Isaac Chamberlain took the British title from the hands of a lethargic Mikael Lawal as a replacement headliner for the postponed clash between Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez.
Lawal, 28, has one of the most harrowing stories in boxing, and he made it his intention to show Isaac Chamberlain that he has more than enough fight in him. He won the vacant title against Scotland’s David Jamieson late last year.
Chamberlain, 29, has come up short twice in his 17 fight career to two world champions in Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith. Another domestic loss here would be harder to take, but he had to the confidence of a heavy favourite during fight week.
The pair have sparred in the past in the camp of unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and a previous postponement only added to the hype for this York Hall cruiserweight cracker.
Unfortunately, it did not deliver as promised. Chamberlain controlled the action, pushed the pace and scored points throughout. Lawal showed flashes of danger, but missed wide with his biggest attempts. For every shot he threw, the challenger landed four.
A strange performance for Lawal to lose his title, seemingly looking for the perfect shot throughout but too off-pace to find it. 119-111, 118-111, 118-111 to Chamberlain and a night to forget for Lawal, who leaves the ring with his first defeat.