Reece Bellotti and Liam Dillon Produce Firefight
Reece Bellotti (18-5, 14 KOs) now holds the British title in addition to the Commonwealth super featherweight belt after winning a firefight against Liam Dillon (13-1-1, 3 KOs).
Scores were 117-111, 117-112 and 116-112, giving Bellotti the unanimous decision win. The fight headlined a Matchroom Boxing card in the Indigo at The O2 Arena in London, England. DAZN were the sole broadcasters of the event. Both men gave it their all from start to finish in a memorable fight.
Reece Bellotti Comes Out on Top in Firefight Against Liam Dillon
The fight began aggressively with both men throwing a high volume of punches at close range. That aggression was maintained until the very end. For the most part, Dillon was the one coming forward, but Bellotti matched the aggression shown by his opponent on the backfoot.
As the rounds went on, however, it was the Watford native who started to pull away. While Dillon threw several flurries, it was Bellotti’s punches that were having the more significant impact. Neither man let the other stay comfortable for the duration of the fight nor did they get complacent. Action was consistent till the final bell. By that time, the judges saw Bellotti as having doing the better work overall.
Post-fight Interview
“To prove to my little boy that I’m not a loser,” said Bellotti as to what inspired him to victory. “He was around when I lost three in a row and he thought I was a loser. He now knows his dad’s a British champ.”
Undercard Results
Cameron Vuong (4-0, 3 KOs) got a stoppage victory against Ishmael Ellis (14-8, 0 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight fight. Ellis was taking a lot of damage, prompting referee Bob Williams to wave off the clash at the 2:33 mark of round six.
Craig Richards (18-3-1, 11 KOs) stopped Boris Crighton (12-5, 7 KOs) in round seven of a 10-round light heavyweight bout. Crighton went down once in the seventh, got up, and then continued to get hit by several punches from Richards. This prompted referee Howard Foster to wave off the fight at the 2:52 mark.
Shannon Ryan (7-0, 0 KOs) got a unanimous decision against Jasmina Zapotoczna (6-1, 0 KOs) in a 10-round super flyweight bout. Scores were 98-93 and 96-94 (x2).
John Hedges (9-0, 3 KOs) won via stoppage against Erdogan Kadrija (20-6, 12 KOs) in an eight-round cruiserweight contest. Referee Foster ended the fight at the 2:36 mark of round two.
Jack Oliphant (1-0, 0 KOs) won his professional debut with a points win over Jensen Irving (4-6, 0 KOs). Referee Williams had the four-round middleweight bout 40-36.
Ibraheem Sulaimaan (3-0, 2 KOs) got a stoppage win against Jordan Tomasoni (4-1-1, 1 KO) in a four-round lightweight contest. A barrage of punches from Sulaimaan caused referee Foster to wave off the fight. The time of stoppage was 1:35 of round three.
Opening the card was a six-round heavyweight clash between Emanuel Odiase (2-0, 1 KO) and Amine Boucetta (8-10, 0 KOs). Odiase won the bout on points. Referee Williams scorecard read 60-54.
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.