Thaxton defends but it goes to the wire by Kevin Taylor Oct 6th 2007

Jon Thaxton defended his British lightweight title last night at the legendary York Hall in Bethnal Green, but it was not as easy as many pundits had expected. Thaxton looked really pumped up for the second defence of his title as he came to ring with the Kaiser Chief's "I predict a riot" greeting his entry to the ring along with a crescendo of noise from the Norwich contingent of the crowd, who had moments earlier been wondering who a boxer from Bolton was, a song that got a smile from MC Gary Logan. Things didn't go to plan though for Thaxton, who admitted after the fight that he thought the encounter with Stewart was going to be over quickly, and he looked ragged as he loaded up big shots that failed to hit their intended target as the much taller Stewart threw less but landed the crisper shots. The predictable cut appeared over Thaxton's right eye, but there was never any danger that the fight would be stopped, even though the eye seemed to be closing as early as the third round, once again Dominic Ingle did a great job on the eye in Thaxton's corner. Stewart who has been stopped in six by Lee Meager in his previous British title shot looked confident and was using his height and reach advantage to good affect and he was landing on the champion at will as Thaxton tried to nullify the distance between them. Thaxton was still hunting down his man and looking for the big punch when an accidental clash of heads opened up a nasty cut on Stewart's right eye and the fight seemed to turn at that point. Stewart looked tired as he came out for the ninth and the champion who was starting to land more and he finally started looking for the body of the tall challenger in the later rounds, and going into the last round I had it even on my card. With words of wisdom from trainer Graham Everett ringing in his ears, a tired looking Thaxton came out for the last and said a few words to Stewart before touching gloves As if knowing he needed a stoppage to win Thaxton went on the attack again the now physically drained Stewart. Early in the round Stewart seemed to wobble as Thaxton land a big shot to his body and Thaxton continued to land but Stewart refused to go despite being bent over. Another attack saw him finally take a knee and he used all of his experience to stay down as long as possible, but now the end was in sight and Thaxton doesn't let opponents off the hook when their in trouble. With Stewart running on empty, Thaxton seized his chance and landed shot after shot on the London-based Scotsman, and after Stewart visited the floor for a second time, referee Dave Parris waved it off with just 86 seconds left of the fight. Thaxton, who was on the verge of defeat had once again shown that his trademark power could get him out of trouble. “When you're a champion, you're a marked man. He (Stewart) took me to the wire but I do not quit. You might be beating me for 11 and a half rounds but I will prevail. I will not lose focus. "Stewart did his homework, I felt it would be an early night, but he did well. I thought I was behind going into the last. I'd like to meet him again, and I hope the board make him number one contender and I can try and claim the belt for keeps. "If not, I would like to move up and let Lee Meager and Dave Stewart have another go at the British title, I'd like a shot at either Yuri Romanov or Michael Katsidis, now that would be some fight." So no mention of Amir Khan from Thaxton in his post fight interview, and on this performance maybe Khan would start as favourite as Thaxton looked ragged, maybe he was too intent on getting Stewart out of there, but you can never write off Thaxton as he has a punch that can stop anyone in their tracks, and he once again proved that even in his fortieth fight after almost 15 years in the ring, he can still go twelve rounds in a gruelling battle despite Khan classing him as a "five-round fighter". Khan is out again on the 8th December and one would doubt that he will be risked against the hard punching Norwich fighter, who would be celebrating 15 years in the ring on that night, while Khan would be celebrating his 21st birthday. Just for the record, I had it even going into the last and many at ringside had Stewart one-up, and the TV scoring had it almost even on punches landed, but somehow all three judges had Thaxton ahead, including one judge having Thaxton five rounds ahead 117-112 going into the last, giving Stewart only three rounds with one drawn, now I don't know what fight he was watching, and that scoring doesn't show what a great gutsy effort Dave Stewart put up and how close he was to getting his hands on the coveted Lonsdale belt.

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