Germaine Brown’s English super-middleweight title defence against Zak Chelli had looked the pick of the fights on BOXXER’s Wembley bill, but it turned out to be a complete blowout as Chelli outboxed and then outpunched Brown for a one-sided decision.

Chelli had mixed in the higher class and it showed as when – who was unbeaten in 12 going in -  struggled to find his range and couldn’t land the jab, he quickly ran out of ideas. When Brown fell short, Chelli made him pay. When Chelli led off, Brown was often swinging at air as he tried to counter.

All the best punches were landed by Chelli too, who landed a heavy right repeatedly throughout.

It was comfortable on the scorecards, Steve Gray scoring it 98-92, John Lathan 97-94 and Victor Loughlin 98-92.

Chelli had the better of the first two rounds, landing well with his right twice as both struggled to find their range.

Brown got home with a good right early in the third, but flush with that success he walked into range and was nailed by an overhand right and left hook, although Chelli was then warned for rabbit punching as he tried to press his advantage.

The overhand right, left hook combination worked for Chelli again early in the fourth round, while Brown didn’t seem able to land anything. Chelli, though, was throwing more power punches, landing a big body shot that made the crowd gasp.

There was a more positive start from Brown to the fifth round, as he closed the gap and threw punches in clusters, but he was soon backing off again and Chelli landed a big left just before the bell.

Brown went back to being tentative in the sixth, waiting until Chelli led off and then, more than not, missing. He was more aggressive in the seventh round and had some success, as Chelli loaded up on his punches too much.

In the eighth round, Chelli started to go through the gears, forcing Brown back across the ring with a two-fisted attack and landing one-twos when Brown stepped into range.

The ninth was another bad round for Brown as he was outworked and couldn’t really stop Chelli landing the right.

Brown was hurt again in the last and Chelli tried to force a stoppage, but Brown toughed it out as he got on his bike to hear the final bell.

Much hyped cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley took just 51 seconds to beat Jone Volau, who was flattened by a sharp left hook, the first serious punch Riley had thrown.

Riley, who extended his unbeaten record to six, nailed Volau as he ducked low, leaving himself wide open. Referee Sean McAvoy abandoned the count at six to summon medical help for Volau.

“I said it was the homecoming and I needed to put on a show,” Riley said. 

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.