British Scene: Haskins Stops Burnkinshaw

Bristol's Lee Haskins had little trouble with British soldier Ross Burnkinshaw this past Friday night at the Seaburn Centre in Sunderland. Olympic Bronze medalist Tony Jeffries was also in action, picking up his 3rd win to remain perfect as a pro.

Matt Chudley has the recap.

Check out The Boxing Bulletin's preview of this Saturday's Sky Box Office show: Amir Khan vs Andriy Kotelnik Preview

Friday, July 10 Haskins Stops Burkinshaw in 4 By Matt Chudley Southpaw Lee Haskins made a successful first defense of his British super-flyweight title with a one-sided 4th round stoppage of Ross Burkinshaw. In his customary stance with his hands down by his waist, Haskins settled into the contest quickly, using his quick feet, sharp reflexes and upper body movement to avoid the incoming while loading up with powerful hooks and uppercuts from unorthodox angles. Possibly overwhelmed in appearing on live national TV for the first time, Burkinshaw came out extremely tentatively, as he looked to cover up and weather the early storm. Though it was clearly his intention to try and see out Haskin's best, Burkinshaw failed to catch many of the Bristol man's lead-off hooks and uppercuts on his gloves and was shipping clean shots from the opening moments. Despite his impressive height for the weight, Burkinshaw currently lacks a sturdy jab and was unable to capitalize on this advantage and coupled with his flat feet and lack of power it meant the Sheffield fighter posed little threat to Haskins. He briefly opened up midway through the 3rd but went back into his shell after Haskins connected with a right hook. The young soldier began to take sustained punishment in the 4th when Haskins two fisted attack continued to land consistently prompting referee Ian John-Lewis to step between the fighters and call an end to the action. Many felt that the stoppage may have been premature but as soon as the referee advanced, Burkinshaw tried to take a knee and then made no protest after realizing the contest had been stopped. Next up for Haskins appears to be an attractive contest against Frank Warren prospect and unbeaten holder of the Commonwealth title, Don Broadhurst. With Broadhurst being named the mandatory challenger for the Lonsdale belt, purse bids will be called if necessary but Maloney and Warren are on much better terms in recent times and an agreement is likely to be reached. On the under-card… Hometown favourite Tony Jeffries was responsible for selling nearly all the tickets and didn’t disappoint his loyal following, blasting out Ilya Shakuro midway through the 1st round. The limited Shakuro proved too game for his own good, looking to engage the heavy handed Jeffries from the start. With Shakuro dropped and hurt from a left hook to the body, Jeffries pressed on with a vicious two fisted attack to leave the Belarussian defenseless and reeling on the ropes, with ref Gary Williams no choice but to jump in and save the visiting fighter. With the win, Jeffries improved his record to 3-0, while Shakuro falls to 2-2. Fellow North East prospect Travis Dickinson was equally impressive in stopping the 9-6 Hamed Jamali with a short counter right in the second round after suffering a cut from a clash of heads in the first. Also in action, light middleweight Brian Rose extended his unbeaten record to 13-0-1 with a hard fought 8 round decision over durable Frenchman Francis Tchoffa. e-mail Matt Chudley