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Former British junior middleweight champion Sam Webb earned his way into another crack at the title with a split decision win over Matthew Hall today at Royal Albert Hall, winning an entertaining, very competitive fight on scores of 116-112, 115-114, and 112-117. Bad Left Hook scored the fight a draw, 114-114.
Webb (18-2, 5 KO) got the nod likely for the rounds in which he was able to create some space, at which point he was able to outbox the gritty veteran Hall (24-5, 16 KO), whose pressure fighting tactics were successful for much of the fight. Webb may have in fact been a bit more erratic in his approach, but he did well enough to win without much controversy, in a fight that legitimately felt like it could have gone either way.
Since the fight was a title eliminator, Webb is now set up for a shot against champion Brian Rose (19-1-1, 5 KO). Rose faces Kris Carslaw (15-1, 3 KO) on June 2. Carslaw was actually upset by Hall, which earned Hall the chance to fight Webb, while Carslaw picked up an easy win and gets the title shot he was "supposed" to get anyway. Boxing!
Our live coverage continues here, with Billy Joe Saunders yet to come. Also make sure to check out the quick recaps for the first two televised fights earlier.