Hackney welterweight becomes African champion after points victory

Homerton’s Larry Ekundayo has been crowned African welterweight champion after outpointing Joseph Lamptey over 12 rounds at The Troxy, Limehouse.

Ekundayo, who grew up in Nigeria but has lived in east London since 2002, dominated the fight with a stiff left jab that set up his right hook to good effect.

Ghanaian Lamptey threw several wild and dangerous shots during the course of the fight, but Ekundayo succeeded in slipping out of range and responding with combination punches when his opponent came forward.

The outcome was never in doubt and the judges scored the contest in overwhelming favour of the Hackney fighter, 119-109, 119-11, 120-108.

“I caught him with a right hook to the top of his head in round five and it hurt,” the 33-year-old told the Gazette. “Every time I threw it I could feel the pain, but I just had to get on with it.”

On the same bill, Hackney light-heavyweight Onder Ozgul was given his toughest test to date before edging a points decision against Trowbridge’s Dan Blackwell.

Ozgul, who remains undefeated, took the fight to his opponent with a series of four or five-punch combinations that forced Blackwell against the ropes.

But the momentum began to shift midway through the contest, when Blackwell decided to stand and trade punches and rocked the Hackney man with uppercuts in rounds four and six.

However, Ozgul recovered in the closing stages and did just enough to shade the 58-57 verdict from referee Lee Cook, securing his seventh win in a row.

Unbeaten Hackney lightweight Ohara Davies is back in action on Saturday, when he faces Chris Truman at the Echo Arena, Liverpool.