Simpson retains Lonsdale belt by stopping Morris by Kevin Taylor Sep 7th 2007

John Simpson retained his British featherweight title when he knocked out Manchester's Andy Morris after fifty-three seconds of the seventh round at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London's Park Lane. Simpson from Greenock in Scotland, was too strong for the former champion as he built up a big lead before a salvo of heads shots led referee Marcus McDonnell to jump into stop the contest, with Morris in no condition to defend himself as he slumped to the canvas. The twenty-four year old Simpson won the Lonsdale belt in controversial circumstances in December 2006, when Morris was stopped due to a cut after five rounds, but this time their was no controversy as Simpson put in a solid performance to defend the Lonsdale belt for the second time. Greenock's Simpson was on top from the start in a gruelling battle and stopped Morris in his tracks early in the first after a good right hook and he put Manchester's Morris down in the fourth round from a left hook to the chin, which put him out of the ring. Simpson was obviously happy with his performance and had this to say after the fight; "It was a good win; I punch a bit harder now than when we met before. The first fight with Morris I was under the weather, and last time obviously I won on a cut. This time I got a bit tired after four rounds, but my punching power told in the end. "I put him down in the fourth but then got tired and that affected my morale, he seemed to struggle to get down to the weight, I struggle too but my training this time went perfectly." "I hope I can go on to bigger and better things now. Hopefully now I can go on to European and World titles, I started boxing to win a World title and that is my ambition". On the undercard, Barrie Jones gave away half a stone to Jay Morris, but still had enough to force Morris to quit after four rounds, citing an ear injury. Morris had been down for a count in the round. The show was promoted by Frank Warren's Sports Network and was in aid of the charity Debra, a national charity working on behalf of people in the UK with the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

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