Pat Brown won the vacant British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles on home turf on Saturday night, counting out John Hedges in the sixth round at Co-op Live with a body shot he dedicated to Ricky Hatton. The 26-year-old Olympian took his professional record to seven wins from seven, every one inside the distance, adding the Lonsdale Belt to the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental titles already in his possession. For Hedges, it was a case of unlucky number 13 after the Harlow-born fighter had gone unbeaten through his first 12 fights.
It was anything but straightforward for Brown, though. Hedges is 6ft 6in, and a southpaw, and the 24-year-old spent the opening exchanges making himself hard to hit, giving Brown nothing to aim at and grabbing hold whenever the Mancunian worked his way inside. Frustration began to build for Brown and he started leaning on Hedges with his head and forcing him back over the top rope until referee Reece Carter intervened.
Something appeared to click in the fifth for Brown as he stopped hunting for one shot, put the jab to work and landed a right uppercut flush under the chin. Then, having aimed high for five rounds, he went to the ribs in the sixth. A strong hook downstairs folded Hedges on to one knee and after he got to his feet, a second body shot moments later saw him downed and unable to get back up as Brown sealed an emotional and meaningful victory which he dedicated to British boxing legend Ricky Hatton, who tragically passed away a year and five days prior to the fight.
Brown said: "I finished him with a body shot in memory of him." Both fighters had strong connections to Hatton, with Brown sharing a gym with the former welterweight world champion - who also trained Hedges, taking him to the English title. Brown was given strong support throughout from a large travelling contingent from his native Sale, with fans chanting his name from the first bell. "I can't just go bulldozing in with him, people think you can't box," he explained on DAZN.
"With John, you're not going to get him out of there straight away because he'll just make you miss and make you look silly. "That's why it was a patient performance." On the undercard, Shabaz Masoud shut out Ckari Mansilla 100-90 on all three cards to take the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental featherweight titles. Elsewhere, Mark Jeffers outpointed Kieron Conway in a British super-middleweight eliminator and Cory O'Regan became English lightweight champion at the expense of Joe Howarth.
Isaac Cruz has called out Ryan Garcia after knocking out Nestor Bravo in San Diego to retain his WBC interim super-lightweight title for a second time at the Pechanga Arena in a controversial contest. "Hey, Ryan, I'm here," Cruz, known by the nickname 'Pitbull', said after winning the fight. Come on, Ryan." Garcia stopped Conor Benn inside two rounds in Las Vegas last Saturday to retain his WBC welterweight title.
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