KIERON Conway is the new Commonwealth middleweight champion after defeating Ryan Kelly by split decision in Birmingham. The judges’ scorecards reflect the close nature of the contest. Lee Avery saw it 116-112 for Conway, supported by Kevin Parker, who made it 115-113 in favor of the Northampton player. Mark Lyson saw it differently, awarding Kelly a 115-114 verdict. It wasn’t enough to sway things in his direction.
The stakes were high for Conway as he lined up for the winner of the Brad Pauls vs. Denzel Bentley showdown next weekend.
Appearing in several weight classes, Conway began to use his clear size advantages against an opponent who is always ready for a fight. After three rounds, Kelly was closing the gap behind his powerful shot.
Conway picked up the pace through the middle section, looking to make the Birmingham man work harder. Conway’s uppercut was accurate but left long rounds open to interpretation as ‘Relentless’ Ryan boxed smartly.
Kelly tried to press forward, unleashing a jab and right hand as Conway countered with body shots to weaken the smaller man. It was a closely contested dispute between a pair of solid domestic operators. Referee Victor Laughlin was mostly a spectator as Conway improved to 22-3-1 (6 KOs) and Kelly dropped to 19-5-1 (8 KOs).
earlier in the evening, Cameron Vuong successfully moved up in class to beat Gavin Gwynn over 10 rounds. Several whistles went off as the scores were read 97-94 (Victor Laughlin), 96-95 (Lee Avery) and 96-94 (Mark Lyson) all in favor of ‘The One’. Opening the television section, Hamza Uddin defeated Ben Norman 59-56 in a six-round flyweight fight.