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| Date | 30 May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | IBF welterweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brook defeated Gavin via 6th round TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin , billed as Rule Britannia, was a professional boxing match contested on 30 May 2015, for the IBF Welterweight championship. [1]
After making the first defence of his IBF welterweight belt against Jo Jo Dan and after being unable to attract Amir Khan, Kell Brook agreed to face former British and Commonwealth champion, Frankie Gavin. [2] [3]
This was the first all British World Welterweight title bout for more than 100 years, since Matt Wells scored an 20-round decision victory over Tom McCormick at Sydney Stadium in 1914.
Dave Ryan survived two knockdowns before scoring a 9th-round TKO in his second bout with John Wayne Hibbert. Scott Cardle won the British lightweight title after a unanimous points decision over Craig Evans, Nick Blackwell upset John Ryder to win the British middleweight title and former world champion Nathan Cleverly scored a 24-second knockout of journeyman Tomas Man.
In the first of three world title bouts, unbeaten IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich faced Lee Selby. Selby consistently outboxed Gradovich throughout the bout, before a clash of heads left Gradovich cut by the right eye in the seventh. During the next round referee Deon Dwarte called for the ringside doctor to inspect the eye and the bout was quickly waved off. As the clash was accidental, the bout went to the scorecard who awarded Selby victory by unanimous technical decision with scores 79–73, 80-72 and 79–73. [4]
Selby would dedicate the victory to his late brother Michael.
Selby's win was followed by WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares making the first defence of his belt against Kevin Mitchell, who was having his third shot at a world title. [5] [6]
Linares was dropped in the fifth round with a right-left combination. By the eight Mitchell was badly cut above the left eye which had closed up. Mitchell was dropped in the tenth with a right hand, he beat the count but the referee stopped the bout. The cut was due to a clash of heads in round four, which also opened a cut on the side of Linares' head. At the time of stoppage, Mitchell was ahead on two of the judges scorecards at 82–88 and 84–86. The third judge had it even at 85–85. [7] [8]
In the chief support, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua faced the durable former world title challenger Kevin Johnson. Joshua had stopped all 12 of his previous opponents within 3 rounds, while Johnson was on a run of just 1 win in his last 6 bouts, but this included going the distance with the likes of Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora. [9]
Joshua would dominate Johnson dropping him through the ropes in the first round. Johnson beat the count but a sustained barrage in the second round prompted the referee to wave the bout off. This was marked the first time Johnson had ever been stopped. [10]
Steve Bunce, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live said in the aftermath: "We've seen the future and the future is Anthony Joshua, if we were watching this in the early hours of the morning from the United States we'd be getting very excited. I don't want the post mortem to say Johnson was too old and too fat. I thought he would go the distance. The look on Johnson's face was one of shock."
Gavin used his awkward style to cause Brook some issues in the opening rounds, especially with a couple of sharp right-hand counters in the fourth, although Brook was largely in control of the action. However Brook's hard shots began taking their toll and by the fifth the challenger's face was beginning to mark up. Towards the end of the sixth round, Brook landed right hand followed by a pair of uppercuts which prompted the referee stepped in to end the fight. [11] [12]
Plans for a summer or autumn bout with Khan didn't come together and Brook return to the ring in March 2016 against Kevin Bizier. [13]
Confirmed bouts: [14]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Anthony Joshua |  Kevin Johnson | WBC International Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 2nd-round TKO. |
 Jorge Linares | Kevin Mitchell | WBC World Lightweight | 10th-round TKO. |
| Lee Selby |  Evgeny Gradovich | IBF World Featherweight | 8th round TD. |
| Nathan Cleverly |  Tomas Man | Light Heavyweight (8 rounds) | 1st-round TKO. |
| Nick Blackwell | John Ryder | British Middleweight | 7th-round TKO. |
| Scott Cardle | Craig Evans | British Lightweight | Unanimous decision. |
| Dave Ryan | John Wayne Hibbert | Commonwealth & WBC International Light welterweight | 9th-round TKO. |
| Lucien Reid |  Elemir Rafael | Featherweight (4 rounds) | 4th-round TKO. |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
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