DEWSBURY’S Gary Sykes made it 15 wins out of 15 to land a first British title last night.
Facing the ‘Wythenshawe Warrior’ Andy Morris, the 26-year-old produced a patient display to take the Lonsdale belt at super-featherweight level.
It took until the fifth and sixth rounds for Sykes to stamp his real authority on the enthralling contest and, by the 10th, it was the 2005 ABA champion who was scoring with a weight of punches.
Going the championship distance for the first time, Sykes maintained his effort and, by the 11th, Morris could see his chance slipping away and went toe-to-toe.
A former British featherweight title holder, Morris stood strong and his performance over the last two of the 12 three-minute rounds gave his strong Mancunian following reason to believe he had pulled the title out of the fire after a tremendous effort from start to finish.
But Sykes maintained his excellent composure and his level of punching and was eventually carded the victory 116-113, 115-114, 115-114.
Having weighed in at 9st 2lb 11oz for the 9st 4lb division, having initially been too heavy, Sykes showed he’s got a great engine and referee Ian John-Lewis didn’t have to issue any warnings to split.
While Morris tried to use his greater experience – he has been a professional for three years longer than his opponent – Sykes allied tremendous desire to some tighter defence and landed 165 punches to 158, with 142 head shots to just 102 from Morris.
"It’s great to win it for Dewsbury after all the bad press," said Sykes.
