Derry Matthews becomes the new British champion!

New British champion Derry Matthews.

'Dirty' Derry Matthews has caused one of the biggest upsets in British boxing this year by stopping Anthony Crolla in the 6th round. He is now the British lightweight champion and has a record of 30 wins and 6 losses. Matthews was a big underdog going into the fight and nobody really expected him to beat the up and coming prospect Anthony 'Million Dollar' Crolla but they were proved wrong.

Crolla started very well and everything was going his way until Matthews delivered a devastating uppercut that sent Crolla crashing to the canvas. This was the first time that Crolla had ever been down in his amateur and pro career which shows that Matthews has a tremendous amount of power in his punches.

Crolla rose to his feet and came back well to win the fourth round but then a cut appeared above his left eye. He was taken to the doctor twice but was told that he was okay to continue. The 5th round was very good for Matthews who was applying non-stop pressure and flurries of punches. Not all of them were connecting but they were wearing Crolla down.

In the 6th round Matthews sent Crolla stumbling across the ring and with less than ten seconds left of the round the referee stopped the fight and Derry Matthews became the new British lightweight champion. There were a few people that complained about the stoppage as they thought Crolla would have easily been able to continue, but Crolla looked very unstable and I think the referee made the right decision.

So... Where does Crolla go from here?

There were rumours that after this fight he would start looking for a fight at European or World level but now he will most likely have to try and get a rematch with Matthews.

Matthews will now most likely face the winner of Ricky Burns Vs Kevin Mitchell if it happens in June. But, right now he deserves to enjoy life as the British champion.