Dubois vs Lartey results and video highlights: Daniel Dubois stops Richard Lartey in fourth round

British heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois came through another test today at Wembley Arena in London, stopping Ghana’s Richard Lartey in the fourth round to remain undefeated and move closer to a British heavyweight title showdown with Joe Joyce.

Dubois (11-0, 10 KO) ate some clean shots from Lartey (14-2, 11 KO) in this one, and Lartey definitely went for it offensively, at least at times — when Dubois would give him openings, Lartey did his best to capitalize, though otherwise he held a little more aggressively than you might like to see.

The two had a rather furious exchange in the third round which got the crowd into things. It may only be a few seconds, and obviously nothing huge lands for a big KO shot, but they were throwing some bombs at each other:

It was a right hand that put Lartey down in the fourth round, and though he did get to his feet and beat the count, referee Robert Williams called the fight there. Lartey, who had a big opportunity here, was barking mad about it after the fight, talking to Williams through the announcement of Dubois as the winner.

Here’s the finish and the count, judge for yourself:

It’s a nice win for the 21-year-old Dubois, who still has some raw aspects to his game and plenty of development left to go, but the potential is real.

The BBBofC have ordered that fight with Joe Joyce (8-0, 8 KO) for the vacant Lonsdale belt, and it has been mentioned as possible for July, but it honestly might make more sense for Dubois to be held off maybe even just one fight more. A fight with someone like former British champ Sam Sexton might really make a difference for Dubois going into a fight with Joyce, but if it happens right away, then we’ll just see what both guys have, and certainly it would be interesting.

Undercard Results

Super flyweight prospect Sunny Edwards stopped Pedro Matos early in the eighth round of a tune-up bout, dominating the bout the whole way. Edwards, 23, is the younger brother of WBC flyweight titleholder Charlie Edwards, and like his brother he’s a skilled boxer. Matos (7-2, 1 KO) was cut on a clash of heads in the fifth round, and then hurt pretty badly at the end of the seventh on a left hook. Edwards saw that and looked to close, which he did when referee Phil Edwards stepped in 23 seconds into the eighth, deciding he’d seen enough.

Lerrone Richards won the vacant Commonwealth super middleweight title with a decision victory over former British and Commonwealth middleweight champion Tommy Langford. Scores were 116-113, 118-111, and 118-110, with the wider scores more representative of the fight.

Richards (12-0, 3 KO) probably tops out at European level, but he was able to pretty handily outbox Langford (21-4, 6 KO) in this one. Langford took some hard, clean shots along the way, the type that could’ve been game-changers or even game-enders if the 26-year-old Richards had a bit more power.

25-year-old Jack Catterall stayed busy with a third round knockout of Oscar Amador, which came when the southpaw Catterall landed a left hand that probably broke Amador’s nose, at which point Amador did what any sensible 10-18 (1 KO) fighter would do, which is take a knee and the count.

You have to feel bad for Amador, a Nicaraguan living in Spain. This year alone he’s fought on Feb. 2, March 2, March 9, March 16, March 29, April 19, and now April 27. This will put him on the shelf a bit. Catterall (24-0, 13 KO) proves nothing much here, but kept himself active as he waits on a likely shot at Maurice Hooker’s WBO 140-pound title toward the end of 2019.

21-year-old Zak Chelli went to 7-0 (3 KO) and won the Southern Area super middleweight title with a shutout victory over Jimmy Smith. The referee gave it to Chelli, 100-89. Chelli scored a knockdown in the eighth round on a body shot and was in control throughout. Chelli probably doesn’t project to have world-level success, being honest, but he’s a solid-looking young fighter. Smith is now 7-2 (0 KO).