BOURNEMOUTH, England – European junior lightweight titleholder Ryan Garner added the British and Commonwealth titles to his haul of silverware with a 12th-round stoppage of courageous Reece Bellotti on Saturday.
Garner went into the fight unbeaten and as the reigning European titlist, and he emerged with the titles Bellotti had earned during an Indian Summer in his career.
Fireworks had been expected, and the boxers went to work early, cracking one another with combinations. The pro-Garner crowd, which had booed Bellotti to the ring, erupted in the soccer songs of Garner’s favored Southampton FC.
It was a lively opening session.
Garner stood during the time between rounds, and they swapped rights to open the second. The Southampton man managed to catch Bellotti on the end of a sweeping right hand with about 20 seconds remaining in the frame.
Garner, 18-0 (9 KOs), was on his toes and clearly out to impress his adoring audience. As the fighters boxed in close proximity, Bellotti picked up a nick near his left eye.
That presented Garner with an area to target, and he led with his right, although his best shots were a short left hook and a right hand towards the end of the session.
Bellotti, from Watford, England, and 20-5 (15 KOs) going in, was caught waiting too long to let his hands go in the fourth. But while Garner attacked, there was little by way of sustained work from either fighter as they often fell into clinches, causing referee Victor Laughlin to frequently break them.
Bellotti fired off left hooks to get things going in Round 5, but Garner was busier, threading in some useful uppercuts and thudding the veteran’s head back with a right hand.
Bellotti, 34, enjoyed a spell with Garner trapped in a neutral corner in the next, but they battled on even terms.
Garner, 27, ranked No. 7 in the WBC, was full of energy and showing no sign of slowing, and although there was not a great deal between them, the sweeping attacks of “The Piranha” caught the eye more than Bellotti’s countering volleys.
Bellotti was more aggressive in the eighth, but Garner met him and fought with him. Loughlin was often having to separate them, meaning the bout stopped and started as they had to be untangled.
The Saints fans cheered a Garner right, but Bellotti was backpedaling at the time, and the shot only glanced off his chin.
It was Garner who came out more forcefully in the ninth, and Bellotti tried to go with him. Bellotti shoveled a left hook into Garner’s stomach, fired home a right and stubbornly planted his feet when Garner swarmed toward him.
It was fast-paced and engaging, and the south coast fans were clearly content with what they were seeing.
“Go with him Reece,” yelled Bellotti’s corner, as Garner attacked in the 10th, but Garner’s activity and straight shots forced Bellotti to reluctantly concede some ground. The tide had irrevocably turned.
A Bellotti right sent the spray flying off Garner’s head in the 11th, but Garner shipped a left hook moments later in reply and landed a brace of hurtful rights at the end of the round. In the 12th, Garner broke through with both hands. He tagged Bellotti, whose head went this way and that, and as Garner bombed forward, the referee stepped in and stopped it.
Bellotti complained bitterly. The crowd jubilantly erupted, and Garner had become a three-belt winner. It was over after 45 seconds of the round.
