Carl Froch made the first defence of his IBF super middleweight title tonight, taking on Yusaf Mack in his hometown of Nottingham.
The 35-year-old stopped the American inside three rounds with punishing body work, sending a clear message to the rest of the division.
On the undercard, Tony Bellew dominated Argentina's Roberto Bolonti to claim the vacant WBC silver light heavyweight title.
You can read how the action unfolded below.
Good evening fight fans and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of tonight's bill in Nottingham, which features Tony Bellew and Carl Froch.
'The Cobra' takes on Yusaf Mack in his first defence of the IBF super middleweight belt he destroyed Lucian Bute to win back in May.
Meanwhile, 'The Bomber' faces Argentina's Roberto Bolonti for the WBS silver light heavyweight title, with a win seeing him stake his claim for another shot at a world title.
Already tonight, we have seen Kal Yafai make light work of Pio Antonio Nettuno with a devastating body shot in the first round. The four-fight novice had already landed a few telling blows before bringing the vout to a premature end.
Scott Cardle was forced to go the distance with Miguel Aguilar, whom trainer Joe Gallagher said "came to survive, rather than fight".
At the moment, the fourth from the Smith family, Callum, is making his debut against Dan Blackwell.
And Smith's doing a number on his opponent, working the body and getting a full four rounds in his first fight. His brother Paul believes that Callum is the best fighter among his siblings. He's shown up well very so far.
The four rounds are up and Smith has this one in the bag. The referee awarded him all four rounds.
So we're just around 10 minutes from the chief support act Tony Bellew vs. Roberto Bolonti. The atmosphere is building nicely in the Capital FM Arena.
Our man on the ground tonight is Liam Power: "The atmosphere is really building here in Nottingham. Kal Yafai did his best to steal the show early on with a series of sickening body shots, a ruthless display. Now it's time for 'Bomber' Bellew, who needs an impressive win to try to coax a big name at light heavy into a world title clash!"
Roberto Bolonti makes his way to the ring to "Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers. He's gone up a notch in my book. Although I've heard it to death now...
A recording of Russell Crowe begins Bellew's entrance to the ring. As has become part of his walk-on, the infamous line from Gladiator echoes: "Are you not entertained?"
And now 'Z-Cars' - the song of his beloved Everton Football Club.
Bolonti is first to be introduced and gets a few boos. It doesn't seem to faze him, as he bursts out what would be a mental combination.
We're ready to fight. The referee gives his final instructions and the fighters touch gloves.... but only after a bit of head sparring. There's some needle to this one...
Seconds out, round one...
BOLONTI IS DOWN! Bellew has already demostrated his superior power and he sent the Argentine crashing!
That was a brilliant round from 'The Bomber'! He continued to dominate after knocking Bolonti down!
I can't see this one lasting past four to be honest! everything that Bellew has landed with looks venomous, although Bolonti is taking the punishment well.
Bellew has his man pressed in the corner and is going to work. This is terrific stuff!
Another round to Bellew, although Bolonti just seems to have settled. He's started dodging well and looks a bit slippery.
Bellew gets right back on the front foot.
BOLONTI IS DOWN AGAIN! Out of nowhere really, Bellew lands with a big left hook that puts the Argentine on the seat of his trousers!
Bellew is cut! And it's right on the bridge of his nose! However, he still wobbled Bolonti with a stiff left as the seconds ticked away. The cut looks nasty and there's quite a lot of blood.
The cut was caused by a punch. It's pouring with blood and probably needs to live upto his nickname and bomb this guy out of here...
Bellew is finding it hard to tag Bolonti at the moment.
That's a tough round to call. No doubt that Bellew was the aggressor, but Bolonti slipped his shots well. You'd probably have to give it to the Bomber.
The bleeding from Bellew's nose seems to have stemmed. Cut man Mick Williamson has done a right job on that.
Bellew lets fly with a few thunderous body shots. He's well in control in this round, boxing at his pace.
Another round to Bellew on my very unofficial scorecard.
I think we can do away with the scorecards now. Bolonti needs a knockout. I've got Bellew winning every round and there have been two knockdowns.
Bolonti is still looking lively but he's yet to win a round (on my scorecard).
It looked as if the referee was going to call the doctor to have a look at Bellew's cut. It doesn't look as bad as it did, but Bellew still had to be mindful. He's way ahead on the scorecards and he doesn't need and slip-ups.
Bellew unloads with a swift combination that rocked Bolonti from side to side.
It's a strange fight. Bellew is completely in control, but Bolonti isn't going away. And that cut still requires a lot of attention, but it's certainly not getting any worse.
