Eggington Fights Back And Keeps His Title

Sam Eggington overcame an early knockdown and an heroic effort from Dale Evans to retain his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles with a unanimous points victory in Birmingham.

Evans only accepted the fight 10 days ago as a late stand-in for Frankie Gavin and although the judges' scores of 117-110, 117-110, 116-110 were a fair reflection, the Welshman more than played his part in a pulsating and bloody battle.

Evans floored Eggington with a straight right in the second round and then stunned him again with a combination in the last, but in between the champion had opened up a decisive points margin with a bruising display of punching as he took his record to 17-2.

Eggington said: "Dale Evans came in at 10 days' notice and you can see what kind of bloke he is. He put the work in and he got through to the end and it was a hard fight for me.

"It was a flash knockdown. It was a good shot, but I knew Dale could hit. I had a comfortable first round, which made me ease off in the second round. I was a bit lackadaisical. He caught me sweet and I went down."

Eggington's victory was revenge for defeat to Evans in the fourth fight of his career in January 2013, and the 22-year-old refused to rule out another rematch.

He added: "I don't think I will be out again this year, but we will have to see what happens next year. If he is there, then why not? I felt a bit tired in the run-up and in the fight. I feel like I need a rest."

The first round passed largely without incident, but the fight then burst into life when Evans produced a shock knockdown with a perfectly measured punch.

However, Eggington composed himself brilliantly and then bounced back with a superb third round that set the tone for the rest of the fight, picking off Evans with pinpoint shots to both the head and body.

The fourth and fifth rounds followed in much the same vain, but then Eggington strangely switched off in the seventh and eighth and allowed Evans back into the fight.

A clash of heads in the ninth left both fighters with cuts and covered in blood, and when Eggington reasserted his authority with some bludgeoning shots in the 10th and 11th, it became a difficult spectacle to watch as Evans hung on desperately.

However, he returned for the 12th round and, in a 20-second spell that typified his brave performance, he rocked the previously dominant Eggington with a flurry and left the champion momentarily dazed.

Evans didn't have the energy to capitalise, though, and Eggington was able to see out a victory that was far harder than anticipated.

Evans said: "He has been training for a long time to do 12 rounds. I knew that as the fight went on, I would struggle and he would come on stronger. He was the deserved winner tonight."