20 YEAR-OLD Johnny Coyle (6-0-1) took home the Prizefighter Welterweight trophy along with the £32,000 winner’s purse on Saturday night (5th March) after a sensational night of boxing at a sweltering York Hall in London’s Bethnal Green. Coyle and the 7 other fighters in the knockout tournament showcased their skills live on Sky Sports with another of Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sport’s Prizefighter tournaments providing the first-class entertainment that it has become renowned for.
The exciting format of the one-night tournament consists of four quarter-final bouts with the winner proceeding to the semi-final and then the final if they are victorious, with all bouts 3×3 minutes.
Such was the heat in the venue that after winning the first bout Erick Ochieng (15-4) collapsed with exhaustion. He was then taken to hospital as a precaution allowing his opponent Paddy Gallagher (5-2) to advance to the next round. Irishman Dean Byrne (17-4-1) put up a valiant effort but was outpointed against an impressive Mark Douglas (9-4), with Sam Eggington (9-2) also making a statement by stopping previously unbeaten fighter Jonny Garton (11-1).
Coyle, a southpaw from Stanford le-Hope, used his boxing skills to beat experienced Welshman Jason Cook (30-6-1) on points and then scored a narrow victory over Sam Eggington in the semi-final. This set up a showdown with tournament favourite Paddy Gallagher after he stopped Douglas in the other semi-final bout.
The raucous York Hall crowd came alive time and again throughout the bouts roaring the fighters on and this was the case once again as we reached the final. It was 20/1 outsider Coyle who produced an outstanding final performance by flooring his man twice in the first round, both times with a right hook. Unbeaten Coyle, who is trained by Alec Wilkey, showed his punch variation and boxing skills as well as the ability to stand and trade against the strong punching Irishman Gallagher. Coyle was crowned champion after he got the decision over the three rounds with the judges scoring 30-25, 30-26 and 30-26 respectively.
Published on WBAN. We cover women’s boxing and men’s boxing.