Bellew is doing exactly what he needs to now. He is comfortbaly outboxing Bolonti, and it doesn't look as though his cut will see the fight stopped. Bellew's been the aggressor throughout, while Bolonti has shown nothing, other than that he's a bit of a slippery customer.
Bolonti is doubled over after being caught low. The referee is going to give him a moment or two to recover.
It's just a matter of seeing this one out now. The contest has fizzled out slightly, as Bellew is the only man trying to fight.
Bellew tells the referee that Bolonti's protector is too high, saying that he "cannot see his belly button". That's perhaps why he hit Bolonti low. The referee promptly pulls the Argentine's guard further down.
Massive uppercut from Bellew! that rocked Bolonti and maybe the Bomber can see the finish!
The Argentine regains some composure and gets to the bell.
Bellew keeps going forward looking to finish this. He has some engine on him, he hasn't relented from the first bell! It's been a great performance so far...
Bellew lands with another superb uppercut. He follows up with a couple of decent hooks.
Bolonti walks onto a straight left from Bellew. He's still not really going for it and Bellew gets yet another round on the scorecards.
That really does look like a nasty cut for Bellew. It looks like it's actually over the eye as well. Reminiscent of Rendall Munroe's against Scott Quigg. It's just above his brow but, luckily, the blood did not obscure his vision, or we might have been stopped prematurely.
Last 30 seconds now and there's no doubt about this one...
The bell sounds to end the contest. The two fighters show each other some respect after yesterday's words at the press conference and the needle before the first bell tonight.
Bellew threw 800 punches tonight, landing with 28%. That's opposed to Bolonti's 130-odd. Complete domination.
Tony Bellew takes a unanimous decision: 120-106, 119-107, 120-106
So one of the judges gave Bolonti a round. It's of little consequence, but still...
Bellew: "I've got the best cut man in the game in Mick Williamson. I knew I'd be cool."
Bellew: "He was more awkward than he looked. He arched his neck back like a giraffe sometimes. I came through a crisis tonight. I done what I said I would do, but I didn't get the knockout."
Hearn: "We're going to be top five with the WBC, we'll push for a final eliminator for a shot against Chad Dawson."
Right, we're all set for tonight's main event. Carl Froch takes on Yusaf Mack. The atmosphere is electric in Nottingham!
The crowd are in full voice as they eagerly await their hometwon hero. Yusaf Mack stands ready to make his entrance and he's not getting much love!
Froch inside five - I'm aware that I said Bellew would end Bolonti early, and I got that one wrong. But come on, what are the chance I could be wrong twice in one night? Exactly... put your money on it (or don't, if gambling isn't really your thing).
Mack comes to the ring in star-spangled trunks. He paces the ring, awaiting his opponent. The roof is about to be lifted off the Capital FM Arena.
Froch makes his way to the ring through a haze of smoke, flashing lights and fans holding their hands out in front of his face.
There seems to have been a technical hitch with the playing of the national anthems. How embarrassing. Mack, the challenger, is introduced first.
And now Froch is introduced to a roar, and if you listen closely enough, the sound of Rachel Cordingley shrieking at ringside.
Seconds out, round one...
As the smoke from the walk-ons remains in the atmosphere, the two fighters take centre right and size each other up...
MACK HITS THE DECK! Froch unloads with a frightening combination and the American is forced to eat a few stiff shots. He is sent to the floor, but with no lasting damage it seems.
What an explosive start from Froch! A 10-8 round to start with - exactly what he needed!
Mack looked completely shell shocked as he sat in the corner in between rounds. I don't think he expected that!
Froch's shots look so powerful. Every one that connects produces a sickening thud.
FROCH WOBBLES MACK! He senses blood and goes in for the kill, but the bell comes to Mack's rescue. It was a lovely left-right combination, before a terrific uppercut had the American rocked!
Mack looks a bit sloppy with his footwork. Froch is biding his time and waiting for the opening, and exploding with his combinations.
Froch lands with another straight left and then switches downstairs to the body.
MACK IS DOWN AGAIN! BIG BODY SHOT FROM FROCH!
MACK CANNOT BEAT THE COUNT! FROCH WINS!
Fair play to Mack, he took a big body shot and still tried to throw a dig... but eventually fell to the floor and could not get back up. Body shots end contests. And Froch landed with two mega ones.
That was another devastating performance from 'The Cobra'. That's a real signal to the likes of Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler, but rather more immediately Lucian Bute. Big body shots are meant to be his strong point!
Well, that's the end of our coverage of the boxing for tonight. Join us next week when Ricky Hatton takes on Vyacheslav Senchenko. Thanks for reading folks, goodnight!
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
