Salford’s Marc Leach is the new British super bantamweight champion.
York Hall saw a controlled and dominant win for the 27-year-old, who has never looked like a 20-game loserorder fight of his career.
After an emotional and frustrating night in Glasgow for Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis, their wounds have recently healed a bit when Jack Catterall’s steady friend took the Lonsdale belt back to their gym.
Streatham’s Chris Bourke’s effort was commendable, but his face ended up costing in blood, especially as his left eye bore the marks from Leach’s shots.
Back-foot boxing and Leach’s all-out evasiveness were too many problems for Bourke to deal with. Tactics continued to be aggressive, following the Salford player around the field and missing many shots that reached Leach’s hands.
With the fans inside York Hall largely supportive of Bourke, their chants of “Bourkey” and shouts of support failed to lift their men to the level of Leach’s performance.
Leach’s swing, boxing, one-two and letting go at the right time is the model in which the away boxer feels comfortable and is never pressured.
Bourke’s success comes from a few big lefties, but his punches are of the singleton rather than combined variety. It is simply not enough.
As Bourke’s left eye continued to swell, Leach grew more and more confident. He beat his elder 99% of the time and while Bourke was never in danger of being knocked out, he was strong enough to keep him around and get more bumps and lumps for his efforts.
In the last few innings, all Leach had to do with the game was his corner kick. Nigel Travis mentioned the word “discipline” in his responsibilities, and Leach never faltered or left what has served him well throughout. Travis and Moore were surprised when the unanimous decision (117-111, 116-113, 116-112) worked their way as they embraced the new British champion.
Nineteen years ago, Jamie Moore took Salford to the British Championship when he beat Michael Jones to take the 154lbs title. The first chapter of their unforgettable trilogy. The city hasn’t had a boxer win a Lonsdale belt since. Marc Leach stepped up tonight and proved his talent is real and his tagline ‘one of the best kept secrets’ has been ripped off and replaced with the super champ British bantamweight.
Image: Queensberry Promotion
