Craig ‘Spider’ Richards talked a good fight and lived up to his word. After confidently predicting victory, Crystal Palace box-fighter Richards halted British light-heavyweight champion Shakan Pitters in nine rounds at the Fly By Nite Studios in Redditch on Friday night to clearly illustrate his pedigree.
Richards (16-1-1, 9 KOs) had claimed his greater experience would tell and that proved to be the case as he dropped towering title-holder Pitters in the fourth and ninth rounds before referee Victor Loughlin stepped in after a pleasing battle.
The Londoner finished Pitters (14-1, 4 KOs) with a left hook in the ninth that saw the champion rise on wobbly legs before the fight’s conclusion.
“I told everyone that every time I fight a journeyman or someone I am expected to beat, I am a bit flat,” said Richards. “Every title fight I have been the underdog and tonight, again, I was an even bigger underdog and [it was] another knockout just to show people.
“When there is something on the line, I am motivated, I am a dangerous man. I’ve been around the sport long enough to know anything can happen.”
Pitters was heavily favoured by the bookies, but Richards made a mockery of those odds on fight night. The challenger swiftly negated Pitters’ reach advantage, staggering the Brummie with a right hand in the fourth before dropping him with the same shot soon afterwards. The champion survived a torrid, follow-up assault though the portents weren’t good.
Richards’ patient pursuit finally bore fruit in the ninth. A right hand hurt Pitters by the ropes before another sent him backpedalling across the ring. When Pitters missed with a hopeful right hand, Richards dropped him heavily with a left hook.
The champion rose unsteadily but referee Loughlin had seen enough.