The native of Winchmore Hill did better in the next rounds, landing huge shots at iron-willed Robinson, taking some banging in return but doing more and better than his foe. However, the Jamaican had his chances as was the case in round five - his best of the fight.

Late in the eighth, Robinson went forward for one more big punch, and was cracked with a left hook to the chin, going down and barely surviving till the bell. Buglioni also looked superior in the eighth but Robinson finished the bout hard, taking the last round.

At the end, scores announced were: 97-93, and 97-92 (twice) - all for Buglioni, a new WBO European super middleweight champion.

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Norwegian cruiser Kai Robin Havnaa, the son of late former WBO cruiser champ Magne Havnaa, turned pro and beat Croatian Tomislav Rundan over four by scores of 40-36 on all cards. It looked closer though as Havnaa was too eager to impress and Rundan (1-2) smothered him.

 

Kai Robin showed that he is strong and willing but he´s also very green and got a long way to go. He looks a little like his father but Magne Havnaa had a lot more experience from the amateurs before turning pro and represented Norway in the 84 Olympics.

- Junior lightweight prospect Liam Walsh unified two British titles with a wide decision over Gary Sykes, winning by scores of 118-109, 119-108 and 118-111.

Walsh dropped Sykes a little more than a minute into the opening round, lacing a right hand through the gloves as Sykes was backing up. Walsh attempted to close the show, but Sykes was able to survive. Walsh became more patient from there on out, often standing in front of Sykes and popping him with a few shots, then ducking or moving away when Sykes burst forward with less accurate assaults.

Sykes' activity was able to earn him no more than a couple of the middle rounds, while Walsh retook control over the second half of the fight, hurting Sykes with a right and a left toward the end of the ninth and leaving with the victory.

Walsh, 28, moves to 17-0 with 11 KOs. Sykes, 30, is now 27-4 with 6 KOs.