British cruiserweight Viddal Riley is new European (EBU) champion following a comfortable unanimous-decision victory over Mateusz Masternak tonight. The bout acted as the chief support for Derek Chisora-Deontay Wilder tonight at the O2 Arena in London.
The judges scored the contest: 118-110, 118-110 and119-109. Riley (14-0, 7 KOs) adds the European belt to his British title and has also worked himself into a final eliminator for the IBF world title recently stripped from Jai Opetaia.
Following a quiet opening two rounds, Riley started to let his hands go in the third. A left jab followed by a right hook to the body was his favorite combination. By the time round four came around, Riley had found a rhythm against a jittery looking Masternak.
Masternak (50-7, 33 KOs) attempted to setup his right hand behind a left jab in the fifth, but Riley continued to keep his own jab active and was landing multiple shot to the body, while also landing counter right hands to the head. Riley caught the eye at the end of the session with a looping right to temple.
There fight became more difficult for Masternak in round six. Riley landed a good right hand to open the round with rapid hand speed. Masternak’s offence had become obsolete due to Riley’s fresher movement and conviction in attack.
Riley continued to gobble up the rounds in the seventh and eighth, looking far quicker and incredibly more composed and than the Pole. However, despite Masternak being clearly outboxed he was yet to look in trouble from Riley’s power.
Masternak needed a vicious swing in momentum going into round nine, but the tide continued in the same direction. The pace did dip during the the net three minutes, but Riley maintained full control. There was little to no reaction from the 38-year-old.
The remaining three rounds stuck to the expected script as Masternak struggled to have any success. Riley continued to move well and vary his shots to head and body. Masternak showed some bite in the twelfth and final round, landing a rare right hand to close the fight.
“It shows I’m world class,” Riley said in the DAZN post-fight interview. ““The only people that have beaten Masternak are world class.”
Undercard Results: Bentley and Harris Pick Up Stoppage Victories
Lower down on the undercard Denzel Bentley picked ups he WBO interim middleweight title with a seventh round stoppage against Endry Saavedra. Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) went after Saavedra (17-2-1, 14 KOs) in the seventh with a gluttony of shots to the head, forcing referee Darren Sarginson to step in a wave the fight off at 1:38. Bentley goes four fights unbeaten, while Saavedra picked up his first career stoppage loss.
At heavyweight Matty Harris knocked out British rival Franklin Ignatius inside two rounds. Harris (10-1, 7 KOs) caught Ignatius (9-2-1) walking forward with a short-sharp right hand to the head to end the bout early.
