Knockout Night At York Hall

BOTH ELLIS ZORRO and Willy Hutchinson won their maiden professional titles on a knockout night of action at York Hall on Friday night.

Cruiserweight Zorro took himself to 16-0 and new holder of the WBO European title with a thrilling win over experienced campaigner and former British light heavyweight champion Hosea Burton.

Manchester man Burton appeared to be establishing control across the opening rounds, using his physical advantages to boss the shorter man. Zorro, however, turned the fight on its head in round seven with a spectacular finish, flooring Burton with a right to the head and leaving referee Marcus McDonnell with no option than to wave the fight off with 1.28 on the clock.

Hutchinson was equally as explosive in his winning of the WBC International title at light heavyweight, overcoming the champion Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna via a fourth round stoppage.

This represented a breakout opportunity for the young Scot, taking on the conqueror of top prospect Karol Itauma and the former world amateur champion showed that he will soon belong at the top table of light heavyweights.

Hutchinson, now 16-1, put the Argentine down in the second round and again in the fourth and, although he tried to compose himself, his legs betrayed him and referee Kevin Parker wisely called time after 1.15 of the round.

Ryan Garner put in a show-stealing performance in his 13th pro fight with a speedy execution of Eduardo Valverde. The Southampton Snapper, known as the Piranha, showed that all his early promise still remains and is now poised to move on towards title contention.

Skill and speed was key for the now 25-year-old, who engaged in lightning exchanges with his opponent in the first round before brutally chopping him down to the body early in the second and Valverde was ruled out by referee Mark Bates after failing to beat the count after the second of two knockdowns. The official time was 49 seconds of round two.

Elsewhere on the card, Karol Itauma returned to winning ways with a convincing points victory over Khalid Graidia, with referee Sean McAvoy scoring the fight 79-72 in his favour after eight rounds, while Chris Bourke enjoyed a second fight at bantamweight against Kevin Trana and emerged victorious following a competitive affair by a margin of 58-56 over six rounds.

Welterweight Sean Noakes was in no mood to hang around and he moved to 5-0 with a 42 second blast out of the usually durable Robin Zamora. Polish cruiserweight Michal Soczynski maintained his unbeaten record - now 7-0 - with an impressive fourth round stoppage of Israel Duffus.

Aloys Jr Youmbi (4-1) showed why he is going to be a young man to be reckoned with at cruiserweight with a third round stoppage of Borna Grcic, putting his man down in the first round and then forcing a finish via a left hook to the head after 27 seconds of the third. George Davey continued his super welterweight journey with a shutout points victory over Bartosz Glowacki in a six round opener.