Happy father’s day Davy Ritson.
Lewis Ritson vowed to win the Lonsdale Belt, not for himself, but for his dad.
And how he pulled it off at a rocking Metro Radio Arena.
The Sandman took just under three minutes to blow away Paul Hyland Jnr to win the most famous prize in boxing for keeps after a spectacular third defence of his British lightweight title in his home Toon.
To complete an amazing double for Matchroom and the region, Josh Kelly put the seal on a special night by stopping champion Kris George after seven one-sided rounds, the Aussie retiring in his corner after complaining of hand trouble.
Elsewhere, there were defeats for North-East 30-somethings Simon Vallily, Anthony Nelson and Stuart Hall as they missed out in their title challenges.
Ritson looks absolutely unstoppable after making what appeared, on paper at least, his hardest title defence to date look so easy.
Hyland arrived in the North-East full of confidence after 18 straight wins behind him but could not handle the force of the 24-year-old, from Forest Hall.
He began brightly enough but when a heavy right put him down, the writing was on the wall.
Two more knock-downs followed after volleys to the head and while he was up quickly and looked OK to carry on, referee Steve Gray had seen enough and called it off on two minutes, 53 seconds.
Glenn Foot produced a typical Glenn Foot display in between the two headline acts.
Cut from six rounds to four, the Sunderland crowd favourite outpointed Sam Omidi, from Manchester 40-36 from referee, Ron Kearney.
The night began with three points wins from local prospects, Chad Ellis, Darren Reay and Lawrence Osueke.
Spennymoor boxer Ellis recovered from being put down by Kevin McCauley in the third round to take a 39-37 result from the busy Ron Kearney, who handled six of the bouts on the night.
Reay had a tricky opponent in Mwenya Chisanga but the ex-Bedlington Terriers player emerged with a 40-37 triumph.
Osueke did not look a class above Remigijus Ziausys, he looked 10 leagues above the portly Lithuanian and he impressed in a 40-35 landslide.
Alas, from a North-East perspective, the region drew a blank from the opening three championship bouts.
Vallily will be kicking himself, or should be, after drawing with English cruiserweight champion Arfan Iqbal.
Having began so brightly, Vallily had a point deducted in round seven and round eight after referee Marcus McDonnell lost patience. Those points would prove crucial in the final reckoning.
Steve Gray marked it 96-92 for Vallily, with Terry O’Connor scoring it 95-94 to Iqbal with Howard Foster having the pair level at 94-94.
Nelson had what seemed to be half of South Shields in the Arena with him but he was to come up against a very good opponent in Charlie Edwards.
The Croyden super-flyweight, who now boxes out of Sheffield, put brave Nella down twice in round two and when he felled him in round three, Mr Foster did not even count calling a halt at 2min 23 seconds, to allow trainer Mal Gates and the medical staff to attend the 32-year-old.
Thankfully, Anthony recovered quickly and was back on his feet to sportingly applaud the new WBA Continental champion.
Stuart Hall went all the way with WBC International super-bantamweight Gavin McDonnell, but the Doncaster boxer had the extra class to take a unanimous decision.
The Darlington veteran showed his customary heart and engine, putting in a spirited finish. The Ukraine judge had it 115-113 to McDonnell but the 117-111 scorelines from Daniel van der Wiele and John Keane looked about right.
Words: Roy Kelly Pictures: Jennifer Charlton
