[Ian Lord]

May 15th.

London, England. The York Hall in Bethnall Green, unsurpassed for atmosphere anywhere else in Great Britain, staged the heavyweight contest between Britain's Lennox Lewis and Jamaica/Canada's Trevor Berbick. The vacant Commonwealth title would be on the line. These two had met before, with Lewis, behind on points, stopping Berbick due to cuts. Berbick had been fuming about it since, claiming the stoppage was premature. He had a point.

"There'll be no doubts this time, I'll knock him out," Berbick boasted. " If it goes the distance, I lose, I'm in his back yard. So, I'll knock him out."

The fight didn't go the distance. In fact, it didn't even go one round, with referee Micky Vann waving the fight off with two seconds remaining in the opener, after Lewis punished the outgunned Berbick for almost three minutes. Berbick, to his credit remained on his feet, despite taking some heavy damage, at one point he actually span around, as a result of some heavy shots from Lewis.

"That wasn't me in the ring tonight," a dejected Berbick told Steve Bunce afterwards. "I was feeling fine until about five minutes before I left my dressing room. I had a bit of water, then began to feel funny. Maybe something was in it, but I know I can do better than that. I want a rematch."
How Steve Bunce managed to keep a straight face, no-one knows.

An upbeat Lewis said after the bout:

"I knew I'd beat him tonight, but I didn't expect it to be this quick. I started off cautious, using the jab, saw my opening, and bang, I knew I had him. He stood no chance from then on." When asked about his plans for the future, Lewis replied. "I'm ready for any of the top ten guys, so if anyone's listening, let's get it on. Ultimately, I'd love to have a crack at [World Champion] Bowe. I beat him in the amatuers, I beleive that I can beat him again."

The chief support also saw a fight for the vacant Commonwealth title, this time at middleweight with the vacant British title on the line also, between Alan Minter and Maurice Hope. The opener saw both men using there jab, with Hope being more effective and taking the round. However, Minter took the second, flooring Hope in the process with a wicked dig to the body. Hope also ended the round with swelling around his left eye. Minter took the third and fifth, with Hope winning the fourth, causing swelling around Minter's right eye in the process. Minter also suffered a gash over his left eye in the fifth. Minter took the sixth, but from then on, Hope began to take command of the fight. Hope took the seventh, then won the eighth big, whilst Minter's left eye also began to swell. Minter's right eye had swollen almost to the point of being shut at this point, and Hope took advantage, forcing referee John Coyle to halt procedings in the ninth, when Minter could no longer see the punches being slung his way. The end came just before the bell.

Minter was first to congratulate the new British and Commonwealth middleweight champion after the bout.

"Fair play to him," Minter said afterwards. "He won fair and square, and all the best to him. I'll have to go home and rest up, then see where I go from here. I lost a fight, it's not the end of the world. I'm just a bit worried about these cuts and swellings, they seem a recurring problem."

The new champion, Maurice Hope, thanked Minter for putting up a tough fight, then looked to the future.

"I'm going to go for the European next, [currently vacant], and then the world. I want to be World champion before I retire."

Undercard Action.

Highly ranked heavyweight Greg Page stopped South Africa's Gerrie Coetzee in the seventh round, after Coetzee had been down earlier in the round, and failed to recover. The end came at the 2.41 mark. Coetzee started well, but soon began to fade. Page dropped him in the sixth, and finished him a round later.

Frank Tate beat Italy's Vito Antuofermo over ten rounds by scores of 96-94 twice, and 97-93. Tate used his superior boxing skills to keep Antuofermo on the outside, where he was less effective and take the decision.
Note: Fights in Britain are scored by the referee only, unless they are for the European or one of the alphabet belts. In the GBA however, we have three judges for all our fights.


Iran 'The Blade' Barkley KO'd Davey Moore with one of the punches of the year, a lightning bolt out of the blue. This was a tough, exciting bout between two men who wanted to stand toe to toe and fight. Moore looked for the finish in the opener, but failed to put Barkley away, and Barkley rallied back, dropping Moore in the third after Moore threw an uppercut and left himself wide open. 'The Blade' finished things of in the seventh after twenty eight seconds.

Zaire's Sumbu Kalambay extended his erecord to 3-0 with a knockout win over journeyman Anthony Bartinelli in the fourth round. Kalambay dominated from the opening bell and finished his foe in the fourth with a three punch combination followed by a hook at the 2.39 mark. There were concerns for Bartinelli after the bout as he struggled to regain his feet and was took to the hospital afterwards as a precaution. Thankfully, he was alright.