Lessons Learned from Terry Flanagan vs. Diego Magdaleno in Manchester
Terry Flanagan retained his WBO lightweight title on Saturday, stopping challenger Diego Magdaleno within two rounds in Manchester, England.
The unbeaten Mancunian delighted his home crowd with an impressive victory over an opponent who had never been knocked out in 29 fights.
On the same bill, Liam Smith picked up the vacant WBO super welterweight belt by stopping John Thompson.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
With the win, the Liverpudlian became the first of the four fighting Smith brothers to become a world champion, and the others were all there to witness the moment.
Here, Bleacher Report reflects on the results from the card and picks out some of the key talking points.
Turbo Triumph
It was billed as the toughest test of Flanagan's career, but he ended up producing his best performance to date.
Magdaleno talked the talk before the bout, telling Boxing News, "The title was basically given to Flanagan, while I’ve worked for everything."
He failed to walk the walk, though. In fact, he struggled to even stand up.
A wide stance led to Magdaleno slipping to the canvas twice. He was also knocked there by Flanagan, who ruthlessly exposed his opponent before forcing the referee to step in and halt proceedings.
If Flanagan benefited from Jose Zepeda's dislocated shoulder in July when fighting for the vacant WBO belt, there was nothing fortunate about the way he triumphed in his maiden defence.
Turbo lived up to his nickname, as he needed just five minutes and 38 seconds to dismantle his mandatory challenger.
Magdaleno always felt he was on the wrong end of a split decision when he fought for the WBO super featherweight belt. However, he should have no complaints about the outcome of his second attempt at a world title.
Best of Britain
Flanagan had previously found himself overshadowed by other Brits in a crowded lightweight division.
Fellow Mancunian Anthony Crolla had received more attention despite losing his world-title challenge against Darleys Perez. (Although it was a debatable decision by the judges.)
Luke Campbell is the blue-eyed boy who has yet to do any wrong, and there's also the experienced trio of Ricky Burns, Derry Mathews and Kevin Mitchell at the 135-pound limit.
If there was a question about who deserved to sit on top of the pile before Saturday, Flanagan answered it.
His promoter, Frank Warren, said of the 26-year-old's performance, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News:
"For me, it was one of the most outstanding performances, if not the best performance, of a world champion from Britain in the last two years or so.
He annihilated the guy. He destroyed him.
It was a fabulous performance. He’s on the world stage now. That puts him there with everybody.
"
Warren is not just spouting hyperbole as promoters are sometimes prone to do. Flanagan was that good.
Boxing journalist Steve Bunce was also impressed, tweeting:
Flanagan has paved the way for some big paydays, and Warren posed a new question in the aftermath, according to Robson, "Who do you see over here beating him?"
The only way we will find out is if some of these domestic rivals go head-to-head. We need less chatter about rankings on paper and more all-British bouts to work out who is the best in the ring.
Family First
The Smiths have a world title at last.
After two failed attempts by eldest sibling Paul to win a world title at super middleweight, it was super welterweight Liam—who at 27 is the second youngest—who secured the gold.
Beefy picked up the vacant WBO belt thanks to a seventh-round stoppage of Thompson.
It was not all smooth sailing for Smith, though. He had to give away three of the first four rounds as he worked out a way to deal with an opponent who measured in at 6'1".
The American, an artist away from boxing who is used to working on a different type of canvas, was tall, tricky and difficult to pin down. His jab allowed him to stay out of range in the early stages.
However, when Smith finally caught up with him, Thompson looked about as stable as Bambi on ice. When it finally arrived, the finishing punch was a cracker:
"Liam Smith KO's John Thompson pic.twitter.com/mPP2yvKFdm
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) October 10, 2015"
Smith's siblings—Paul, Stephen and younger brother Callum—were all present with him in the ring when the belt was handed over.
It was a wonderful moment for the family, though mum was not present.
Even with the possibility of seeing her son crowned a world champion, Margaret Smith couldn't be tempted to break her own rule to come and watch at ringside, according to David Prentice of the Liverpool Echo.
What Next?
Smith did not bask in the glory for too long, quickly making it clear he now wants major fights. He told Micheal McKenna of the Liverpool Echo:
"I'd be a liar if I said I never looked past Thompson but the situation that it was, I just did.
I seen Shane Mosley calling out Cornelius Bundrage last week and he doesn't even have a world title. I have the world title now, so Shane Mosley should be calling me out.
These are massive fights and massive names. People chase world titles and I have one so they've got to chase me now. I'm excited to see what names I get offered now.
"
Mosley would be a fantastic name for a first defence, particularly if it took place in Smith's home city of Liverpool, but there are plenty of others at the 154-pound limit to target.
Michel Soro, the Frenchman who would have been fighting Smith had it not been for promotional issues, may feel he deserves a crack at the new champion.
Ref Justice
On the undercard in Manchester, Thomas Stalker and Craig Evans fought out a 10-round draw for the European lightweight title.
Stalker got the nod 97-93 from one judge, with another scoring it 96-94 in Evans' favour. The third had it even—95-95.
Several boxers took to Twitter to state their views on the three cards. When fighters themselves are unhappy with a verdict, it speaks volumes about the outcome:
For Stalker, it is another setback in his professional career.
Captain of the Great Britain boxing team at the 2012 Olympics, he has since been overshadowed in the paid ranks by Campbell and Anthony Joshua.
He is now 10-1-2 and yet to win a title. According to BoxNation, though, he may get another chance at Evans.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
