On Saturday, April 20, at York Hall in London, England, Sam Noakes (14-0, 13 KOs) ran out a comfortable unanimous decision winner against Yvan Mendy (48-7-1, 22 KOs) for the vacant European lightweight title, with the card shown on TNT Sports in the UK. The judge’s scorecards all read 120-108, awarding the British fighter the European strap.
Sam Noakes Defeats Yvan Mendy for Vacant European Lightweight Title
Sam Noakes vs. Yvan Mendy Recap
From the first bell, the British fighter attacked his opponent’s body, who seemed to feel many of the shots from Noakes. The experience of Mendy was evident as he used all his know-how to navigate through the first half of the fight. Mendy was a step up from the previous opposition Noakes had faced.
Despite knocking out every opponent, the Brit refused to rush his work and picked his shots with thought and accuracy. The Frenchman was hurt by a Noakes uppercut in round six, with the bell saving him as Noakes began his follow-up. As the fight progressed – Mendy tried to attack but was caught each time with smart counter-punching from the Maidstone fighter.
As the fight entered the championship rounds, Noakes threw his shots with imagination and variety and refused to rush his work and chase the KO, which was impressive. Noakes showed another side to his game and impressed with his all-round-boxing ability.
Post Fight Quotes
After the fight, Noakes spoke on his opponent’s durability before identifying an area to improve in his own game: “I knew he was going to be tough, but I was had it in the back of my head I might just get him. But I rushed it.”
Undercard
Henry Turner (13-0, 5 KOs) won by fifth-round TKO against Maykol Mendoza (16-5, 14 KOs), which saw him win the WBC Silver International lightweight title.
Andrew Cain (11-1, 10 KOs) returned to action and defeated Darwing Martinez (8-20-2, 6 KOs) by fourth-round KO.
Billy Adams (3-0, 0 KOs) defeated Mark Butler (2-11, 1 KO) by 40-36 in their super featherweight bout.
Jack Oliphant (1-1, 0 KOs) suffered a fourth-round TKO defeat in his second professional fight against Remi Scholer (4-10, 1 KO).
Eoghan Lavin (1-0, 0 KOs) won on his middleweight debut against Vasif Mamadov (3-50-5, 0 KOs), with the referee Kieran McCann scoring the fight 40-36.
Sam King (2-0-1, 1 KO) and Arjtom Spatar (4-7-1, 1 KO) fought to a draw in their 4-round bout, with referee Lee Every scoring the fight 38-38.
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