Fran Hennessy won the vacant WBC Silver bantamweight title with an enthralling majority decision win over Ellie Bouttell at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday.
Hennessy (8-0, 1 KO) and Bouttell (7-1-1, 2 KOs) were elevated to main event at the start of the week after Adam Azim and Gustavo Lemos’ bout was cancelled with both men suffering hand injuries.
After a dominant opener, Hennessy was cut in the second round.
The unbeaten 21-year-old remained composed and let her hands go in a frantic third round.
Bouttell was starting to close the gap in the fifth, having her best round to date as she drew Hennessy into a firefight.
‘The Billion Dollar Baby’ was cracked with a left-right combination in the sixth, which appeared to slightly knock her off balance.
Hennessy regained control of the contest in the seventh, boxing well off the backfoot and using fluid movement.
Bouttell landed some meaty shots in the ninth and the pair went toe-to-toe in a furious final round.
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One judge scored the contest 95-95, with two other judges awarding Hennessy the victory with scores of 97-93 and 96-94 respectively.
Hennessy closed in on a shot at undisputed bantamweight champion, Cherneka Johnson with her victory.
Kraus blows away Crighton
Rising light heavyweight, Gradus Kraus powered past Boris Crighton with a brutal second round stoppage victory.
Kraus (10-0, 9 KOs) floored Crighton (13-7, 7 KOs) in the first round with a left hook to the body.
The Dutchman had his rival down again after a flurry of combinations in the second and despite beating the count again, Kraus closed the show by dropping the Scot for a third time with another body blow, with the referee then waving off the contest.
Kraus secured a 10th win as a professional.
Remaining Undercard
In a heavyweight slugfest, Ergal Elezaj got the better of Will Howe over six rounds to remain undefeated.
Hassan Azim, the older brother of Adam Azim, returned for the first time in almost a year and stopped Sean Murray in the fifth round.
Azim (9-0, 5 KOs) had Murray (3-3) hurt in the fourth and a further barrage of blows in the fifth saw the referee intervene.
Joel Kodua (10-0, 2 KOs) successfully defended his English welterweight for the first time, with the corner of Joe Garside (9-2-3) throwing in the towel at the end of the seventh round.
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Archie Sharp (27-2, 9 KOs) continued his rebuild with a points victory over Angelo Dragone (10-13, 1 KO).
Lightweight prospect, Saqib Mehmood (2-0) made it two straight professional wins with a point success over Engel Gomez (9-56-3, 4 KOs).
Ben Vickers (3-2-1, 1 KO) stunned debutant Derrick Osadolor (0-1) with a narrow points win in their heavyweight clash.
