Yesterday's Prizefighter tournament in London wasn't the greatest in the series history by any means, but Yassine El Maachi furthered his methodical rise up the domestic and European welterweight ladder with the tournament victory, defeating Junior Witter in an unorthodox and downright weird final bout.
From our recap, which covered all of the bouts:
It wasn't a particularly exciting Prizefighter today at York Hall, but the tournament final was bizarrely memorable if nothing else. After hurting Yassine El Maachi in the first round, a sharp-looking Junior Witter appeared to be floored from an El Maachi right hand, only to have it ruled a slip by the referee. In the second round, the sloppy but brazen "action" continued, with both awkward fighters sort of mirroring one another.
Then in the third and final round of the bout. El Maachi played matador, side stepping Witter and sending him flying to the arena floor. Witter, to his credit, simply dusted himself off and went right back to work, and the two threw wild shots at one another to close the bout.
Here are some photos from the event. All photos by Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro.
Kevin McIntyre vs John Wayne Hibbert (Quarterfinal)
Junior Witter vs Nathan Graham (Quarterfinal)
Colin Lynes vs Bobby Gladman (Quarterfinal)
Yassine El Maachi vs Peter McDonagh (Quarterfinal)
Junior Witter vs Kevin McIntyre (Semifinal)
Yassine El Maachi vs Colin Lynes (Semifinal)
Prizefighter Champ Yassine El Maachi
